Administration Bios

Jill Bottelberghe

Jill Bottelberghe was born in Minnesota, but grew up in Midlothian, Texas before attending Tarleton State University. At Tarleton, she received her bachelor’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies and later her master’s degree in Guidance and Counseling. Her career in education began in 1993 at Maypearl, where she served as a middle school language arts teacher. In 1997, she became the counselor for 1st-8th graders in the district. After four years in that capacity, she went back to school to pursue her principal certification through Tarleton. She has served in campus and/or district leadership positions since that point, including stints as the Venus Middle School principal and Venus ISD’s director of human resources. In 2012, she moved to the Waco area and returned to campus level administration when she accepted the position of high school principal for Connally ISD. After eight years as the high school principal, Ms. Bottelberghe moved to the administration building as the Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources. On July 1, 2023, she became the superintendent of schools for the Connally Independent School District.

Ms. Bottelberghe has two children, one of whom graduated from Connally High School in 2017. She has a grandson and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of her granddaughter. While her immediate family would argue that she doesn’t spend much time away from work, she DOES greatly enjoy spending time fishing, boating, and anything else that can put her by the water.

David Timmons

Mr. David Timmons serves Connally ISD as the Assistant Superintendent of Business and Support. He has been with the district since August of 2022 and is proud to be a Cadet.

Having earned both his undergraduate and Master’s degrees from Tarleton State University, Mr. Timmons has over 18 years of experience in public education, with the year prior to his arrival at CISD spent as Assistant Superintendent of Finance at Hillsboro ISD and three years as Superintendent at Penelope ISD. He is proud that he is a third-generation public school superintendent, with numerous family members in education.

Additionally, he has served districts as a paraprofessional, JH teacher/coach, self-contained fourth grade teacher, life skills teacher, assistant principal, and campus principal. He even filled in as a substitute bus driver multiple times along the way. These past experiences give Mr. Timmons first-hand perspective of the many demands that educators can face daily in their jobs.

His educational philosophy is, “Our soul focus is to provide quality learning experiences to maximize student outcomes later.” That is not a typo… education is a calling.

In addition to his varied on-the-job experience, Mr. Timmons earned his Registered Texas School Business Administrator (RTSBA) certification through the Texas Association of Business Officials in 2021.

Mr. Timmons enjoys time with his family when not working. David and Natalie have been married over 15 years and share two sons, Noah and Evan.

Dr. Sandra Hancock

Dr. Sandra Daniel Hancock has served the Connally community for over 20 years. She is wife of a Connally graduate (Darren) and the mother to two Connally ISD students (Daniel and Mallory). She attended Comanche ISD for her entire K-12 career. She holds both a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Masters degree in Education from Tarleton State University. She earned her Doctorate of Education from a joint program between Texas A&M-Commerce and Tarleton, culminating with her dissertation study titled School Board Governance Issues, Community Types, and School Board Superintendent Relationships in Texas. Dr. Hancock began her professional career teaching Spanish and English Language Arts at Whitney Middle School. She also has experience leading schools in Glen Rose ISD and working as a Tarleton State adjunct faculty member teaching graduate level educational administration courses and supervising principal interns in the central Texas area.

During her tenure here, Dr. Hancock has served as the assistant principal at Connally Elementary as well as the Director of Federal Programs before being named Asst. Superintendent of Curriculum and Instruction. She has had the honor of being the keynote speaker at an ESC 12 Counselor Appreciation Luncheon and presenting on professional work at the National Council of Professors of Educational Administration Conference, Advancing Improvements in Education Conference, AVID Summer Institute, and the Striving Readers Conference at the U.S. Department of Education in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Hancock enjoys reading, travelling, and attending Baylor football and basketball games. Her favorite pastime, however, is sitting in the stands with her husband and cheering on her children at their various sporting events.

Keith Hannah

Keith Hannah was born and raised in western Pennsylvania. He has lived in North Carolina and Arkansas prior to moving to Waco, Texas in 2005. Mr. Hannah graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor’s Degree in Secondary Education in 1997. He then earned his Master’s in Sports Administration in 2004 from Henderson State University in Arkansas. Mr. Hannah later received his Principal Certification from Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in 2006 and most recently completed his Superintendent Certification from the University of Texas at Tyler in 2020.

Mr. Hannah’s educational experiences began in 1999 teaching high school Civics / US History in North Carolina while also serving as a basketball, baseball, and football coach. He was later a Graduate Assistant Men’s Basketball coach at Henderson State University from 2002-2004. Mr. Hannah has served as an Assistant Principal in Hillsboro ISD and Corsicana ISD. Later he gained additional administrative experience as a Principal in Itasca ISD, Waco ISD, and Hillsboro ISD. Most recently, Mr. Hannah was the Executive Director of Human Resources in Hillsboro ISD.

In his spare time, he likes to spend time with his wife supporting their two sons, Dean and Kingston, play football, basketball, and baseball. Mr. Hannah enjoys traveling with his family, listening to music, and watching sports.

Terry Gerik

Terry Gerik, a graduate of West High School in 1992, is in his 25th year of coaching. This will be his 3rd year of running the Connally Cadet Athletic Program. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Tarleton State University in 1998. He began his coaching career at Hillsboro Middle School as the boys Junior High Coordinator in 1998. His first varsity assistant coaching position came in 2000 as he served as the varsity receivers’ coach and Head Baseball coach. While at Hillsboro he coached multiple sports including all JH sports as well as Head Varsity Boys Track Coach, Head Varsity Baseball Coach, assistant Softball, and assistant Basketball.

In 2004 he became the Offensive Coordinator and Quarterbacks coach in his home town of West. Also serving as Head Boys and Girls Track coach. While at West the football team went to the playoffs 7 years in a row and the boys and girls track program each won a District Championship. His last season at West he was fortunate to be part of the Baseball program that played for a State Championship.

In 2012 he became the Offensive Coordinator and Assistant Baseball Coach in Mexia. In his 5 years at Mexia the football team was in the playoffs 4 years and won a District Championship.

In 2017 he became the Offensive Coordinator, quarterbacks’ coach, and assistant Track coach at Connally ISD. He took over the roll of Athletic Director and Head Football Coach in 2021. During his time at Connally he has been a part of a Track District Championship, 5 Football playoff appearances, and two football District Championships.

Coach Gerik is super excited to continue leading the Connally Athletic Department. As a coach and educator, he is always trying to make an impact on the lives of his athletes. Both Coach Gerik and His Wife Misty, of 23 years, are proud to be a part of Connally ISD family. Coach Gerik and his wife have two children, Libby 21 (student at Blinn Junior College in College Station as a dental hygienist) and Marley 18 (Weatherford Junior College student athlete in Volleyball).

Michael Donaldson

Michael Allen Donaldson is a 2013 graduate of Connally High School. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Communication Studies from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Arts degree in Strategic Communications from Texas Tech University.

Prior to returning to Connally, Mr. Donaldson spent seven years working as a high school teacher at the China Spring and Grandview Independent School districts. During his time in the classroom, Mr. Donaldson taught a variety of courses in communication and worked as a UIL academic coordinator and speech, debate, and journalism coach. His academic teams won the district championship every year that he taught and produced multiple state finalists and national qualifiers.

Mr. Donaldson was nominated for the Texas Speech Communication Association’s Educator of the Year award in 2020 and received his one-diamond coaching award from the National Speech and Debate Association in 2022. He is an active member of the Texas Theatre Adjudicators and Officials organization and enjoys serving as a contest manager for UIL academic, speech, debate, and theatre competitions throughout the state. He has served in leadership roles in a variety of organizations including stints as the TSCA District 12 Chair (2018-2020), the ESC 11 Congressional Debate Clerk (2020 - 2023), a member of the Region III-4A, Region II-3A, and Region III-3A Speech/Debate Advisory Committee (2016 - 2023), and an inaugural member of the UIL State Academic Coordinators Advisory Committee (2021).

In his spare time, Mr. Donaldson enjoys hanging out with his friends and studying the rhetoric of popular culture.

Melissa Sulak

Melissa Sulak holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Applied Learning and Development from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Education degree in Educational Administration from Tarleton State University. Her career in public education spans over 20 years in school districts across Texas including Austin ISD, Arlington ISD, Waco ISD, Midway ISD and Connally ISD. Melissa’s educational experiences include being an elementary teacher, librarian, reading specialist, assistant principal, principal, district curriculum coordinator, district RTI coordinator and district early childhood coordinator. She was the founding principal of the Connally Early Childhood Center. Melissa believes one of the core catalysts for success in public education is instilling a love of learning in students that creates life-long learners. Melissa and her husband, Paul, have been married since 1992. They have a son, Dawson and a daughter, Emma. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, traveling and volunteering.

Christopher Howard

Christopher Howard has served as the Director of Assessment and Accountability since 2012. In this role, he has worked to identify, develop, and implement district- and campus-level improvement processes in a variety of ways. He has also worked to help develop and proctor innovative professional development opportunities that help faculty members grow as educators and see data-backed results. Mr. Howard's entire work history has been oriented around educating students and the public at large. He holds a Bachelor of History degree from Southwestern University in Georgetown and a Master's of Education from Southwest Texas State University.

Mr. Howard has a wealth of experience working with bilingual and ESL populations, and received the RSA Cambridge Certificate to teach English as a Foreign Language to Adults (CTEFLA) from English International in San Francisco in 1996. He has spent extensive lengths of time in both his professional and personal life traveling to a wide variety of locations including Spain, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Italy, and Saudi Arabia - gaining knowledge and respect of the different cultural and linguistic norms of each locale along the way.

Mr. Howard combines his passion for helping students and teachers with his numerous skills in data analysis and interpretation to help the administration team implement organizational change throughout the district as needed. He is a team player who enjoys developing collaborative working environments and takes great pride in watching the day-to-day impact that different initiatives and programs have on all of our learners.

Laurie Tresl

Laurie Tresl has over 30 years’ experience in public education. During her career, Ms. Tresl has served as a teacher, diagnostician and Special Education administrator. She began her career as an elementary teacher in West ISD. She then went on to become a diagnostician/Special Education Coordinator and worked for Central Texas Education Cooperative supporting numerous districts in the Central Texas area. Ms. Tresl was the Associate Director of Special Education in West ISD. She then spent 6 years in Waco ISD as a Special Education Coordinator. She has been the Director of Special Education with Connally ISD since 2018.

Ms. Tresl grew up in the Central Texas area and attended school in Waco ISD and Robinson ISD. She attended MCC and Baylor University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Education. Ms. Tresl obtained her Master’s Degree in Special Education from Texas Tech University.

Ms. Tresl has 3 adult children and 3 grandchildren. She loves sporting events (especially Connally sporting events) and being outdoors. She loves spending family time and watching her grandkids with their extracurricular activities.