Bergan announces staff changes

Archbishop Bergan Catholic school has announced some staff changes for the 2021-22 school year.
 
Third-grade teacher Cindy Nielsen has chosen to retire after a 44-year career in education, including the past nine at Bergan Elementary. Nielsen plans on being a part-time substitute at the school in the future.
 
Caiti Parsons, a fifth-grade and six-grade instructor, will also be leaving Bergan Elementary. She will be moving with her husband to the San Diego area.
 
Maria Kruse has accepted the position as a third-grade instructor at Bergan Elementary. She most recently taught with the Archdiocese of Omaha at Saint Margaret Mary as a third-grade teacher.
 
Kruse has a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Kruse and her husband, Chad, have three children.
 
“We at Bergan Elementary are eager to welcome Maria into our educational family,” Bergan principal Dan Koenig said. “Maria is not afraid to live her Catholic out loud and we know that she will bring that same enthusiasm into educating her students to be disciples of Jesus Christ daily.”
 
Dan Sullivan has been hired for the fifth- and sixth-grade position.
 
Sullivan has a wealth of teaching experience. He taught at the middle-school level in Virginia for 10 years. He also taught and coached soccer at Midland University for 10 years.
 
Recently, Sullivan has served as a Paraeducator at Bergan Elementary.
 
Sullivan has a master’s degree in education from William Woods University and an undergraduate degree from William Woods University. He and his wife, Rebecca, are parents of two sons — both are students at Bergan.
 
“I know that he will be a calm presence for our fifth- and sixth-grade students,” Koenig said. “I look forward to the knowledge and guidance that students will receive from his classroom instruction.”