Commitment to excellence

Kelly Bertilrud

Kelly Bertilrud’s love for Okemos schools runs deep, as she is a proud Okemos alum herself. Growing up, Kelly didn’t always know she wanted to be an educator. But when she joined the ACTION club at OHS, Rachel Freeman-Baldwin (“Ms. Free”) supported her in launching and leading a mentoring program for students at Central Elementary. Co-leading the Central Mentoring Program was Kelly’s first glimpse into her future life as an educator. Building relationships with the students at Central became one of her highlights from high school.

After graduating from Okemos in 2010, Kelly spent the next 10 years on the east side of the state. Kelly studied Psychology and Community Action and Social Change at the University of Michigan (Go Blue!), then stuck around for an additional year to receive her master’s degree in Elementary Education. Kelly’s degree in Community Action and Social Change has been one of the driving forces behind her work as an educator. A caring teacher and an inclusive classroom community can change the course of a child’s life. Kelly aims to help children to build empathy, learn to strive toward equity and justice, and to be compassionate future leaders of our world.

In 2015, Kelly began her first teaching position in 4th grade at University Prep Schools in Detroit. The five and a half years that Kelly spent teaching in Detroit were an invigorating, challenging, and extremely rewarding experience that helped shape Kelly into the teacher she is today. Kelly adores Detroit and returns to visit as often as she can.

After welcoming her first child, Kelly moved back to Okemos to be closer to family. She couldn’t have been happier to find that a teaching position had opened up in Okemos at just the same time. Being back in Okemos as a teacher (at Central of all places!) has felt so right. Witnessing the curiosity and passion for learning from her students in the Paw Paw room has Kelly excited to come to work every day. Kelly’s Montessori teaching team is the most fun and supportive people around, and she doesn’t know how she survived in her previous classroom without her parapro extraordinaire, Jen Hall-Berman! At OPM, Kelly also serves as the Safety Patrol Coordinator, is on the School Improvement Team, and is one of the building’s Union Representatives. 

Outside of the classroom, Kelly and her high school sweetheart, Erik (shout out to Mr. Fahy’s alternative Spring Break trip that brought us together!), have two children, Ben (5) and Eli (nearly 3). She looks forward to seeing her boys learn and grow in Okemos Public Schools just as she and her husband did!

Trisha Funk

Trisha Funk has dedicated over a decade to teaching Spanish at both Chippewa Middle School and Okemos High School, where she inspires students across multiple levels of the language. Trisha strives each day to make sure her lessons are interactive, fun and practical. Beyond the classroom, she serves as junior class advisor, playing a key role in organizing commencement, prom, homecoming, and the senior graduate parade. She also facilitates the Senior Project service day, organizes a Holiday Gift Drive for Okemos families, and has led international travel experiences for students, including trips to Costa Rica and the Galapagos Islands.

Trisha’s favorite part of Okemos is its community. After losing her apartment in the Knob Hill fire of 2022, she experienced an outpouring of support that reaffirmed her gratitude to be part of such a caring and generous district.

In addition to her professional commitments, Trisha finds ways to give back outside of school. Trisha and her dog, Cali, have become certified through the Alliance of Therapy Dogs. They volunteer at various locations like the Delta Township District Library, Forster Woods Adult Day Care Center, and McLaren Hospital. In her free time she enjoys golfing, skiing, and wake surfing. She loves spending time with her family, her fiancé Brandon, and her many friends.  Trisha also enjoys cheering on the Detroit Lions and Michigan State football, basketball, and hockey. 

Jen Harnick

Jen Harnick has been teaching for Okemos Public Schools since 2003. She has taught in both general education and special education – leading her to a variety of buildings, including Hiawatha, Wardcliff, Kinawa and currently Cornell. At each school, she has found amazing staff who have become such great, life-long friends. In her spare time, Jen enjoys spending time with her husband and sons – watching their sports and band performances and – if life allows – avidly reading.

Danielle Ives

Corrinne Karpinski – Director of Transportation

Corrinne began her career with Okemos Public Schools in 1999 as a substitute bus driver. By January 2000, she accepted a full-time driving position and served in that role until 2018, when she became the Transportation Director for Mason Public Schools. In August 2020, she returned to Okemos Public Schools as Director of Transportation. Even though the transition happened during the COVID-19 pandemic, returning to Okemos truly felt like coming “home.”

Today, Corrinne oversees all aspects of student transportation with a focus on safety, efficiency, and service excellence. With 26 years of experience in school transportation, she leads a team of dedicated drivers, support staff, and mechanics who ensure students travel safely to and from school and extracurricular activities each day. The department manages 15 daily routes, coordinates transportation for athletics and special programs, and maintains a fleet of 25 vehicles.

A strong advocate for continuous improvement, Corrinne develops driver training programs, promotes open communication with families and schools, and explores innovative practices to strengthen both safety and operations. She is actively involved in regional and state-level transportation associations, collaborating with school and community partners to align services with student needs.

Beyond her professional role, Corrinne is the proud mother of two daughters. Shannon, a 2010 Okemos graduate, lives in Ireland after earning her Master’s in Public Advocacy and Activism from the University of Galway. Shelby, a 2014 Okemos graduate, studied Plant Biology and Chemistry at Michigan State University and now lives and works in Denver, Colorado.

Corrinne cherishes visiting both daughters—whether enjoying the vibrant culture of Ireland with Shannon (including an unforgettable Taylor Swift Eras Tour concert in Dublin) or taking in Colorado’s mountains, trails, and local cafés with Shelby. A bucket-list goal is to experience a concert together at the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre.

She is also deeply grateful for her small but close-knit group of friends, believing that surrounding yourself with people who inspire and challenge you can truly change your life.

Jason Saros

Jason Saros has been a dedicated math teacher at Okemos High School for 28 years.

While he has taught a variety of courses throughout his career, his focus for the past

decade has been AP Calculus. Beyond the classroom, Jason played a key role in

founding the high school’s bowling team and has served as a union bargainer for over

20 years. He is married to Erin Saros, a fellow educator in the Lansing public schools,

and together they have two children, Marley and Nolan. In his free time, Jason enjoys

bowling, boating, and working on small engines.

Megan Stadt

Megan Stadt is in her fifth year as the MTSS Coordinator and Instructional Coach at Okemos High School. Before stepping into this role, she taught both math and science at Okemos High School and Chippewa Middle School. She has been part of the Okemos community for 15 years and has worked in education for 18.

Megan values Okemos’ commitment to diversity and collaboration and appreciates how the district works together to create a welcoming school culture for all students and families. In her role as MTSS Coordinator, she is passionate about developing systems and solutions that promote accessibility and equity for every learner.

Her husband, Charlie, is a firefighter for the City of Lansing. They have two young children—Foster, who is almost five, and Hunter, who turned three this summer. As a family, they enjoy spending time outdoors and taking advantage of lake life whenever they can.

Special Recognition Award

Brenda Tracy

Brenda Tracy is the Registrar and Administrative Assistant in the Chippewa Middle School Guidance Office, where she has proudly served for more than 11 years. She began her career at Chippewa as a Student Supervisor before transitioning into her current administrative role, where her organizational skills and dedication to students and families are invaluable.

A Michigan State University alumna, Brenda earned her degree in Finance and went on to work as a Financial Analyst and Bond Trader before taking time away from the corporate world to raise her three sons. Brenda and her husband, whom she met at MSU, chose to make their home in Okemos because of the district’s strong academic reputation and the opportunities it provides for student growth and success. Their three sons are now thriving professionals—a testament to those values—with two in General Surgery residencies and one working in supply chain management for Rolls Royce Aerospace.

When she’s not at Chippewa Middle School, Brenda enjoys spending time up north, boating on Michigan’s beautiful inland waterways, traveling to visit family and friends, and cheering on the Spartans as a proud MSU alumna.

Dean Bolton Volunteer

Katie Sachdev

A dedicated wife, mother of three, and a lifelong Michigander from Novi, Katie Sachdev’s commitment to public service stems from her parents—a nurse and a police officer. She currently holds key volunteer positions as the Bennett Woods Family Council President and the Kinawa Parent Group President. Additionally, she has served for four years as a Parent Advisor on the University of Michigan Medicine’s Family Advisory Committee for the Brandon Pediatric ICU. An avid reader, she has recorded reading 286 books in the past 5 years.

Katie’s leadership prioritizes equity and effective large-scale organization. She co-chaired the Kinawa Science Night, which in 2025 was organized for over 900 participants and 45 exhibitors. Her support of literacy included collecting over 3,000 books for the 2025 Book Bingo. She has co-chaired the Bennett Woods Multicultural Night multiple times, coordinating an hour-long cultural show featuring various community groups, including members of the Nokomis Tribe, to highlight local diversity. In her role as President, she has organized 15 PBIS Celebrations and used “in-school field trips” like the Abrams Planetarium to provide equitable experiences.

Known as the “Toe Token Lady,” Katie secured recurring sponsorship for the Mileage Club through MSU Health Care. Her initial success helped MSU HealthCare expand its sponsorship to more than 50 schools across Michigan. She also serves as Bolt’s guest handler and coordinated the Walk, Bike and Roll to School Day 7 times. Her event coordination included the first ever Mascot Trot at the 2025 Wolf Run, a race involving six local mascots.

She has coordinated large-scale Staff Appreciation Weeks for both schools, securing over $7,000 worth of in-kind donations. She partnered with staff to organize holiday gift giving for five school families in need in 2024. A devout member of the St. Sarkis Armenian Apostolic Church where she taught Sunday School, Katie and her husband Amit continue to sponsor the annual Easter Egg hunt. Her sustained community spirit led to her receiving the Team Spirit award for Elite Dance Company in both 2024 and 2025.

Katie is proud to accept the Dean Bolton Volunteer Award and dedicates this moment to her parents, who continue to inspire her.

David Zin

David Zin is the chief economist at the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, a non-partisan agency that serves

the Michigan Senate. His responsibilities include forecasting the economy, estimating State revenues,

and estimating the fiscal impact of proposed tax changes. David is also an accomplished pianist.

David has two children, Isaac and Sonya, who graduated from Okemos in 2016 and 2020, respectively.

Both are in graduate school completing their PhDs: Isaac in Clinical and Bioanalytic Chemistry with a

certificate in Molecular Medicine and Sonya in Cognitive Neuroscience.

Competitive interscholastic debate has played a significant role in David’s life. David debated for four

years in high school, four years in college, and coached the MSU debate team for 5 years. Building on a

desire for his children to experience debate, David has served as the OHS debate club advisor and

coached the competitive debate team since the 2012-13 academic year.

The debate team has met with competitive success under David’s management, with a consistent record

of awards at regional and national tournaments, the State Tournament, and qualifying teams for the

National Speech and Debate Association’s National Tournament for 6 consecutive years. The debate

team has met success in supplementary activities like the Fed Challenge and the Euro Challenge,

including winning the Euro Challenge National Championship in 2023-24.

David feels it has been both a privilege and a pleasure to work with the students that have been on the

team over the years. He believes that debate offers students the ability to gain skill

Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr. Walter Willett

Dr. Walter Willett is a physician and epidemiologist and Professor of Epidemiology and

Nutrition at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He served as Chair of the

Department of Nutrition at Harvard for 25 years. Much of his work has been on the

development of methods, using both questionnaire and biochemical approaches, to study

the effects of diet on the occurrence of major diseases. He has applied these methods

starting in 1980 in the Nurses’ Health Studies I and II and the Health Professionals

Follow-up Study. Together, these cohorts that include nearly 300,000 men and women

with repeated dietary assessments are providing the most detailed information on the

long-term health consequences of food choices. Dr. Willett has published over 2,200

research papers, primarily on lifestyle risk factors for heart disease and cancer, and has

written the textbook, Nutritional Epidemiology, published by Oxford University Press.

He also has four books for the general public. Dr. Willett is the most cited nutritional

scientist internationally. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the

recipient of many national and international awards for his research.