CJ joined the workforce immediately after high school as a full-time floor mechanic. He offered his services across Idaho, Utah, Oregon, and even Washington! After 5 years, he decided on a career change and worked for the Cassia School District for 2 years as part of their Maintenance & Custodial team until the school district switched employers. When CJ had some free time during his summer vacations, he volunteered his time with Syringa with maintenance and custodial work when needed. And that’s how CJ’s story with Syringa began!
Fun Fact: CJ’s full name is Clifford James Edwards. He got his nickname CJ from his initials.
Janessa, like many other faculty at Syringa, was raised here in the valley. After graduating from the University of Vermont in 2020 with her bachelor of social work she returned to the Wood River Valley. Last year she spent her time substituting and skiing before taking a full-time position at Wood River Middle School as an academic coach. There she fostered a love for teaching and being part of a school community. Since then, Janessa has started her journey towards becoming a teacher and is currently working towards a masters in arts education. She could not be happier to be a member of the Syringa community this year!
Jennifer grew up in a rural town two hours north of New York City in the beautiful Hudson Valley region of New York State. A natural-born vocalist and performer at heart, Jennifer majored in Communication Arts with a minor in musical theater. She received her Bachelor’s degree from The State University of New York College at Plattsburgh and then went on to McGill University to study abroad in Montreal, Canada.
After graduating college, Jennifer pursued her singing career at full speed. She performed all over the country in various venues singing in nightclubs and piano bars. She also had quite a recording career singing high-energy dance music that landed her in the top 20 on the Billboard charts. Her music was played on Serious Satellite Radio, nightclubs, airplanes, background music in trendy stores, and athletic clubs. After residing in Boston for many years, she moved to Manhattan. While pursuing her singing career she utilized her Communications degree and became a Senior Project manager for several advertising agencies during the Dot Com era.
It was while living in Manhattan, Jennifer took a trip to Las Vegas and met her now-husband, Stephen. He worked for the Caesars Corporation. It was love at first sight. Jennifer returned to New York City and continued a long-distance relationship with Stephen. Then 9/11 happened and Jennifer got laid off from her job. Yes, she witnessed the horrific event up close and personal from her office window. She will never forget! Being out of a job she left Manhattan and moved to Vegas baby!
The next step was marriage to Steve! 2 years later they were blessed with their beautiful baby girl. Jen loved being a stay-at-home mom for 6 years until her precious girl entered school. It was at this time that Jen became a paraprofessional at her daughter’s school. For the next 10 years, she worked for the Clark County School District where she became very passionate and fell in love with being an educator and helping kids. Steve, Jen, and Hailey were living a great life in Las Vegas.
Then one day Covid hit. Steve lost his job and so did Jen. The entire hospitality industry and school district shut down. They believed things would open up in 3 months. Things did not. Jen’s sister who has lived in The Wood River Valley for 40 years told Steve and Jen of a few job openings. They decided it would be a great opportunity to move to The Wood River Valley where they had spent so many Thanksgivings and Summers. Steve applied and went through some rigorous interviews and physical tests and training to become a deputy for The Blaine County Sheriff’s Department. And Jen? Well, she jumped at the chance when she saw an opening to work at such an intimate school that focuses a lot on outdoor education. Jen has a ton of life experience to share with the kiddos at Syringa Mountain School. She believes her life has come full circle from rural town roots to city life and now to have the opportunity to live in Hailey Idaho, another wonderful small town. She feels extremely grateful and proud to be part of such an amazing community.
This Boomer grew up in rural northwest Illinois and was fortunate enough to live 7 miles from a ski area and 11 miles from a climbing crag on the Mississippi River. After a few ski trips out west, it didn’t take much motivation for Mark to relocate to Jackson Hole and get schooled by the mountains and snowpack of the Tetons. During his early years in Wyoming, Mark enjoyed time in Laramie, at the University Of Wyoming (GO Cowpokes!), earning a BA in Spanish Education. After a stressful student teaching experience at the old JH High School, followed by a few years of substitute teaching (never answer the phone on a powder day), Mark was offered a position as a climbing guide with Jackson Hole Mountain Guides, which turned into a 20+ year career of guiding and instructing hundreds of clients on the peaks and walls of the Tetons, Wind Rivers, the Sierra, Devils Tower and Red Rocks (Vegas).
Mark moved to the Wood River Valley in Sept 2016 to be closer to his now 12 yr old daughter, who attended Syringa for 5 years. If Mark is not spending time with his daughter, or working at Syringa, or climbing, or hiking, or back-country skiing…or riding the vast network of moto & mountain bike trails this valley has to offer, he is probably sleeping. He needs all the sleep he can get.
Daniel grew up in rural southern Idaho. He attended CSI and started his journey majoring in Computer Engineering. He has held a multitude of jobs across the spectrum from website programming, call center tech support, and even a Level 2 Quality Assurance Tester for a game company in southern California.
Daniel now fixes all things technical at Syringa Mountain School as well as holding the front desk down, and helping with typing, literacy, and math. If you or your child has had an issue with a device at Syringa, Daniel has probably fixed it. He is most likely fixing something right now. Don’t mistreat your chromebooks!
Fun Facts about Mr. Daniel:
•He graduated valedictorian and scored a perfect 36 on his Science ACT.
•He is passionate about his grizzly beard!
Born and raised in Colombia (not Columbia) South America in a close-knit family Gloria obtained her BS in Business Administration.
Gloria first arrived in the United States via Texas. Later she moved to California attended UCLA obtaining a certificate as Translator/Interpreter Spanish-English-Spanish… Why stop there! Gloria then attended San Joaquin Delta College obtaining her Associate Degree with Honors in Art and Science. To further her education she transferred to California State University Stanislaus getting her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies – Cum Laude as well as her BCLAD-Spanish Teaching Credential and an endorsement to teach Spanish at a High School Level.
Since 2012 Gloria has lived in Hailey and has been part of the Syringa staff since November 2019.
