Four new teachers join staff at Henning School
News | Published on September 1, 2026 at 5:24pm EDT | Author: Chad Koenen
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
There are four new faces who will be in the front of the classroom at Henning School this fall—but a few will be quite familiar to the students and the greater Henning community.
Bill Klaers will be teaching agriculture classes at Henning School during the first semester, until new hire Jayma Lawson puts the final touches on getting her teaching license. Klaers has taught in Michigan, North Dakota, Wabasso for 27 years and the Battle Lake School District for seven years. He has also subbed in the Battle Lake, Ashby, Henning and Underwood School Districts for the past three years.
Along with his wife Jane, Klaers lives in Battle Lake, while their daughter and her husband farm north of Sturgis, S.D. with their two grandsons and Klaers’ son and his wife live in Rapid City, S.D.
Klaers, who will likely just be teaching the first semester at Henning School this year, is looking forward to working with students in the shop once again.
“I’m looking forward to getting to know the students and working with them in the shop,” he said. “I’m excited to get the Henning FFA off to a great start this fall.”
Among his favorite memories of being in school was the opportunity to work with some amazing FFA members throughout his career. He also had the opportunity to see both of his children earn their American FFA degree and one of his students served as the Minnesota State FFA President in 2012.
Jayma Lawson will also join the staff for the second semester, pending her attaining her teaching license, to teach ag. ed. in grades 6-12. A University of Minnesota-Crookston graduate, Lawson has a dog named Sawyer and a cat named Luna.
The new teacher said she is looking forward to the opportunity to get to know the students at Henning School, as well as the school as a whole.
“I’m looking forward to meeting the students and getting to know the school,” she said.
Her favorite memory of attending school occurred when an otherwise mundane weekly walk with her ag. teacher took a crashing turn.
“Our ag. teacher would take us on weekly walks and one of the students wanted to stop at the park. While we were there they jumped off of the swings and landed on our teacher. Safe to say park swings are not safe from anyone,” she said.
Carter Watnaas will join the Henning School staff this fall as the new social studies teacher. A graduate of the University of Minnesota-Morris, Watnaas recently student taught in the Sauk Centre School District, but has strong ties to the Henning community. His father Aric Watnaas, as well as his grandpa and aunt, all graduated from Henning High School.
The new social studies teacher said he is looking forward to getting to know the students and learning about the greater Henning community this year.
Among his favorite memories from high school was a three overtime win against Barnesville during his senior year of football.
Jordyn Blaeser will be joining the school district this fall as a paraprofessional. Her boyfriend Collin is a mechanic at a local shop and Blaeser said she is looking forward to getting to know the students at Henning School.
“I am most looking forward to getting to meet all the kids and getting to work alongside all the other staff,” she said.
Blaesers’ most memorable moment as a student was going on a choir trip to Florida as she was able to take the trip alongside some of her best friends.
The first day of school for students at Henning School was on Tuesday.