Middle School Faculty & Staff

Beth Tollefson
Middle School Principal
Mrs. Tollefson believes it is a privilege to serve students and parents. She enjoys helping students and finding ways to lead them to be excited about education. Beth is overjoyed to work with young hearts and shape them academically, emotionally and spiritually. She is a firm believer in high expectations and giving your talents to please God.
Beth is blessed with a wonderful family. The Tollefson family includes her husband, Brad, and their sweet little girl, Reagan. In her free time, Beth enjoys reading all kinds of literature, working outside in her yard, and spending time with her immediate and extended family.
Beth is excited about coming to work at CCS. She is thrilled to be working with professionals, parents and students who share a vision for excellence in education and giving glory to God!!

Jeremy Sutton
Middle School Assistant Principal
When asked his favorite thing about teaching, he says that he loves challenging students to examine their lives, think biblically about the choices they make, and realize that ideas, good or bad, have consequences. Mr. Sutton wants to train students to live out the truth of God’s word in a culture of relativism, and not be deceived by worldly ideas and philosophies.
Mr. Sutton is happily married to his wife, Heather, and has three sons, Will, Eli and Micah. His hobbies include mountain biking, hiking, trail running, camping, bird watching, and cheering for his favorite collegiate football team, the Michigan Wolverines.

Sabrina Cox
Administrative Assistant to MS Principal
Sabrina and her husband Phil have been married since 1994. Their daughter Arienne is a respiratory therapist, and their son, Ian, is a CCS alum.
Sabrina enjoys traveling, reading and spending time with family and friends.

Karlin Propes
Receptionist
The Propes family settled in Oklahoma in 2001 where Karlin began her career as a stay-at-home mom to daughters, Talin and Seda, son, Armen and puppies, Bennett and Percy. Karlin loves kids, especially middle and high schoolers, and has a passion for education and the arts.
Karlin and her high school sweetheart and husband, Brett, along with their children are foodies who love travel, music and theater in all its forms. When not working or volunteering, Karlin loves to spend her time reading, baking, crafting and watching movies with her family. Karlin finds comfort in her favorite verse, Philippians 4:6 which reminds her “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”
5th Grade

Anna Adams
English
Miss Adams absolutely loves teaching middle school and feels blessed to have been called to pour into the lives of the students in this fun and unique age range. She is passionate about education and sees her classroom as a ministry opportunity. She is excited to teach her students to love learning. More importantly, she is excited to help her students know the Lord personally and grow in their relationships with Him. When she is not at work, Anna enjoys spending time with her family and friends. She also has fun playing soccer, rock climbing, traveling, and being outside in God’s creation. Miss Adams is thrilled to be a part of the Crossings family!

Sheila Archer
Math
She has a husband, John, and five fabulous children. Lauren is twenty years old and is a ballet dancer in New York City, Grace is 14, Caroline is 11, Will is 10, and Ella is 8. They keep her busy and very happy!

Allison Haymaker
Science
Mrs. Haymaker has a strong passion to educate young minds and help them blossom into well-rounded, responsible, and successful individuals. Mrs. Haymaker has a desire to inspire students to be faithful followers of Christ.
Allison is blessed with a wonderful family. The Haymaker family includes her husband, Doug, and their two spirited boys, Braden and Hunter. In her spare time, Allison enjoys traveling, exercising, watching sports, baking, and spending time with her family.

LaDonna Strong
Social Studies
Mrs. Strong says teaching is in her blood. Her sister is a teacher in Yukon and her mother worked for Edmond PS until her retirement. Mrs. Strong believes that in order for a child to learn, they must first love coming to school and feeling loved. She also believes that learning should be fun and full of hands-on explorations. Her favorite subject to teach is Social Studies and the learning of our wonderful countries history.
Mrs. Strong has been married to Rick Strong since 1988. They have a son, Caleb, and a daughter, Mariah. They also have 2 4-legged furry babies names Moose and Tank. LaDonna loves to read, spend time with her family and watch OU football and Thunder basketball any chance she gets.
6th Grade

Brooke Crocker
Science
Brooke grew up in Tahlequah, OK with both of her grandmothers being teachers. Education was always a high priority and she loves teaching and building relationships with her students.
Brooke is married to Gavin Crocker who also works at CCS. They have three children: Chase (1997), Carlye (2000), and Isaac (2011). Brooke loves to read, walk and cheer on the OSU Cowboys when she is not teaching.

Deanna Dennis
Math
Deanna loves teaching middle school students .She says, “I believe God called me to teach. I would not want to do anything else. I hope my students know how much I love them and want them to be their very best. It is my goal to teach my student to honor God by giving their best and using the gifts He has given them to serve others.”
She is married to her best friend Derek and they have 2 beautiful children, Devyn and Dylan, both CCS Alumni. Deanna feels blessed beyond measure by the gift God has given her through her family. As the mother of teenagers she stays very busy and loves every minute of it.

Suzanne McGraw
English
Mrs. McGraw loves to inspire young people to use their minds and creativity to fulfill their God-given potential. She considers it an amazing privilege to have the opportunity to impact the lives of children at such a developmental age. It is her hope that not only will her students gain knowledge in the subject of English, but will also gain confidence in themselves and a desire to put their own unique stamp on this world.
Suzanne has been blessed with a wonderful, big family. She and her husband, Kurt, have seven lovely children: Lantana, Ivy, Noah, Amelia, Candace, Adelaide, and Tyson. They are her pride and joy, and make for lots of fun stories to share with her students! Suzanne loves adventures and being active. She also enjoys writing, decorating spaces, and traveling.

John Staton
History
In addition to John’s teaching pursuits, he has dedicated his time to the coaching of athletes, having coached baseball, softball, basketball and football. He joins the CCS coaching staff as an assistant for baseball and softball. When asked of his motivation for coaching, John states, “I coach to prepare athletes to play fearlessly and live courageously.”
John and his wife Sarah have three children, Lily, Benjamin and Grace. The family enjoys active vacations, snowboarding and skiing every winter in Colorado and have hiked many miles through Alaska, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Arizona, and South Dakota.
Bible

Gavin Crocker
Mr. Crocker has over 100 wins as a head soccer coach. He coached Claremore girls soccer to a state runner-up finish in 2005 and 2004 and multiple district championships. He also started high school soccer programs at Coweta and McAlester. He has been a head junior high wrestling coach at Coweta, Claremore, and McAlester with multiple conference championships and tournament champion teams.
Mr. Crocker believes his purpose is to share God’s Word with youth and encourage them to compete for Jesus Christ daily. He has been involved with Fellowship of Christian Athletes since 2005. Mr. Crocker believes athletics and teaching is a great platform to share his passion for faith and athletics to influence lives for Jesus Christ.
Mr. Crocker is married to his beautiful wife, Brooke, who also teaches at CCS. They have 3 children, Isaac who is a CCS student, Carlye and Chase. Mr. Crocker enjoys spending time with his family, creek fishing, cross fit, going to church, and Christian concerts.

John Mendenhall
John served as a full-time pastoral minister in Oklahoma and Indiana until 2014. He has a strong background developing dynamic biblically based youth programs that focus on discipleship, missions and family during that time in various churches.
Mr. Mendenhall joined the CCS faculty in 2014 teaching 8th grade Bible and has also contributed to the community serving in middle school chapel and coaching football, wresting, and track.
John has a passion for discipleship and working with middle and high school aged students to help them reach for a deep and full relationship with God through education. He believes every student should be valued and treated with respect. An education should empower and help him or her make a positive contribution to our world.
John has been blessed with three wonderful kids Brooke, Lincoln, and Harrison. He is exceedingly grateful for these good and perfect gifts.
John is an avid sports fan and loves coaching. He spends his free time fishing, hiking, camping, golfing, reading and grilling.

Harrison Pierce
Mr. Pierce has a great passion for educating children and developing Christ-like leaders for the future. He wants to assist students in constantly growing in a deeper understanding of the Gospel and applying it to their daily lives. It is his goal to push students to find a passion to follow man’s chief end: to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.
Outside of teaching and coaching at Crossings, Harrison enjoys reading, running, and cheering on the Oklahoma City Thunder and Oklahoma State athletics. Along with that, he loves serving in his local church and spending time with his family and friends.
English

Mandi Risner
She has been married to Jay Risner since 1998, and they have three beautiful gifts from the Lord, Avery, Mia, and Jack Dallas. In her free time Mandi enjoys reading, exercising and watching soccer.
Excited about her role in the middle school at Crossings, she looks forward to engaging with students through literature and writing. She hopes to lead them to first become convinced of the truth of the gospel then transformed by the power of the gospel. The ultimate goal is that they become effective communicators of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Tina Valentine
Mrs. Valentine is a life-long learner and loves learning new things. She has always wanted to be a teacher, and was drawn to education as a child. Mrs. Valentine believes that students learn best when they take ownership, make connections, and show perseverance. Her goal in the classroom is to provide students with active learning experiences so that they may become creative, problem-solving thinkers that extend beyond the classroom that will serve them well in the future. Mrs. Valentine has always loved literature and reading, making English one of her favorite subjects to teach.
The Valentine family includes husband, John, sons, Jake, Jared, and Jett, and daughter, Kirby. Jake and his wife, Alicia has blessed the family with Wrigley Ryne Jobe, the first grandbaby! When not working, Tina loves to read, spend time with her family, and work out! She has run two half-marathons and would like to train for a full marathon in the future.
History

Mary Beth Baumgardner
Mrs. Baumgardner met and married her husband, Lewis, while living in Japan where he was serving in the U.S. Navy. They enjoy traveling around the United States and the world together looking for outdoor adventures and new foods and restaurants.
Mrs. Baumgardner grew up attending a small Christian school in her hometown in West Virginia. Now in Oklahoma, she is excited or the opportunity that God has provided to join together with parents, professionals, and students to learn and grow while giving glory to God.

Jason Mendenhall
Mr. Mendenhall enjoys teaching about other parts of this world and helping students have a better understanding of others.
The Mendenhall family includes his wife, Kelly and their children Jaylee, Jena, and Jett. They have been a foster family since 2011, so you will often see an extra kid around. When not working, Jason loves to run, play sports, and work on house projects. His family loves outdoor adventures and new experiences.
Math

Carrie Dubbell
Carrie absolutely loved her 3 years at Dale, but left in 2002 to move to Edmond with her husband Eric. They have two incredible son’s, Landon and Luke, who have both been at Crossings since the age of 2. Carrie has been able to stay at home with them since 2006 and is now excited that God has opened the door to teach again.

Kerrie Sala
Mrs. Sala loves middle school students! She especially enjoys teaching math to students who don’t particularly like math! She would describe her teaching style as versatile, but structured. Her goal in the classroom is to give her students lots of opportunities to explore math in different ways, but also to make sure that the foundations of math are well developed and fully understood.
Kerrie married her husband, Joey, in 1997 and the traveled all the way to Vietnam to adopt their energetic son, Zakary, in 2007. They enjoy attending Crossings Community Church, going to Zakary’s basketball and baseball games, growing vegetables in their garden, riding their bikes and traveling to Tulsa to see their extended families.
Science

Mallory Clark
Mrs. Clark says that she strives to create an enriching and engaging environment where her students feel at ease asking and answering questions as well as expressing their own opinions. She believes a warm and inviting classroom encourages students to feel comfortable and promote learning.
The Clark family includes husband, Billy, twins, Nora and Barron, and daughter Isabella. When not working, Mallory loves to travel, read, spend time with her family and friends, and play with her three dogs. Her family loves to hang out together, watch sports, and travel together.

Piper Link
Mrs. Link says that it is a privilege to work with high school students and get them interested in Science. She is intentional about providing a nurturing yet rigorous environment where students can be academically challenged. When asked her favorite unit to teach, she says cellular structure and function with genetics as a close second. Within Biology, she truly enjoys introducing students to dissection labs, organization and hands-on instruction.
The Link family includes husband, Brian, two daughters, Bronwyn and Murphy, and son, Graham. When not working, Piper loves to go to Starbucks and work on various bible studies, coach cheer and run. Her family loves to play games at Starbucks, take golf cart rides, and travel to Disneyland.
Electives
Michael Brown
Dean of Fine Arts
Band Director
Mr. Brown is intentional about using music to show the love of Jesus to everyone we come into contact with. From contests to football games, we are called to be a light unto the world. Music is a gift from God and the instrumental music department will glorify Him through every performance and event.
The Brown family includes wife Charissa and two children, Austin and Taylor. When not at work, Mr. Brown enjoys photography, movies, sports, particularly OSU and the OKC Thunder, and hanging out with friends and family.

Jennifer Bounds
Orchestra
Mrs. Bounds has taught music since 2001. She is excited to be able to teach community and love of music to students, through Christ. Also, to praise God, through music, with her talents and the talents of her students.
Jenn’s family includes her husband Cody, son, Micah and daughter Eden. When Jenn isn’t playing her cello or teaching music she loves to run in races, go on play dates with her kids, paint, read, shop, photography and travel.

Garrett Johnson
Band Director
Mr. Johnson has been an active church and outside musician for over 10 years. He enjoys using his gifts at his local church within the worship team. He also enjoys his pastimes, which include things such as running, recording music, drone photography and reading.
Mr. Johnson is excited about his role with the band program at Crossings. His experiences throughout the years have trained him to not only effetively teach music but also create a classroom culture that is positive and engaging. The goal of his class is to teach students how to play their instruments and to also teach life lessons and skills through it all. He hopes to show students that music is a gift from God and it is only the beginning of his greatness. With God all things are possible and the transformations that we go through when we accept him are more beautiful than anything we can imagine. Ultimately, his students will learn how to tie together their experiences in music, life and as a Christian and apply them to their own lives.

Angela Lux
Drama
Ms. Lux believes in a method of teaching that involves a lot of questions and allows both the students and teacher to learn new things while finding the answers to those questions. She works hard to promote a loving, creative, and inspiring environment where the kids can grow, discover, and be challenged. Her favorite part about teaching Social Studies is the myriad of opportunities to bring in information from a range of other subjects and disciplines.
Outside of her classroom, she enjoys delving into the wealth of literature, roaming the world, drinking coffee, creating literary worlds of her own, running, and coming up with new improbable ideas of adventures she can go on. She loves spending time with her family, whether playing board games, cooking feasts, obeying her nephews dictatorial commands, or going antique shopping with the girls.

Amber Mash
Vocal Music Director
Mrs. Mash enjoys teaching and working with students! She encourages students to be good stewards of the talents and gifts God has given them. She believes it is a special privilege to be able to assist in improving the skills and confidence of students, especially in regard to their own voice. Knowing that music is one of the primary tools we use for worship, she leads and supports students in their pursuit of excellence.
Mrs. Mash is married to her husband, Barret, a Physical Education teacher in Mustang. They have two school-age sons, Jacob and Tyler. When she is not working or attending school and church activities with her family, Mrs. Mash enjoys spending time with friends, playing games, reading, and eating movie theater popcorn.

Kyndall Rainey-Hancock
Art
Mrs. Hancock is excited to teach students that their creative abilities come from the ultimate artist, God. One of her favorite scriptures is found in Isaiah 64:8. “Yet you, Lord, are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” Her goal is to encourage students to think outside the box, to problem solve, and to communicate their beliefs and values in Christ through their artwork. Kyndall believes that art, partnered with scripture, can be a successful tool for overcoming stress, and promoting cognitive learning.
Kyndall and her husband Gabriel have been married since 2019. When Kyndall isn’t teaching art, she enjoys painting in her studio and exhibiting her artwork in local galleries. In addition, she also loves spending time with her friends and family, traveling, visiting art museums, and spending time outdoors.

Kristen Rayos
Technology
She has twin girls, Hannah and Olivia Rayos, who attend Crossings Christian School. Though they are twins, their looks are equally as different as their personalities, which keeps her busy with many activities, sports and laughs!
Ms. Rayos loves to spend time with her family and friends, and enjoys traveling to the mountains whenever she gets the chance.

Dennis Savill
Debate
Mr. Savill believes in helping to equip Christian students with the logical framework and persuasion skills needed to defend their faith against the myriad of intellectual attacks they will receive in college and beyond. By combining dialectic techniques with practice debates and learning about intellectual systems and Biblical examples, the student should calmly and persuasively argue that Christianity makes more sense than any other philosophy or structure.
The Savill family includes daughter, Olivia, French bulldog Blackberry and a slider turtle, Sacagawea. When not teaching, Dennis loves to read for fun and learning, watch movies and sports, travel and spend time with his favorite daughter. An avid movie and history buff, Dennis loves to discuss these two favorite subjects with other fans.

Jill Schenk
Library
Mrs. Schenk strongly values the gift of learning that God has given to each person and seeks to intentionally create a library climate that promotes the development of knowledge through literature and effective research. She seeks to create a 21st century library program that encourages exploration, creation, and collaboration between student and teachers, inspiring students to construct new knowledge and meaning from the world around them from a Biblical worldview.
Mrs. Schenk is an avid reader, and her favorite author is L.M. Montgomery. She enjoys literature from all genres, especially historical fiction and mystery.
Mrs. Schenk is married to fellow Crossings Athletic Director and Varsity Boys Basketball Coach, Shawn Schenk. They have been blessed with 4 children: Calvin, Clark, Faith, and Mae.
Mrs. Schenk also enjoys attending CCS sporting events and extra curricular activities, watching her children’s sporting events, teaching 5th and 6th grade Sunday School with her husband, and spending time with her family and friends.
Mrs. Schenk also enjoys attending CCS basketball games, being actively involved in her church, and spending time with her family and friends.

Kamron Vaughn
MS Physical Education
Assistant Athletic Director
Kamron believes in being interactive with his students and making Physical Education a blast! He wants to teach students how to enjoy sports with humility and grace. He has a passion for Christ-centered education and the value it holds.
Kamron and his amazing wife Kaylee have been married since 2013 and have one son named Silas and a Great Dane, Ellie. They are very active in their church and enjoy traveling and spending time with family and friends. They are also avid sports fans.

Jamie Wheat
PE
Mr. Wheat believes in fostering Christ centered, life long relationships. He wants to teach students to truly care for one another through love and truth and to help students build one another up on prayer and encouragement through scripture.
The foundation of Jamie’s coaching philosophy is based upon Proverbs 27:17: “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” He feels a passion to create a culture in which students, athletes, and coaches are constantly challenging, encouraging and sharpening one another for the overall goal of being a part of a team and succeeding together.
Jamie has been married to his high school sweetheart and best friend, Lauren, since 2009. They enjoy road trips together, traveling, being outdoors, playing with their dogs and spending quality time with friends and family. Mr. Wheat loves tennis, the ocean, road trips, music and learning from other people.

Lauren Wheat
MS Spanish
Lauren is thrilled to be part of Crossings. She has a heart for serving others, fostering relationships, and hopes to be an encouragement to students and co-workers.
She has been married since 2009 to Jamie Wheat, who teaches middle school P.E. at Crossings. Together, they have a son, Crosby, a daughter, Maggie, and two dogs. They attend Life Church NW OKC. Lauren loves to spend quality time with her family and friends. She likes to read, write, create, spend time outdoors, travel and explore.