Julie Staley, AKPIRC Director
Since 1992 she has provided quality assistance to rural schools in the development and management of their state and federal grant programs, including pre-audits. She has successfully coordinated Indian Education technical assistance in the state and provides related parent committee training and state workshops. Julie's experience with professional development has led her to develop a Professional Practices Inventory aligned with the Alaska State Teacher Standards and administer the NCLB Highly Qualified teacher program for SERRC staff. Julie is also a trainer of the Data Analysis Retreat process. In addition, she has worked with the State Department of Education and Early Development in the initial movement towards Alternative Teacher Certification, has provided State Mandated Trainings and worked with the Juneau School District to develop their teacher and administrator evaluations.

Julie has education experience in two countries. In Australia, she was a secondary school teacher for 13 years, including 6 years as a high school administrator, and one year in the Queensland Department of Education as a team member of the Secondary Transition Education Project. This project focused on improving the vocational skills of high school students to transition from secondary education to the workplace. She commenced her career at SERRC in 1992, and since then has focused on working with rural schools to develop and coordinate their federal and state grants.

Julie's commitment to provide schools with quality work and a clear understanding of grant management is highly valued by school districts.

She holds a Bachelor's Degree in Education from the University of Queensland, both Australian and Alaska teacher credentials, and has been with SERRC for 14 years.

 
Teri Dierick, Director of Finance and Operations
Teri Dierick is the Director of Finance and Operations for SERRC as well as the Program Director for the Business Services section of the organization. Teri’s accounting career spans over 20 years.

Teri is a product of the Alaska educational system. She grew up in Yakutat, Alaska and became the Business Manager for the Yakutat School District during her senior year of high school. She held that position for 6 years before deciding to leave the state to work for Alaska Airlines in Seattle, Washington. After the excitement of the big city wore off, Teri returned to Yakutat to accept a position with the City & Borough of Yakutat as its Finance Director.

Teri began her career at SERRC in 2002 as the Finance Manager. Prior to working at SERRC she had once again been the Business Manager at the Yakutat School District and also worked as an Administrative Manager for the State of Alaska.

At SERRC, Teri is responsible for the oversight of the business service clients that we serve and also oversees the day to day financial operations of the organization.

Karin Halpin, Education Specialist
Karin Halpin joined SERRC in August 2007. She comes to SERRC with nine years teaching experience in rural Alaska, a Reading Endorsement, and a Masters Degree in Reading. Three years were spent in Goodnews Bay with multi-aged classrooms and six years in Akiak; one as a second/third grade teacher and five as a literacy specialist for grades K-12. She also coordinated a birth to three home visiting program for the Yupiit School District and is Past-President of the Alaska State Literacy Association.

 Kela Halfmann, Technology Operations Specialist/Designer
Kela has over 20 years in public relations, marketing, and communications design. Her experiences have ranged from developing and implementing community outreach and youth education programs to designing and producing comprehensive information packages including website design and development, print productions, and film media for public information. As the Site Designer and Webmaster for the umbrella agency (SERRC) and AKPIRC, she has developed and launched interactive websites/forums and designed cutting edge multi-media and print presentations for both the agency and for programs specific to educators, parents, and students. Kela also provides professional development and technology instruction in computer skills training, software applications, and also offers in-service training to districts on website construction.