AUGUST 19, 2016, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE A5
KeizerCommunity
KEIZERTIMES.COM
Mangan at home in Cummings
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
From school bus driver to
PE teacher to administration,
Cummings Elementary’s new
principal, Martina Mangan,
has done it all.
“I
bring
a
good
understanding for every
employee in the district and
where everybody is,” she said.
“I have a very high respect
for people at all levels of the
school operation.”
Mangan grew up in
Germany and got her
teacher’s license in Munich.
She planned to teach English
at a German secondary
school, but then she met
John, a Willamette University
exchange student.
Facing
an “academic
fl ood” with too many college
graduates and not enough
jobs, Martina and John,
newlyweds, decided to move
to John’s hometown of Keizer
in 1986.
“John wanted to come
home and I didn’t have a
job,” Martina said. “We made
the decision to let’s try it in
Oregon and if it works, maybe
we’ll stay. He stayed fi ve years
in Germany so we came up
with the agreement, if we stay
fi ve years in Oregon and I still
don’t like it, then we can go
back.”
Between high school and
college, Mangan had spent
a year in Toronto as a nanny
and it was there that she got
to really practice her English,
talking to a two-year-old.
“I was not shy to make
grammatical errors in front of
her because I knew she didn’t
know any better so I could
KEIZERTIMES/Derek Wiley
Martina Mangan stands in the library at Cummings Elementary, where she will serve as the school’s principal. Mangan is orginally
from Germany but has worked in the Salem-Keizer School District since 1986, starting out as a school bus driver.
speak freely,” Mangan said.
She had visited friends
in Arizona but never been
to Oregon. Thankfully, the
climate and terrain reminded
her of home. However,
Mangan’s German teaching
license wasn’t good in
Oregon so she had to go back
to school.
While getting her Oregon
license, she drove a school
bus because the training took
just three weeks. After a year,
Mangan, who was getting
her degree to teach PE and
German, began aiding a
PE teacher at Morningside
Elementary.
She got her license in 1989
and became a PE teacher at
Four Corners.
“I was one of those kids
that couldn’t sit still very long
and as a teacher I couldn’t
imagine teaching a subject
where I’m just stuck in the
classroom all day,” Mangan
said. “I wanted a balance
between an academic subject
and something that allows me
to move as a teacher as well as
“I want to establish myself as a
community member as well as
a principal …”
— Martina Mangan
with the kids.”
After six years at Four
Corners, Mangan became
the German teacher and head
swim coach at North Salem
High from 1995 to 2003. She
then moved up to assistant
principal at South Albany,
then back to North and then
West Salem before deciding
she wanted to get back to the
elementary school level.
“I have always liked working
with kids and that’s why I
came back to elementary,”
Mangan said. “I was in the
high school for a long time
and it’s great to talk to 14-18
year olds because they have a
better understanding of why
education is so important to
them but I enjoy that light
that comes on when a kid
learns to read or they fi nally
understand that multiplication
is just repeating addition.”
Mangan also likes that
elementary
schools
are
smaller. Instead of around
2,000 kids, there are 450.
“An elementary school is
more personal,” she said. “You
can eventually learn the names
of all 450 kids and you know
all of the teachers and their
families. You can build more
of a relationship. I really enjoy
the elementary. It’s great.”
While Mangan has worked
in schools all over the district,
this is her fi rst in Keizer,
where she has lived with
her husband, who teaches
German at McNary, the
entire time.
“I want to establish myself
as a community member as
well as a principal and this is
the fi rst time that I live and
work in the same community,”
she said. “I live right close to
here. It’s just different if you
work and live in the same
community. I’m really looking
forward to that.”
Mangan said her fi rst goal
as Cummings principal is to
learn the names of all the kids
and get to know the families.
“If you don’t know who
you’re teaching then it’s hard
to know what they need,” she
said.
Of
Cummings’
439
upcoming
fi rst
through
fi fth graders, 39 are English
Language Learners who speak
Spanish, Russian, Arabic,
Norwegian,
Lithuanian,
Marshallese and Trukese.
Mangan, who
knows
German, English, French and
some Spanish, believes her
background will help her
relate to those students and
their families.
“Having grown up in
another country I have
a really good feeling for
what immigrant families go
through,” she said.
Mangan is replacing Lisa
Sundseth, who after eight
years at Cummings is now
the principal at Valley Inquiry
Charter School.
births
• Zoe` Leona Moore
was born August 10, 2016
at Salem Hospital. The baby
girl weighed 5 pounds 14
ounces. The parents are Jona-
than Moore and Jasmine Gee
of Keizer. The grandparents
are Alexander and Myriam
Engert of Germany, Meridith
Diarmit of Salem and Daniel
Howton of Keizer.
•
Deelan
Lawrence
Green was born August 11,
2016 at Silverton Hospi-
tal. The baby boy weighed 8
pounds 8 ounces. The parents
are Matt and Desirae Green of
Keizer. Sibling, Abby 2. The
grandparents are Chuck and
Donna Carver of Molalla.
• Isaiah Lee Clark An-
derson was born August 11,
2016 at Salem Hospital. The
baby boy weighed 8 pounds
9 ounces. The mother is Reva
Anderson of Keizer. The pa-
ternal grandparents are Tony
Anderson.
Sam Goesch CLU, Agent
Sam Goesch Ins Agcy Inc
3975 River Road North
Keizer, OR 97303
Web: SamGoesch.com Bus: 503-393-6252
1211999
State Farm , Bloomington, IL
WorshipDirectory
These Salem-Keizer houses of worship invite you to visit.
Call to list your church in our Worship Directory: (503) 390-1051
John Knox Presbyterian Church
JOIN US FOR
SUNDAY WORSHIP
452 Cummings Lane North • 393-0404
8:30 am • 10 am • 11:30 am • 6 pm
PEOPLESCHURCH
4500 LANCASTER DR NE | SALEM
503.304.4000 • www.peopleschurch.com
Father Gary L. Zerr, Pastor
Saturday Vigil Liturgy: 5:30 p.m.
Sundays: 8:15 a.m. & 10:30 a.m.
La Misa en Español: 12:30 p.m.
Celebration
Services
Saturday Evening
6:00 pm
Children’s Programs, Student and Adult Ministries
1755 Lockhaven Dr. NE Keizer
503-390-3900
www.dayspringfellowship.com
Sunday Morning
9:00 am
and
10:45 am
Rev. Dr. John Neal, Pastor
Worship - 10:30 a.m.
Education Hour - 9:15 a.m.
Nursery Care Available
www.keizerjkpres.org
Faith Lutheran Church
4505 River Rd N • 393-4507
Sunday Schedule:
9:00 a.m. Children’s Church
9:15 a.m. Adult Bible Study
9:30 a.m. Children’s Activities
Pastor
Virginia Eggert 10:30 a.m. Worship with Communion