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Member Profiles
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As the Pikes Peak Area Club's president for 2001-2002, Kris Wells adds yet another responsibility to the lengthy list of activities in her life. However, anyone who knows her knows she has the energy and creativity to successfully complete her newest "job."
Born one of six girls, Kris lived in Clarion, Pennsylvania from birth through her college years. She graduated from Clarion University of Pennsylvania with a degree in secondary education, and married her husband Jeff the summer following graduation. She and Jeff moved to Colorado Springs in 1972 where Jeff was stationed at Peterson Field.
Her first job in Colorado Springs was as a waitress at the Sheraton Hotel (now the Radisson Inn) on North Academy. She had an "in" because her father's bank backed the building of this hotel. In January of 1973, she left the hotel to teach Spanish to first through eighth graders at Pauline Memorial School and stayed for four years. She then spent seven years at the Colorado Springs School, one year at Air Academy Junior High, and then moved to Cheyenne Mountain Junior High where she has taught Spanish for the past 19 years.
Kris actually started as an English major in college with her sights set on becoming a newspaper reporter. However, things changed during her junior year when she took a Spanish course and was invited by her teacher to make a trip to Spain. When her father didn't see a reason to send her money for the trip, she made a spur of the moment decision to change her major to Spanish. Yes, she made her journey to Spain!
Since that first trip, Kris has visited several Spanish-speaking countries during her summer vacations. Many of the trips have been funded or partially funded by her professional organizations as graduate study work. She has traveled to Spain, Paraguay, Spain and Puerto Rico, and will re-visit Madrid this summer where she will enjoy a two-week home stay in private tutoring classes.
Some of the professional organizations Kris belongs to include the American Association of Teachers in Spanish and Portuguese, National Education Association, Southwest Congress of Foreign Language Teachers, American Council of Teachers of Foreign Language, and the Colorado Congress for Language Teachers (immediate past president).
Her interest in Zonta began with a conversation regarding the "world pin" many Zontians wear. Kris was participating in the Colorado College International Families Group, hosting foreign students entering college at CC. Liz Groothof-Croddy also participated in the same program. Kris and Liz had known one another through teaching English as a Second Language since the early 1980's, and when Kris asked about the pin Liz was wearing, she heard the story of Zonta. Liz was hosting the ice cream social at her house and invited Kris to attend to learn more about the club.
"I was impressed with the efficiency and the friendliness of the group, and was immediately drawn to the international aspect of the organization," said Kris. "The world pin that Liz wore stuck in my mind because it showed very clearly that North America is not the center of the world."
During her trips to Paraguay in 1998 and Puerto Rico in 2000, Kris contacted and was hosted by members of local Zonta clubs. She has loved the opportunity to reach out and touch her foreign Zonta sisters.
"Because my five sisters live in three time zones (Jacksonville, Baltimore, Cleveland, Chicago and Boise), I don't get to see them very often. So I turn to my Zonta sisters to fill in some of the holes. All of the things I like to do I have found in the Zonta group - hiking, reading, speaking Spanish, knitting and playing bridge."
Zonta runs in Kris's family as well. Her father's youngest sister is the current president of the Clarion Area Zonta Club in Pennsylvania.
Kris and Jeff have two sons. Josh (22) will graduate in May from Colorado University in Boulder with a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering. He will work for a company in Denver called Analex, which maintains Titan rockets. Jake (19) is a freshman at CU in Boulder and is a psychology major. Jeff works for the Department of Human Services as supervisor of the Kinship Care Unit, a program which works toward having relatives provide care of foster children.