Staff

Angie Frank, DAE Coordinator

Angie is involved in adult education because she believes it provides stepping stones for students to transform their lives on their terms. She began teaching in 2008 at the St. Louis County Jail which is her favorite place to teach. She has also taught GED, Adult Diploma, Digital Literacy, ParaPro, and other career focused classes at a variety of locations, which are all a very close second. One of her favorite education quotes is, "What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves," said by Paulo Freire because she believes we all have gifts to contribute to this world and hopefully teachers can help bring those gifts to light.  When she’s not teaching, her happy place is on roller skates or taking a hike somewhere beautiful. 

Jody Greniger, DAE Teacher, College Preparation Program

Jody began working with DAE over ten years ago with the birth of the Pathways to College Success programming at Lake Superior College.  From the start of her career in Adult Education in 1996 she has worn numerous instructor hats leading to work with many diverse learner populations: ELL/ESL, GED, Young Parenting programming, Adult Literacy and College Readiness, as well as career bridge and training programming.  As an advocate of adult learning her personal lifelong learning goal includes completing the Adult Education Masters program at Hamline University.  When not at work you can typically find Jody outside enjoying the many hobbies northern MN has to offer or planning the next shared time with her family.

Gina Temple-Rhodes, DAE Teacher, GED and Diploma Program

Gina has been teaching students of all sorts in many different settings for the past 25 years. From island lighthouses to wastewater treatment plants, she likes to figure out the main point of things and help people learn more. She believes knowledge is power and education can help people move forward in their lives and towards their goals.  She’s been working with Adult Education students at DAE since 2016 (sometimes while also working at the public library) and looks forward to helping students move forward with their GED tests or Adult Diploma track. 

Kris Rikkola, DAE Teacher, Building Basic Skills Program

Kris has been a teacher in Adult Ed. for over ten years. Her teaching experience has included technical colleges, community college and the various classrooms at Duluth Adult Education. She considers herself a lifelong learner and recently obtained  her M.Ed degree. Working with students to obtain credentials that will employ them in today’s workforce, ready them for college or simply refreshing skills once learned but forgotten is an amazing teaching experience for her. A quote by Nelson Mandela says “ It always seems impossible until it’s done” speaks to the many challenges and successes students experience while working in the classroom.  

Linnea Bishop, DAE Teacher, Career Path Program

From a young age Linnea knew she wanted to be a teacher when she grew up. While she's been with Duluth Adult Education for 10 years now, she's still working on growing up! She has a Master's of Education and has taught a gamut of classes including GED, carpentry, medical office assistant, truck driving, CNC machining, basic computers, certified nursing assistant, highway heavy operator, IT and auto technician. Linnea loves helping others realize their potential and take steps forward to realizing their goals. When she's not teaching, Linnea loves reading, hiking and kayaking.

Robert Turner, DAE Teacher, English Language Learner Program

Robert started with Duluth Adult Education as a volunteer in 2012. After renewing his teaching license, he worked part-time as a GED instructor for DAE from 2013 to 2018. He also taught high school Spanish part-time for seven years. As someone who studied French and Portuguese and spent a year living in Spain, he understands the challenges of learning a new language. In the fall of 2018, he began his current position teaching English as a Second Language to adult students from all over the world. Outside of school, He enjoys a variety of outdoor activities. Spending time with family is also high on his list.

Beth Fait, DAE Teacher, SLCJ

Beth began her career in healthcare in strategic planning and marketing.  She was then asked to help teach a college class with adult learners in 2005 and has been teaching ever since.  Beth has developed, taught, and taken online classes on Canvas, D2L, Blackboard, and custom built online platforms.  She has taught a variety of ages students in K-12 and higher education, both on-campus and online.  One of her favorite classes to teach was a year-long personal exploration class for college first-year students.  She believes in always learning and in the potential of each human being.  She loves spending time with friends, traveling and being outdoors with her dog.

Treasure Jenkins, DAE Teacher, SLCJ

Nancy Meisinger, DAE Front Office Support and Systems Specialist

Nancy is the gal that will greet you when you walk through the door at the DAE! Nancy manages all things attendance for the state database, assessments & so much more. Nancy comes to the Adult Ed. table with a degree in Art Education and a plethora of office managerial experiences. When Nancy isn’t organizing files, preparing reports or whispering to the plants that line the windows here at the DAE, you can find her out frolicing in the pines, eating cheese or nestled into art projects with her kitties in her cozy Hillside home. 

Pam Toland, DAE Office Support Staff 

Pam has  been with Duluth Adult Education for 10+ years.  She has a variety of duties from  working with student records, TABE/CASAS certified.  Pam manages all our  required testing materials, provides information on all ABE programs.  She also maintains all  supplies and materials needed for Registration as well as ordering supplies for the office and classrooms.  She prepares the room and materials for weekly Registration sessions.  We have recently added a “Drop  In” Registration option.  (If there is a length of time before our next Registration date).  Pam supports and corrects all Registration Assessments tests.  Pam  verifies student eligibility, past history, have they been in our program previously etc.  Prepare student folders and a host of other duties as required.