Vol. 5, #5
 May,
 2005
   On this page...

All grade levels  Sheila Sonka, Systems Analyst
All grade levels  Mary Jo Schoberth, Support Specialist
Middle School  Ann Denny, Technology Resource Teacher

Editor's Page
Instruction
Into the Classroom
IMMEX
Students
Through a Student's Eyes
STLP News
Support
Internet Resources
Connections
Training/PD
Peripherals
Staff Profiles
The Network is down
The Archives

Jeffrey L. Jones, editor
jjones@fayette.k12.ky.us

FCPS Home Page

SheliaSheila Sonka, Systems Analyst - Financial Management

Sheila has worked with the Financial Management Systems office since 1999, the culmination of a gradual rising through the ranks at Fayette County which began in 1989 with part time work with Early Start and Fayette County High School (now Martin Luther King Academy). After a semester as an attendance clerk, she joined FCPS full time as a counseling office clerk at Lafayette High School. The Office of Educational Technology hired her as a computer operator, and then as a systems analyst, the position she holds today. "This has been a very rewarding career move for me-a venue that allows me to solve problems, create programs and assist people from many departments."

GrandkidsMrs. Sonka grew up in New London, Iowa, population 1510, and was born in nearby Mt. Pleasant. After graduating from New London High School, she attended a junior college in Burlington, Iowa, and State College of Iowa (now the University of Northern Iowa), before leaving to attend to marriage and children. In 2001 she earned an associate's degree in Computer Information Systems from Lexington Community College.

HummingbirdSheila and husband Sam have three sons. The oldest is a West Point and University of Kentucky Medical School graduate, currently working in Afghanistan - a long way from his wife and two children, Sheila's only grandchildren. The other two are a sports copy editor/designer at the Herald-Leader, and a political scientist just finishing a stint as a UK researcher, respectively. When not attending to the needs of MUNIS users, Sheila likes digital photography, backyard wildlife, and hosting lots of out-of-town visitors, since "...much of my family lives far away from Lexington." Husband Sam occasionally substitute teaches in Fayette County, after retiring as Purchasing Manager for Link-Belt Construction Equipment Company in 2001. They live in Lexington.


Bob and Mary JoMary Jo Schoberth, Support Specialist - Student Records

Mary Jo Schoberth is a Versailles native, and a graduate of Margaret Hall School there. She subsequently graduated from Georgetown College with a degree in business, and was hired and trained by IBM/Lexington as its first female programmer. Family responsibilities drew her away from IBM for 16 years, and she re-entered the workforce as an attendance clerk at Woodford County High School. At the end of her first year there, she was given the newly created position of Computer Operator. In that position, she was responsible for converting the school's student data management systems -  from  Columbia to CIMS, then from CIMS to MicroCIMS, then to SASI. She was in the process of converting to STI when she joined Fayette County in 2000. Here, her responsibilities include onsite training and the STI Help Desk.

Mrs. Schoberth has two grown children. Her daughter, Tonya, lives in Greenville, SC, where she is the regional manager for MidAmerica Communities. Her son, Lane, is the youth minister at Broadway Christian Church. He, his wife Rebecca, and daughter, Anna, 4, live in Lexington. 

Mary Jo has lived in Lexington since 1990. She has recently remarried, and her new husband, Bob Lewis, works for First Mortgage Company. In her free time, she is a skilled ballroom dancer. She taught dancing for many years as a side career, semi-retiring from it this year.


Ann DennyAnn Denny, Technology Resource Teacher (LTMS)

Ann is also a native Kentuckian, born and raised in Harrodsburg, and graduating from Harrodsburg High School. She holds a Bachelors of Arts in English from the University of Kentucky, with minors in Latin and French. She also earned her Masters as a Reading Specialist there, and holds a Rank I in administration.

Much of Mrs. Denny's teaching career took place at Lexington Catholic High School, first as an English and Latin teacher, then as the Assistant Principal. In 1995 she returned to the world of parenting, and the classroom, dividing her professional responsibilities between Catholic and Paul Laurence Dunbar as a Latin teacher. She took a position at Lexington Traditional Middle School the next year, first as a Latin Teacher, then as a Technology Resource Teacher. Wearing the latter hat, she has handled lots of responsibilities, including managing Plato (the integrated learning system), and teaching technology professional development at LTMS, and at the District lab at Ambrose Center.

Ann's children include a 3rd grade teacher at Athens Elementary School, and two students at LTMS.  She has three grandchildren, one of who also attends LTMS, and another who attends Athens, where her mother teaches. Her outside interests include competitive tennis and bridge. She and husband Sherman currently live in Lexington.