KAMSACK — Among the five new teachers on the staff of the Kamsack Comprehensive Institute are a newlywed couple, a woman raised on the Manitoba side of Duck Mountain and an intern who will be working only until December.
Damian and Hannah Bentz
Damian and Hannah (nee Pennell) Bentz, who live at Madge Lake, were married on Aug. 16. Damian will divide his time between serving as a student support teacher and a high school elective instructor, teaching sports medicine, financial literacy, and life transitions. His wife will be teaching physical education to students in Grades 8 to 12 and some electives, including English 10, Indigenous studies and forensic science.
Damian Bentz was raised in Punnichy and obtained a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of Regina in 2022. He worked as a substitute teacher in Regina in 2023 and then taught at KCI for a couple of months. He worked at Athol Murray College of Notre Dame in Wilcox in 2024.
A former top scorer for the Melville Millionaires Junior Hockey team, Damian plays senior hockey and enjoys golfing and camping.
The daughter of Kim and Colleen Pennell of Kamsack, Hannah Bentz, who was born and raised in Kamsack, graduated from the University of Regina in 2023 and has taught in Kamsack and at Notre Dame. She played hockey with the U of R Cougars for five years and says she would like to continue with female hockey. She enjoys golf and camping.
Amelia Riehl
Amelia Riehl, who was born and raised on the Manitoba side of the Duck Mountains, basically near Durban and Benito, moved to Kamsack with a school-age foster child. Hired as the school counsellor, she obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology, with distinction, in 2023 from the University of Victoria in British Columbia and has worked as a school counsellor in Gillam, Man., for two years.
She said she is enjoying living and working at Kamsack, in part because it is so close to her family, which includes her grandmother, Darlene Kruk of Pelly. She enjoys curling and soccer.
Randy Patton
Randy Patton, who has been hired as the KCI’s library technician, was born in Castor, Alta. He spent the last 18 months at the First Nations University in Prince Albert and at Aurora College in Fort Smith, NWT, but for about 16 years before that, he was employed at Brandon University.
Patton received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta in Edmonton in 2000.
He enjoys reading and says he misses the 13 years he spent on a “never-ending walk” with his dog, who is now deceased.
Castor Kreller
Castor Kreller is a student at the University of Regina who is working in Kamsack as an intern until December. He expects to obtain a Bachelor of Education degree in 2026 and a Bachelor of Arts in English in 2027.
Born in Saskatoon and raised in Winkler, Man., Kreller graduated from Lumsden High School in 2022 and has spent his pre-internship time in Regina.
A writer of poetry and creative non-fiction, Kreller has played the clarinet for 12 years and has been a member of the Lumsden Community Band.
