Austin C. Thies graduated summa cum laude from of the University of Arizona in Tucson, with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish Literature & Portuguese. He served as principal of La Paloma Academy charter school in Tucson from 2003 to 2007 before going on to law school and practicing as an independent contractor attorney. After achieving his Juris Doctorate in May 2010 from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, a top 100 law school, Austin returned to Phoenix to pursue his passion for working with Arizona’s elementary education community. Austin is fluent in Spanish.
Principal Ken Edes
After serving the City of Williams as Mayor for eight years and as a City Council Member for six years, Ken Edes is now fully committed in his role as Principal of Heritage Elementary School’s Williams campus to encouraging the future generations of leaders at the school. Mr. Edes believes that a quality education produces quality students, and that implementing an educational system emphasizing family core values provides our future leaders with character and social values that go beyond individual needs or wants.
In addition to his 14 years in city government, Mr. Edes has been a pastor for 24 years, and spent 9 years as a high school coach and substitute teacher. He served as a Head Start Executive Committee Member in Coconino County and was one of the founding members of Coconino Regional Council’s First Things First program (focused on Arizona early childhood development and health). He studied at the University of Arizona and the Grace Chapel Bible Institute. All four of his children graduated high school in Williams, AZ.
