New Teachers at Northwest

This year at Northwest, the building has been fortunate enough to have talented new educators who want to come work and help Northwest.

Northwest has been gifted with a new Counselor, Ben Twigg; German teacher, Eric Köppel; English teacher, Elyse Hall; English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teacher, Samantha Synder; and IJAG teacher, Colton Kolowski. 

Ben Twigg, a new counselor at Northwest, has come back into the Waukee school district after six years of working in the Dallas Grimes area. Twigg previously taught social studies but found his way to becoming a counselor after teaching social studies. Twigg went to six years of school and now is a dedicated counselor. 

“I’ve lived in this community for 20 years now, working here really has been like I’ve moved back home,” Twigg commented.

Twigg’s passion for helping students succeed is why Northwest is so lucky to have him on its staff. 

Elyse Hall, a new Creative Writing 1 and 2 and English 3 teacher is very happy to now be working at Northwest, after deciding to leave Prairieview.

Hall likes to teach older students who are really willing to focus on the task at hand and will have in-depth conversations about the work. 

Hall has been teaching for five years, and she started her career in Truro, Iowa. Turo is a small rural community, outside of Des Moines. There she taught English II, English III, Technical Writing and Myths and Legends. Most recently she has taught Honors 1 and English 1 at Prairieview for 2 years. 

“I feel very fortunate to be a member of the Northwest English Department. My colleagues at Northwest have welcomed me with open arms and unwavering support. They are true experts in their craft, and I’m grateful to have the opportunity to learn from them,” Hall shared. 

Eric Köppel is a new German teacher here at Northwest. He was born and raised in Germany and has now decided to come work at Northwest. He previously worked at Timberline and Urbandale but also worked at other schools outside of Iowa. He worked in Connecticut and then worked for 14 years in Springfield, Illinois. 

Köppel got into education by not listening to his parents. Both of his parents were teachers and they discouraged him from teaching. Instead of following their wishes, Köppel began going to school for teaching. Once he made the choice to teach, schools in Germany required teachers to go to the US to learn about how schools in America function. He later decided to move to America.

“They let us work, we let you know, the administrators and whoever is in the school work and it’s a common sense of trust, I would say which I like,” Köppel stated. 

Samantha Synder, the new ESOL teacher is split between Waukee Middle School, Timberline and Northwest. 

Synder loves how Northwest allows her to teach new grade levels. She teaches sixth through tenth grade. Synder chose Waukee because when she walked into her interview, it felt like home to her. She liked what Waukee District believed in, such as their inclusivity. 

This is only her second semester of teaching because she began her career in January 2024. She graduated in December 2023, from Morningside University in Sioux City, IA.

“I had always wanted to be a teacher. Still, I hadn’t fully committed until my family and I went through the life-altering experience of my father being diagnosed with cancer. After that, I decided that life was too short to not do something you truly love! I was drawn to ESOL specifically because I have always enjoyed learning about different cultures. Being an ESOL teacher allows me to continuously learn about the world around me and teach,” Synder explained.