Assistant Director of Prevention & Safety

Rachel Hilyar has led the work of the ISD 728 Prevention and Safety Department since 2017.  She has Masters Degree in Family Education from the University of Minnesota and over 20 years of experience in the fields of education, health and wellness. As a Secondary Family and Consumer Science teacher working with a diverse population of students Rachel was drawn to the field of health promotion in hopes of creating healthier community norms.  This passion led her to a career which blended education and youth prevention in a variety of settings including K-12 education, health care and public health.  Rachel has led policy efforts and prevention programming strategies to reduce youth risk behaviors such as tobacco use, obesity, domestic violence and promote physical activity, nutrition and wellness.  Rachel is excited about the future for students in ISD 728 as programming around Social and Emotional Learning and Mental Health is a priority area of focus.  

Coordinator of Prevention & Safety

Sheila Dokken is a licensed attorney with over 20 years of experience litigating discrimination and harassment claims. Her experience in handling issues of racial, gender, sexual orientation and other forms of discrimination led her to a passion for preventive work. In addition to litigation, Sheila trained corporations and organizations on diversity issues and has been a restorative practices mediator for 20 years. Sheila accepted a position as an Equity Specialist with ISD 728 back in 2013 and has been developing programming and curriculum for classrooms, as well as training staff and administration on equity issues, including implicit bias, stereotypes, and more. She received intensive training on conducting restorative circles in June of 2018 and has been actively implementing and instituting this practice in her district. She accepted the position of Coordinator of Prevention & Safety in July 2019

Coordinator of Prevention & Safety

Nicole is a licensed Peace Officer who worked as a Deputy for the Sherburne County Sheriff's Department for 15 years, in addition to being a Criminal Justice instructor for Liberty University since 2018.  Nicole has a PhD in Public Safety from Capella University with her dissertation focused on "Facilitation Practices in Authentic Restorative Processes". In addition, she has a Masters of Science in Criminal Justice from St. Cloud State University and a Bachelor of Arts in Law Enforcement from Mankato State University.  Nicole will use her experience and expertise to focus on developing and supporting district safety initiatives (i.e. ALiCE, Crisis teams, reunification planning, SRO support, etc.) and will support other Prevention and Safety team initiatives as determined over time.