Jana was born in Colorado and attended Dordt College in Iowa, graduating with a degree in elementary education with a specialty area of Special Education.  She and her husband Tim were married two days after graduation and  will be married 30 years this Spring.  Jana  moved to Montana in 1981 where she taught 2nd and 3rd grades at MCS for five years.  She "retired" at that time to raise her three children.  Her oldest child,  Jake is teaching middle school on Saipan, an island north of Guam.  He has been married to Jackie for four years.  Her oldest daughter Beth is looking for a job in social work in the Chicago area after graduating from college last Spring.  Jana's youngest daughter is a sophomore in college with a creative writing major.  Jana came back to teaching 13 years ago, helping with a large kindergarten class. The year after that she began to teach preschool at MCS and enjoyed that for five years.  This is her sixth year teaching kindergarten at MCS and she continue to enjoy working with children and parents at this level.