Staff Directory

My name is Megan Flores. I have been working for Kansas City Public Schools for 15 years. Of those 15 I have been a middle school ELA teacher, a middle school ELL teacher, and for the past 3 years, the instructional coach here at NEMS. I have a Bachelor's degree in Middle School Education, a Masters in Multicultural Curriculum & Instruction, a Masters in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), and an Education Specialist in School Leadership. I am married to my high school sweetheart of 20 years, we have been married for 10. I have 2 children of my own, who are also KCPS scholars. I am a product of KCPS myself, where I attended K-12. I am dedicated to helping teachers become the best they can be, which in turn allows students to be the best they can be.

For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it. ~ Amanda Gorman

My name is Ben Jonte and I am the visual arts teacher at Northeast Middle School. I am from Kansas City and attended KCPS schools. I have a Bachelors of Fine Arts, emphasis in painting and a Master of Arts in Teaching. I love making art, I love talking about art and I love teaching art. I love helping students persevere on challenging concepts, and seeing them make that crucial discovery that pays off their hard work is so awesome. I love teaching at NEMS and I look forward to another year with awesome art students!

I am Alesha Buccero and I am the 7th grade counselor NEMS. This is my 2nd year working at Northeast Middle School. I am part of the Trauma Team and I also am an AVID counselor and help out with National Junior Honor Society. I grew up in Missouri and a fun fact about my connection to NEMS is my grandpa went to middle school here in the 1950’s! I am passionate about helping our students succeed academically and socioemotionally.

“What you think, you become. What you feel, you attract. What you imagine, you create.” - Buddha

My name is Denita Wilson. I’m a Project Lead The Way Teacher at Northeast Middle School. I’m also the AVID Coordinator for Northeast Middle School. This is my 8th year with the KCPS School District. I have been married 22 years and I’m a mother of 3 girls. I have earned my Master of Business Administration and a Master of Teaching and Learning. I love technology, career exploration, and college readiness programs. I’m committed to helping my students grow and reach their goals and full potential.

Hello, my name is Marsha Lacey. I was born and raised in Kansas City, and I have been working for the Kansas City Missouri School District since 2005. I am certified to teach Family and Consumer Sciences; Child Development, Careers, Life Skills, Health, Clothing, Hotel Management, and Culinary, Social Studies, and PLTW. I have taught in three different states: Washington, Arizona, and Missouri. I have two grown daughters, Eboni who is 32, and Emani who is 28. I have done an outstanding job raising my girls (others say), and I use my knowledge as a parent educator to enlighten the lives of my students. I count it a privilege to be able to pour into the future generation of students at the Kansas City Missouri School District. I am committed to serving students beyond the cubicles of the school building. It is my pleasure!

I am Mrs Barriere, and I will be your 7th Grade English Language Arts and Reading teacher. This will be my 23rd year teaching and I have many exciting things to share with you this year and can’t wait to start learning together. I am excited to get to get to know everyone and make this year a wonderful learning experience and a productive school year! I was born and raised in Kansas City, Missouri, and graduated from Lincoln Prep Academy. I completed my Bachelors of Arts in English Education at Langston University, and I’m currently pursuing my Master’s degree at UMKC. I’m a proud ARMY veteran, and wife of a retired NAVY veteran, my beloved husband, Vincent, who teaches Life Skills at Central Middle. We have 8 children, 8 grandkids and love traveling, taking walks, picnics in the park, visiting museums, mentoring, and ministry.

My name is Haley Ferguson. I teach 8th Grade English Language Arts at Northeast Middle School. I earned my BA in French and Spanish from Pomona College in 2018. After that, I served with AmeriCorps for two years. I served one year with City Year at Northeast Middle School and one year with JusticeCorps in Los Angeles, CA. I graduated from UMKC with a Master of Arts in Teaching in 2021, and I am so excited to be starting my teaching career here in Northeast. My mission is to help your students pursue personal and intellectual growth and find joy in reading and writing. I can't wait to see what we accomplish together this year!

"The teacher is of course an artist but being an artist does not mean that he or she can make the profile, can shape the students. What the educator does in teaching is to make it possible for the students to become themselves.” - Paulo Freire

My name is April Hoffman. I'm an ESL ELA teacher at Northeast Middle School. I have been a teacher for 17 years, but this is my first year in KCPS school district. I have been married for 12 years and have two daughters. I am honored to work with your children and to be part of Kansas City Public Schools.

My name is Rebekah Seyfert. My teaching career started in South Korea, where I lived for three years while working as an elementary ESL teacher for multiple local public schools. I moved to Kansas City two years ago through the Teach for America program to pursue a Masters’ in Education and simultaneously began working here at Northeast Middle School. My specialty is working with our Culturally and Linguistically Diverse students. I teach Advanced ELL ELA and co-teach in the mainstream ELA classes to better support our ELL students there. I love being a part of such a diverse community of learners and my goal as a teacher is to help each of my students understand the power of their own voice and show them how to advocate for and express themselves.

Hello, my name is Melanie Gomez. I have been working for Kansas City Public Schools for 15 years, mostly as an ELL paraprofessional. I speak Spanish fluently, having earned my BA in Spanish. I have 2 children of my own, Guillermo, 11, and Sebastian, 6, plus a wonderful husband. I believe motherhood is the most challenging and rewarding job there is, and it has equipped me to service your children as I would want my own to be treated at school. I am committed to the families and staff of Kansas City Public Schools and am excited to serve you at Northeast Middle School this year.

My name is Farhiya Mohamed. I'm a Family & Community Engagement Liaison at Northeast Middle School. I have mentored two of our students last school year. This is my second year in the KCPS school district. I have been married for 14 years and I’m a mother of four who all attend KCPS schools. I am bilingual. My first language is Somali. I’m originally from Somalia but I grew up in Atlanta, GA. I’m honored to work with your children. My goal is to straighten the partnership between you and your child school to achieve academic success. I'm excited to be part of Kansas City Public Schools.

My name Is Laura Culp. I earned my BA in a social science field from the University of South Florida in Tampa, where I grew up. I received my Middle School Certification from the University of South Carolina – Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina where my husband and I began our family of two girls. In Spartanburg I taught Math 7 for 2 years at McCracken Junior High School. My husband then attended law school in New Hampshire and I taught Math 7, Math 8 and Algebra 1 at Merrimack Valley Middle School for 10 years. In 2018 he was transferred to Kansas City and I was lucky enough to get to teach with the amazing staff and students here at Northeast Middle School. I currently teach Math 8, Algebra 1 and the AVID Elective.

Ron Malanga teaches Band at NEMS. He is passionate about curricular merit, and has led 50+ seminars locally and internationally on aligning music curricula with the science of how the musical mind works; most recently as an invited lecturer at the New Univ. of Lisbon, a keynote speaker for SciFest Dubai, and twice for the BSME Music & Drama Conferences. He has adjudicated choral and instrumental competitions including the Bahrain Music Festival. With over 130,000 hits, his music education blog is dedicated to teaching teachers. A former conductor of the Dubai Wind Band, he has also conducted operas for the UAE National Symphony. A practicing musician, he has sung with the Dubai Chamber Choir, and played timpani for UAENSO, and is joining the Kansas City Chorale. He has also led 35 musical team-building events with corporations including IBM, JPMorgan, Emerson, Siemens, Travelport, Aramex, Emirates, Airbus, MetLife, and more.

Hi, I'm Susan Palmer. I fell into teaching more than 30 years ago, and there is nothing on earth I would rather be doing for a living. I am certified to teach both language arts and social studies. I have taught in several Kansas City area schools as well as overseas. I am currently teaching American History here at Northeast Middle. I am also a longtime resident of the Historic Northeast! Go Titans! Go Vikings!

My name is Jennifer Gwinner and this is my 8th year teaching at Northeast Middle School. This year I am excited to be teaching Creative Writing first semester and Speech/Debate second semester. I am a resident of the Historic Northeast and love this area so much and am proud to serve it. I also serve on the board of a local social justice organization, working on local policies which affect so many Kansas Citians in regards to health, transportation, workforce, education, and policing.  I have two small dogs that I walk regularly around the Indian Mound neighborhood.