Meet our Acorn Team
PASSION PREVAILS HERE
CHRIS MANNEN
ELEMENTARY TEACHER 3RD - 5TH GRADE
Chris graduated with a degree in Elementary Education from Eastern Kentucky University. She taught 4th, 5th, and 6th grades in Lexington, Kentucky and in Greeley, Colorado while her husband Tony attended graduate school. They came to Idaho in 1975 for Tony to teach Speech and Drama at The College of Southern Idaho. She then taught kindergarten in Kimberly until their twin sons, Josh and Dan, were born in 1977. When they began preschool in 1980, Chris became involved as an aide and then as a teacher at Horizon Learning Center. Chris, Diana Westermann, and Bernice Roesler started Acorn when Horizon closed. Chris has taught preschool, kindergarten, primary, and advance students. Chris says she has loved watching Acorn grow.
Terri Swensen
HEAD TEACHER & ELEMENTARY TEACHER 1ST - 2ND GRADE
Terri graduated from Brigham Young University with a BS in Elementary Education, after finishing her student teaching in China. She taught 4th grade in Utah for two years and then moved to California with her husband, Andrew. While in California, Terri spent time as a substitute for various elementary schools until she and Andrew moved back to their hometown of Twin Falls. She is a proud mom of 4 boys and a daughter-in-law. She enjoys family time, reading, puzzles, outdoors, traveling and teaching awesome students at Acorn Learning Center! Terri happily re-entered the wonderful world of teaching in 2012 and taught kindergarten at Acorn Learning Center for the past 11 years. She is excited to teach the 1st and 2nd grade students and looks forward to a spectacular year!
JaNae Swensen
KINDERGARTEN TEACHER
JaNae Swensen is excited to be teaching kindergarten at Acorn Learning Center. JaNae grew up in South Jordan, Utah right in the middle of a large family of 7 children. She earned her BS Degree in Early Childhood Education from Utah State University in Logan, Utah. She taught summer migrant school with HeadStart in Logan and was a nanny for a family in addition to her student teaching assignments associated with her degree. After graduating and having her first child in Logan she moved to Twin Falls with her husband to work in the family business (Swensen’s Markets). JaNae is the mother of five wonderful children- 3 girls and 2 boys. JaNae has been actively involved in her children's education / music / sports and 4H. In 2018, when her youngest child started Kindergarten, JaNae joined the acorn staff as the preschool teacher. JaNae now teaches Kindergarten at Acorn and she loves it!! JaNae also loves to cook, bake, read, sing and enjoy the outdoors with her family.
Alexia mireles
PRESCHOOL TEACHER & COMPUTER TEACHER
Alexia was born and raised in Twin Falls, Idaho. She graduated from both College of Southern Idaho and Boise State University. Most of her free time is devoted to her four younger siblings. A fun fact is that she and her youngest sibling are 25 years apart! She has experience in early childhood education as well as administrative roles. She is thrilled to join the Acorn Learning Center community as the Preschool and Pre-kindergarten teacher.
EMILY ELLIOT
PRESCHOOL CLASSROOM AID
Emily and her husband both grew up in Southern California but have been in Twin Falls for the last 3 years. They have 3 daughters, Mylie 11, Macie 7 and “Happy” (Makenna) is 4. They live on acreage and have livestock of all kinds - They absolutely love their little funny farm! All of their girls are passionate about showing their sheep and goats at jackpots and the county fair every year. They enjoy spending time together as a family and time outdoors. She is looking forward to spending time with your children and seeing them grow throughout the school year!
Bryann Gregg
P.E. TEACHER
Bryann was a student of Acorn long ago and Chris was her teacher. Now, she has two children attending Acorn. She played soccer in high school, then joined the Army National Guard. She attended Boise State University for Exercise Science. She loves to move and be active, participating in hiking, camping, running, or doing triathlons.
LEANNE SASSER Harless
ART TEACHER
LeAnne received her BFA in sculpture and photography in 2002 from the University of Montana. She is a practicing sculptor and her favorite medium is steel. In 2014, she worked on a collaborative large-scale sculpture at American Steel Studios in Oakland, CA and on the Jewels art vehicle at the Xanadu community center in Boise. She displayed a sculpture in the Magic Valley Art and Soul in 2016. LeAnne lives in Kimberly with her children and dogs, Buddy and Sadie. They enjoy traveling, playing outdoors, rock climbing, bike riding and funny movie nights with popcorn. Teaching art at Acorn is one of the highlights of her week. She looks forward to making lots of fun art projects and exploring with the students this year as they develop their artistic skills.
TERON FLOYD
OFFICE MANAGER
Teron is originally from Idaho but has also lived in Colorado and California before coming back to Idaho. She has three wonderful daughters and 3 amazing grandbabies. She has been at Acorn since 2010, working as the Office Manager and Preschool teacher, which she enjoyed most of all. She loves working with people and children. She currently also works as a Registered Nurse full time. Her oldest daughter attended Kindergarten at Acorn and her youngest attended Kindergarten through fifth grade and now works here as an aide! She enjoys spending her free time with her family and friends and loves kayaking, reading, biking, horses, and camping.
IMAGE
COMING
SOON!
Breanna Garrison
MEDIA MANAGER & COMMUNICATION SPECIALIST
Breanna was born and raised in Idaho. She currently resides in Filer with her Husband, Jamie, two daughters, Sawyer and Reagan, and three dogs. She has been a part of Acorn for years, starting all the way back to her early education days and going all the way up to recent years. She has filled roles such as substitute teacher, kindergarten art teacher, preschool aid, elementary aid, kindergarten aid, and more. Recently she has filled the role of media manager and communication specialist by helping Acorn with our website, media, correspondence, and creating all our new logos and designs. Breanna has been teaching dance, tumbling, and gymnastics for over fifteen years and is incredibly passionate about education. She enjoys reading, spending time with her family, the outdoors, gardening, hiking, camping, dancing, yoga, and art. She is grateful to be a continual part of the Acorn family.