Meet Our New Faculty!
Bishop Baraga is excited to welcome new faces to our classrooms this year! Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Brenda Velandia, Mrs. Jill McLeod, Mr. Sean McNeil, and Mrs. Peggy Paull to the BBCS family. And through a new shared time partnership with Oxford Community Schools, students will get to participate in Art, PE, and STEM classes this year — with Mr. McNeil and Mrs. Paull, both former BBCS co-principals, returning to lead those classes.
Please join us in welcoming Mrs. Velandia, Mrs. McLeod, Mr. McNeil, and Mrs. Paull to the BBCS family. We can't wait for a great year ahead! Read on to meet each of them below.🦅
Mrs. Brenda Velandia will join us as the 3rd grade teacher this year.
She fell in love with BBCS when her daughter, Rylee, started attending in 2019. Over the past seven years, she and her husband have been involved in the school by running multiple clubs, and for the last two years she served as a substitute teacher. Mrs. Velandia holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business Management with a minor in History, and is enrolled in Teachers of Tomorrow. Outside of the classroom, she enjoys spending time with family, bowling, golfing, and playing women’s hockey. She is excited to begin this new adventure and can’t wait to get to know her students and help them learn, grow, and succeed this year!
Mrs. Jill McLeod joins us as 4th and 5th grade teacher, bringing over 30 years of previous educational experience as a teacher and administrator.
Her passion is teaching all aspects of literacy, while encouraging her students to discover the joy of reading and writing. She lives across the bridge in Cedarville with her husband, Jeff, who also works in Cheboygan. She enjoys spending time with her two grown children through weekend excursions in northern Michigan and taking boat rides on Lake Huron. In the summer, she runs her family's ice cream shop in Cedarville, where she enjoys meeting people visiting the area. She is looking forward to becoming part of the Bishop Baraga team!
Mr. Sean McNeil will be contracted through Oxford Schools to teach both PE and Art.
He recently retired after 31 years as an Art teacher with Cheboygan Area Schools and continues to serve as the Cheboygan High School Girls Golf Coach. His connection to BBCS runs deep, both personally and through his family: all four of his children attended Bishop Baraga, and he has served the school as a member of the Advisory Board, as president of the Bishop Baraga Foundation, as coach of the girls' basketball team, and, most recently, as one of our interim co-principals. He is looking forward to an exciting school year filled with creativity, movement, and learning, getting to know the students and working alongside our new principal, our dedicated faculty and supportive families!
Mrs. Peggy Paull brings more than 20 years of teaching experience in math and science at Cheboygan Public Schools to her role as BBCS’s first STEM teacher.
She holds a degree in Metallurgical Engineering from Michigan Technological University, an MBA from Case Western Reserve University, and a mathematics major with a minor in elementary education from Spring Arbor University. She looks forward to helping students explore STEM concepts through engaging, hands-on activities. Outside of school, Mrs. Paull enjoys spending time with her family, hiking, biking, camping, and reading.