Meet the NAURRC Team

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About Us

Welcome to the Northern Arizona University Rural Resource Center! The College of Education's Educational Leadership Department is pleased to be able to provide Arizona's rural school leaders with information, resources and support that is current and relevant to the work being done across rural schools every day.

Check back frequently to access helpful articles, videos and toolkits that can provide needed information on a variety of topics that our rural school communities are faced with on a daily basis. Our intent is to provide foundational knowledge that can serve as a starting point for leaders, both novice and veteran. If there are any areas of interest that are not covered, please contact us so that we can support your leadership efforts!

The NAU RRC is also collaborating with the Arizona Rural Schools Association and the Rural Schools Collaborative to launch a statewide Hub. This Hub will provide professional development throughout the state in regional engagement opportunities. Please let us know how we can help you get involved with these professional engagements!

We are here to support you as you lead your rural schools and districts. Please let us know how we can help you to succeed!

Dr. Melissa Sadorf

NAURRC Director

Northern Arizona University

NAURRC Creating the Future
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Dr. Nic Clement

Dr. Clement served nine years as the superintendent of Flowing Wells School District in Tucson, Arizona. Following his retirement in 2013, Dr. Clement was appointed to the Ernest McFarland Citizen’s Chair in Education by the dean of the College of Education at Northern Arizona University. In this endowed, faculty position, Dr. Clement is responsible for teaching and advocating for education throughout Arizona and the nation.

Dr. Melissa Sadorf

Dr. Melissa Sadorf currently serves as the superintendent of the Stanfield Elementary School District. An educator at all levels for almost three decades, Dr. Sadorf brings considerable expertise in leadership and teacher preparation, policy development and advocacy, and education in a variety of educational settings. No matter the age of the student, she works to engage and motivate learners with rigorous and relevant content built on a foundation of relationships in the classroom.

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Jaime Festa-Daigle

Jaime Festa-Daigle serves as the Director of Student Achievement for Lake Havasu Unified School District. She has worked in rural schools as a teacher and leader for over twenty years. Jaime is a native Arizonan. She has taught civics, economics, American History, English, and been an advisor for student council.

Dr. David Dumon

Dr. David Dumon currently serves as the superintendent of Altar Valley School District. He began his career in 1995 as a social studies teacher at Alhambra School District in Phoenix. In 2000, Dr. Dumon started his administrative career as an assistant principal at Surprise Elementary in Dysart Unified School District. He spent the next 14 years of his career in the Dysart most of which was as the principal at Surprise Elementary, a K–8 school. His schools’ achievements were recognized in 2012 when he was selected for the Arizona School Administrator, Distinguished Administrator Award – Elementary Division and honored as a finalist for the Rodel Exemplary Principal Award.

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Dr. Robbie Koerperich

Dr. Robbie Koerperich is Superintendent of the Holbrook Unified School District in Holbrook, Arizona.  Robbie is in his 30th year in public education spending 10 years as a classroom teacher in Kansas and the past 20 years in school and district administration.  Robbie is in his 13th year as the Superintendent of Holbrook Schools.

A.J. Taylor

A.J. Taylor has been a Safford Bulldog educator his entire education career. He’s been a teacher at the elementary level and principal of the same. A.J. served as SUSD’s Director of Instructional Services and is now serving as Superintendent for Safford Unified School District #1. He is also a member of the Arizona Rural Schools Association

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Kristin Turner

Kristin Turner is the superintendent of the Paloma Elementary School District and the past president of the Arizona Rural Schools Association. She received her Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University and her Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Pat Buchanan

Pat Buchanan is the Academic Program Coordinator for the Northern Arizona Rural Resource Center. She received her Master of Education in Elementary Education from Northern Arizona University and her Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Communication from NAU. 

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