– Focus on Your School –

By Dr. Paul Schley Cornell District Administrator

The Cornell School District would like to welcome the following teachers.

Megan DuFrane

Megan DuFrane started out the school year with Cornell, coming to the district as a kindergarten teacher, after teaching for two years in Arizona. She is from Milwaukee, and graduated from Sussex Hamilton High School in 2012. She completed her education at UW-River Falls in 2016, with a major in elementary education, and a minor in early childhood and psychology.

She is part of the after-school program and enjoys crafting. DuFrane got married over the summer to her husband, Devan.

As part of her teaching methods, DuFrane likes using books to help spark learning.

“As long as I can remember, I have wanted to be a teacher,” said DuFrane. “My mom is a preschool teacher and so I grew up helping in the classroom. I love working with young students, because they have a passion for learning.”

Austin Hiess

Acting as speech-language pathologist as of Nov. 4, Austin Hiess is from Chippewa Falls, graduating from McDonell Central in 2012. After that, Hiess attended UW-Eau Claire for a bachelor’s in communication sciences and disorders, minoring psychology.

He also received a certificate in American sign language in 2017; a master’s of science in speech-language pathology in 2019; EMT certification through the Army National Guard in 2014, which was renewed in 2018. Heiss served in the Wisconsin Army National Guard for six years, as a combat medic.

Heiss previously was at the Chippewa Falls School District, and enjoys playing many sports, including football, basketball and volleyball. He also likes working on house projects, hiking and watching movies.

He has a wife and two dogs – a yellow lab and a chocolate lab.

Great role models and a desire to help others, influenced him to become a teacher. Hiess plans to implement evidenced based practices within functional and useful activities, to support academic and life skills. Those techniques will be paired with motivating or high-interest activities, to increase the students’ desires to participate and learn.

“I am fortunate enough to have been given the chance to impact the future of many lives,” said Hiess. “As a speechlanguage pathologist, I look forward to supporting skills in children that will change their lives for the better and prepare them for whatever career path they choose.”