Clarke welcomes new teaching staff

Editor’s note: This is the first set of new teacher bios. More will be printed in the coming weeks.

Clarke Community Schools will welcome several new faces this fall in a variety of positions between the elementary, middle and high schools.

Adams

Sophia Adams will be teaching third grade at Clarke Elementary. Adams is originally from Ames, and graduated from Iowa State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education earlier this year. This will be her first year teaching.

Adams looks forward to working with the kind staff at Clarke and teaching kids while also learning from them.

For fun, Adams likes to read, shop, go outside and spend time with family and friends.

Carrall

Carley Carrall is a new first grade teacher at Clarke Elementary. Carrall is from Osceola, and attended Clarke schools kindergarten through 12th grade, and graduated with the Clarke Class of 2014. She graduated in 2017 from Graceland University.

This will be Carrall’s fifth year as a teacher - she previously taught fourth grade for one year in Iowa, and first grade for three years in Missouri. Carrall is excited to be back in Osceola as a teacher. She hopes to be able to teach her friends’ children, and is excited for her daughter to attend school here. Carrall did her student teaching at Clarke, and said she always felt like Clarke was one big family.

Outside of the classroom, Carrall enjoys reading, coaching and watching softball, spending time with her family and making memories with her daughter.

Helgevold

LeeAnn Helgevold will be teaching special education at Clarke High School. She is from Osceola, and graduated from Clarke in 2017. After high school, Helgevold attended Waldorf University in Forest City, where she graduated in 2021; she is currently taking classes through Morningside University to obtain her Master’s degree.

Helgevold has spent the last two years teaching in Creston, and she is excited to come back to her hometown, the school she attended growing up and to be back as part of the Clarke family.

In addition to the classroom, Helgevold will be coaching junior varsity 2 volleyball this fall.

Rieckhoff

Nyah Rieckhoff is a new third grade teacher at Clarke Elementary. Originally from West Des Moines, Rieckhoff currently lives in Indianola. She attended school at West Des Moines Community School District from kindergarten through 12th grade before attending college at Simpson, where she graduated this past April. This will be her first year teaching.

Rieckhoff is looking forward to working with her new team and the community, as well as having a classroom full of students. She said she can’t wait for this school year to start.