Staff Members

Kevin Varner

School Principal

Mr. Kevin Varner has been the principal at OLC since 2004. Mr. Varner began his teaching career at Holy Trinity School where he taught Second grade for six years. He was then hired to serve as principal at St. Michael Parish in Coopersville. Mr. Varner hold a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science from Grand Valley State University and a Master’s Degree in Education form Nazareth College in Kalamazoo. Mr. Varner is a member of Holy Spirit Parish in Grand Rapids. Mr. Varner enjoys playing tennis, golf and spending time at the beach with family and friends.

Ellen Erhardt

Preschool Director

Ellen Erhardt has been a member of the OLC staff for many years, teaching preschool and young fives.  She has taught at several Catholic schools, including one in Cincinnati.  Her classes have ranged from preschool to high school seniors, covering subjects such as math, religion, social studies, and science.  She loves being back with the preschool children!  She is an active member of Blessed Sacrament parish in Grand Rapids and St. Ann’s/St. Ignatius in Baldwin, MI, where she and her husband have a cabin.  She has two married daughters, a son, and four grandchildren.  She loves spending time with her family and enjoys escaping to their cabin up north.

Michelle Lemmen

Kindergarten

Michelle Lemmen teaches kindergarten at Our Lady of Consolation School. She has been teaching for over 15 years. She received her Elementary teaching degree from Aquinas College with a major in Social Studies and a minor in Reading. Her home parish is St. Michael’s in Coopersville where she used to teach first and second grade. She enjoys spending time with her husband Derek, two dogs Scout and Addie, gardening, baking, doing crafts, and the great outdoors.  Her favorite thing to do is spend time with her family. Our Lady of Consolation holds a special place in her heart where she can share her strong faith and teach children to read.

Lori Killinger

First Grade

Mrs. Killinger is the Kindergarten teacher at Our Lady of Consolation. Many of the children call her Mrs. K. She was born and raised in Indiana and received her bachelor’s degree from Indiana University. When she moved to Michigan, Mrs. Killinger took classes at Aquinas, specializing in reading. She taught First grade at St. Patrick School in Parnell for 14 years and a 3rd/4th split for a year before she came here to Our Lady of Consolation. Mrs. Killinger started and ran the RtI program here at Our Lady of Consolation until she moved into the regular classrooms. She has four children, Sarah- 29, Ali-27, Kaitie-19, Jake-17 and is married to Steve Killinger. She belongs to Our Lady of Consolation parish. During her free time she loves to golf, read and travel. One of her favorite places to travel is the southwest part of Montana, where her family owns a rental vacation home.

Karen Schuler

Second Grade

Karen Schuler has taught for 25 years and has been teaching 2nd grade since 2012. Karen and her husband, Joe, have two boys, Andrew and Jack. Karen is an active member of Blessed Sacrament Church.
This is Karen’s 22nd year teaching.

Besides 2nd grade, she has also taught 3rd and 4th grade, middle school science, English, and religion.  As a child, Karen attended St. Anthony’s and West Catholic High School. Karen graduated from Grand Valley State University with a Bachelor’s degree in Science and a Master’s degree in Gifted and Talented Education (Educational Differentiation). Karen enjoys reading, camping, working out, and spending time outdoors. Her favorite thing to do is spend time with her family.

Melissa Stachowiak

Third Grade

Melissa Stachowiak is the third grade teacher. She has been teaching at Our Lady of Consolation for over two decades. Over those years, she has taught in second, third, and fourth grades as well as middle school math. She attended Catholic Schools throughout her K-12 education. She received a Bachelor of ArtsDegree from Aquinas College in Elementary Education with emphasis in Psychology and Math. For graduate school, she attended Grand Valley State University and received her Master’s degree in Elementary Education with a focus on Educational Differentiation.

In addition to working at Our Lady of Consolation, Melissa is also a member of the parish. She has three children-Caleb, Olivia, and Brandon. In addition to her three kids, she has a dachshund named Louie.

Kathryn Francis-Bohr

Fourth Grade

Kathryn Francis-Bohr is a fourth grade teacher.  She has been teaching at Our Lady of Consolation for over 5+ years.  She attended Catholic Schools throughout her K-12 education.  She is a member of St. Gerard Parish in Lansing, Michigan.  She received her Elementary teaching degree from Michigan State University with a major in Math and a minor in Reading.  She also has earned her Master’s degree in Education Technology from Michigan State University.  In her free time she enjoys traveling all over the world and seeking out new adventures.  She is a big MSU fan and enjoys watching football and basketball.  

Jennifer Pugliese

Fifth Grade

Jennifer Pugliese has been an educator in the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids for over 20 years. She is a graduate of Grand Valley State University, where she earned her Masters in Education. Our Lady of Consolation was Mrs. Pugliese’s childhood parish where she made her First Holy Communion and received the sacrament of Confirmation. Mrs. Pugliese lives in Ada with her husband and their two children. She is a parishioner of St. Robert’s of Newminster parish.

Katherine Schoenborn

MS Science

I have been teaching at OLC for over 10 years and I absolutely love the community and support that surrounds our school. I have two boys and two derpy dogs who all keep my busy and on my toes. I am a native of West Michigan, a graduate of GVSU, and have accepted the fact that I am now older than most of my students’ parents. When I am not at school, I can be found reading a variety of books, playing trivia, and planning my next road trip. 

Mitch Ziomkowski

MS Math

Currently, Mr. Ziomkowski lives in Rockford with his two sons and wife.  He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Health Science from Grand Valley State University, and a Master’s Degree in Elementary Teacher Education from the University of Phoenix.  Previously, Mr. Ziomkowski has worked in the Catholic Diocese of Grand Rapids as middle school teacher for the past seven years, and feels blessed to be able to continue teaching in the Catholic Schools.  When he is not teaching, Mr. Z loves all things centered around physical, mental, and spiritual health.  Topping his list of hobbies is: lifting weights, running, mountain biking, yoga, cooking, and doing anything that involves his family.  Mr. Ziomkowski loves being part of the team here at OLC!

Linda Novak

MS ELA/Religion

Linda Novak has been teaching either first or second grade at Our Lady of Consolation School since the 1999-2000 school year. She graduated from Western Michigan University in 1992. Prior to teaching at Our Lady, she taught Kindergarten and Preschool at Sts. Peter and Paul in Grand Rapids. Linda holds an Advanced Catechetical Certification from the Diocese of Grand Rapids. She is a life-long Diocese of Grand Rapids resident attending St. Anthony of Padua parish school for her elementary education and West Catholic High School. She and her husband Brian enjoy camping and attending Christian music festivals in the summer. They have four children. Two are OLC and West Catholic alumni. One is currently attending OLC and the youngest will be joining the Kindergarten class in the fall of 2019.

Wendy Rigley

MS Social Studies/Religion

Wendy Rigley started teaching at OLC in the fall of 2020. She is the Middle School social studies and 7th grade religion teacher.  Wendy graduated from Belding High School and received both her undergraduate in secondary education and Masters degree in history from Central Michigan University.   Wendy lives in Caledonia with her husband, Joe, 2 daughters, Ella and Ava, and dog Ruby.  As a family they love to travel both around the world and in the US.  They also spend a lot of time camping all over Michigan during the summer.   She taught at Quincy Community schools and St. Alphonsus School in Dearborn before staying at home with her children for 9 years.  She loves being back in the classroom and her favorite is middle school!  What she loves most about middle school is how fun they are at this age.  Middle schoolers are so unique and every aspect of their personalities at this age is exactly what she loves about them.  Wendy remembers what it was like to be in this “middle” age of not being a little kid anymore, but also not being grown up. She also remembers those patient, nurturing teachers in middle school and feels called to be that teacher for the students here at OLC.

Amy Klobucher

Student Support Services

Mrs. Amy Klobucher Graduated from Grand Valley in 2009 with a Major in English, minor in Elementary Education. She taught 3rd/4th grade before coming to Our Lady C in 2014. Mrs. Klobucher lives in Rockford with her husband Mike and and their 4 children, including twin babies that keep her busy! She enjoys reading, camping, watching football, working out and helping run their gym. She loves working at OLC with the amazing staff and families that make it such a great place to be!