Faculty

	Jon McKim Kindergarten jon.mckim@saints.org
Mr. Jon McKim is beginning his fifth year of teaching and his third year teaching at Trinity. He obtained his teaching degree from Concordia University in Portland. He has been married to Rachel, his high school sweetheart for 14 years and they have two daughters at Trinity, Megan in 6th and Emma in 3rd. Fun Fact: Jon is a survivor of the West Nile virus.


	Tonja Clift 1st Grade tonja.clift@saints.org
Mrs. Tonja Clift has been teaching children at Trinity for 13 years. She is a graduate of WOU in Monmouth, Oregon. She grew up in Central Oregon, attending Trinity Lutheran Church, and is now raising her family here as well. She is married to Greg (4th grade) and has two daughters that attend Trinity, Calah a 10th grader and Megan who is in 7th grade. Fun Fact: Mrs. Clift attended Kindergarten at Trinity.

	Mary Maurer 1st/2nd Grade mary.maurer@saints.org
Mrs. Mary Maurer graduated from Concordia University, Seward with a B.S. in Education. This is her 10th year teaching 2nd grade. She has been married to her husband Ron for 26 years, and has two children, Luke and Melissa. Fun Fact: Mrs. Maurer has taught at Trinity her entire teaching career.

Kathy Gibson
2nd Grade
kathy.gibson@saints.org

Mrs. Kathy Gibson graduated Cum Laude from California State Polytechnic University with a BA in English. She worked in the civil engineering field as an engineering designer and licensed surveying technician while advancing her education in math and engineering science. Later she completed her teacher education program and California teaching credential from Concordia University, Irvine. This is her 6th year teaching 2nd grade at Trinity. Fun fact: Mrs. Gibson surveyed the land now underwater at the Diamond Valley Reservoir for Metropolitan Water District of Southern California.

	Donna Brisk 3rd Grade donna.brisk@saints.org
Mrs. Donna Brisk has been teaching for 22 years. She graduated from Minnesota State University, Mankato. Since teaching at Trinity, she completed her Lutheran teacher training through CUENET and Concordia College in addition to other graduate courses. Donna is married to Ken (our Head of Building Maintenance) and has three grown children. Fun fact: Donna has her own website!


	Greg Clift 3rd/4th Grade, PE greg.clift@saints.org
Mr. Greg Clift graduated from Western Oregon University with a B.S. in Elementary Education and a Masters degree from Concordia Portland. He has been the Athletic Director for many years, and in additon to coaching and teaching P.E. has taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grades. Greg is married to Tonja (a 1st grade teacher at Trinity) and has two daughters that both attend TLS, Calah and Megan. Fun fact: Greg could live on Nacho Cheese Doritos and Mountain Dew and/or homemade Rice Krispy Treats and milk!


	Sue Newman 4th Grade sue.newman@saints.org
Mrs. Sue Newman is in her 10th year teaching at Trinity. She was born and raised in the Portland area and attended Oregon State University, graduating in Elementary Education. She is married to Mike and they have two children Lindsey and Austin. Lindsey attends Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and Austin just graduated from Summit High School and is headed to college in the fall. Fun fact: Mrs. Newman is a big baseball fan!


	Debbie Valentine 5th Grade debbie.valentine@saints.org
Mrs. Debbie Valentine has been teaching at Trinity for 15 years. She graduated from Concordia College in Portland Oregon in 1994 and has a Master's degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University in Irvine, California. Debbie is married to Jim and they have two children. Layton is in 1st grade at Trinity and Lexi is in preschool at Trinity. Fun fact: Debbie was a nanny in Germany and that’s where she discovered that she wanted to be a teacher.

For a complete list of faculty and staff emails, click here.