Meet Our Team

Samantha Barnett

Lead Teacher

SAMANTHA BARNETT is starting her fifth year as a lead teacher after two years of serving as an assistant teacher. She graduated with an Associates of Arts degree. Samantha has been a stay at home mom to her 3 children Hailey-18, Abbey-11, and Hunter-9. Abbey and Hunter attended 2 years at Kidslink. Abbey will begin 6th grade and Hunter will be a fourth grader this fall. Her husband Jonathon is a lead operating engineer with JLL and their family lives in Goddard. She is in her 8th year volunteering at the Pathway Goddard Campus in the Ballpark leading 3rd - 5th graders  every Sunday. She is also the room coordinator. Mrs. Barnett volunteers with leading at VBS and Day Camp. In her spare time she enjoys photography, traveling, zoo trips, and swimming with her kids.  

Rhonda Bolen

Lead Teacher

RHONDA BOLEN begins her thirtieth year on the Kidslink staff. She previously was an assistant teacher at Kidslink and has served in our Kids Day Inn program for three years as a lead teacher. Mrs. Bolen enjoys drawing and art and has had a craft idea published in “The Mailbox”, a teacher resource magazine. Reading, gardening, and traveling with her family are also favored pastimes. Rhonda and her husband Steve have two grown children, Josh and Brooke, both of whom attended Kidslink as preschoolers. Mrs. Bolen also has a granddaughter, Anika Rose and a grandson, Simon. Both grandchildren attended Kidslink and have now moved on to Pray-Woodman Elementary.

Laura Ewy

Lead Teacher

LAURA EWY is beginning her fourth year at Kidslink as a lead teacher. She worked as a Registered Nurse for 10 years, but has always had a passion for working with preschoolers. She and her husband, Kyle, have served in the preschool ministry at the Westlink campus for 13 years and have volunteered at VBS. Two of their children, Noah (16) and Emily (11), now serve alongside them. Their youngest, Nolan (8), will be starting second grade this year.  Laura enjoys attending her kids’ sports and activities, spending time outdoors, reading, playing cards and board games, and quality time with her loved ones. 

Paula Webb

Lead Teacher

PAULA WEBB grew up on a farm in Northwest Kansas. Her love of cooking and canning developed as a young girl in 4-H. Paula has a degree in Home Economics from Kansas State University with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education, and she also holds a one-year graduate Bible certificate from Multnomah School of the Bible. She has taught at Kidslink for thirty-six years and Sunday School at Pathway Church. Mrs. Webb’s baking and canning entries win blue ribbons every year at the Kansas State Fair! Her love of cooking is integrated in the classroom. She and her late husband Charlie have two children: Mark, who recently passed away and Lenora, two grandsons and three granddaughters, including a set of twins!

Val Blanchat

Assistant Teacher

VAL BLANCHAT is beginning her third year at Kidslink. Mrs. Blanchat taught special education in several public schools for 32 years.  After early retirement, she took care of her father with dementia and became "grandma on call".  Val and her husband, Ron, have a blended family of 4 children and 7 grandchildren ranging from the ages of four-years-old to age 31!  Besides enjoying being a grandma, Val enjoys scrapbooking, traveling, sewing, crafts, reading, flower gardening, working puzzles and playing games. 

Megan Polley

Assistant Teacher

MEGAN POLLEY graduated from Bethel College with a degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Early Childhood Education. She has worked as an educator for over 27 years in various roles within the Wichita, Goddard and Maize school districts.  This is her third year being an assistant teacher at Kidslink after two years as an assistant teacher in the Kids Day Inn program. Mrs. Polley has been married for 24 years to her husband, Bruce. They have two children. Her son, Brue, is 20 and graduated from Butler County Community College in May.   Her daughter, Blakelyn, is 16 and is a sophomore at Maize High School. Blakelyn also attended Kids Day Inn and Kidslink. Mrs. Polley's family also includes Iris, a four year old, white, miniature schnauzer. In her spare time, Mrs. Polley likes to scrapbook, crafting, playing cards and board games, shopping, hanging out on her patio and watching her kids do Color Guard, dance and bowl. 

Laurel Smith

Assistant Teacher

LAUREL SMITH is beginning her fifth year as an assistant teacher at Kidslink.  She's very involved at Pathway and volunteers as an assistant leader in the middle school ministry, ushers at the 10:30 service, and a part of the praise and worship team in the ballpark.  Outside of being in preschool, Laurel also teaches dance and NinjaZone at the Northwest YMCA.  In her spare time, she enjoys drawing, spending time with friends and family, playing with her dog, Finn, and cross-stitching.  

Tawnya Sokoll

Assistant Teacher

TAWNYA SOKOLL is beginning her eleventh year as an assistant teacher. She was previously a substitute teacher for Kidslink. Tawnya and her husband, Steve, have two daughters, Corinn and Jenna. Both girls attended Kidslink as preschoolers! Steve and Tawnya have been married for 28 years. Corinn is an ER nurse for St. Joe Hospital. Jenna will be a sophomore at KU. Mrs. Sokoll worked in VBS and Day Camp until her children were older. She loves scrapbooking, working in the yard as well as going to lunch with friends.

Hanna Sommers

Assistant Teacher

• HANNA SOMMERS is starting her first year as a Kidslink Assistant teacher. She graduated Kansas State University with an Elementary Education degree and was a teacher for 6 years before becoming a stay at home mom to her two girls, Emma-6 and Ava-3. She has been a part of the Kidslink family for the past 4 years as both of her daughters have attended Pathway. Hanna has been married to her husband Doug for 12 years and has a big black labrador dog named Jax. Hanna and her family love the outdoors! Some things they enjoy are family bike rides, hiking, going to the lake, spending time with friends and family, just to name a few. They also love to go cheer on the Kansas State Wildcats! Go Cats! Hanna and her husband are small group leaders at their church and Hanna has also been a part of a Women’s Bible Study for several years as well as a volunteer teacher at VBS. Hanna is excited to meet Kidslink families and help kiddos grow in their love for learning and Jesus Christ!
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Patti Chisham

Substitute Teacher

PATTI CHISHAM has been a Lead teacher in the Kids Day Inn program for the last 10 years and a substitute teacher for Kidslink for four years. She has been involved in Children's ministries, MAPS, women's Bible studies and has lead many mission trips. Patti and her husband Steve have two grown daughters, Sarah and Jessica, and twelve grandchildren 🙂. In her free time Patti enjoys loving on children, reading, and spending time with friends.

Mandy Spexarth

Substitute Teacher

MANDY SPEXARTH is starting her third year as a substitute teacher after being an assistant teacher for one year with Kidslink. She worked as an Administrative Assistant for Pathway Church from 2016-2018. Mandy and her husband, Roger, and their 7 year old son, Harrison, attend the Westlink campus at Pathway Church. Mandy’s greatest joy is her son, Harrison who brings so much energy, love and adventure to her life.  She also teaches Harrison.  They are starting in their third year doing a homeschool hybrid.  In her spare time you can find her crafting; especially card making. Mandy loves traveling and hiking with her husband and son.