Parents have a right to request and receive information on the qualficiation of their children's teachers. Please contact the AMES Principal for additional information.

TAMARA AHO - SCIENCE
e-mail - taho@ames-slc.org
ext: 216
Tammy has a Masters of Science in Health Promotion and Education (University of Utah), Bachelors of Science in Liberal Arts (University of the State of NY), Associate of Science in Intelligence Applications (Wayland Baptist University), and an Associate of Science in Early Childhood Education (BYU-H). She served as an Intelligence Specialist for twenty years with the United States Navy. Tammy recently received her teaching license with endorsements in Biology and Health.

DENECE TAYLOR-BEGAY
e-mail - dtaylorbegay@ames-slc.org
ext: 105
School Counselor (k-12)License State of Utah
M.A. Degree in Counselor Education
Adams State College, Alamosa CO
B.A. Degree in Sociology
Fort Lewis College, Durango CO
A.S. Degree in Social Science
Salt Lake Community College

GARY BIGELOW - ENGLISH
e-mail - gbigelow@ames-slc.org
ext. 158
BA: English
University of Utah
MA: Teaching
Westminister College

BRIAN BIRCHLER - MATH
e-mail - bbirchler@ames-slc.org
ext. 120
BA - Materials Science & Engineering (Univ. of Michigan)
MA - Biomedical Engineering (Univ. of Michigan)
MA - Teaching (Univ. of Utah)

Brian Birchler took an extended tour of the university scene before settling on a career as a high school teacher. Originally moving to Utah to for graduate studies in engineering (and for playing in Utah's uniquely excellent outdoors), he eventually moved into education and has been happily torturing students with mathematics ever since. Brian did his student teaching at AMES in 2008 and is very excited to be teaching here again.

MATT BRADLEY - U of U COMMUNICATIONS
e-mail - mnb1@utah.edu
ext: 102

B.A in Humanities/English
Brigham Young University
MA in folklore
Indiana University
MA in Education, Culture, and Society
University of Utah
PhD in Folklore
Indiana University

ASHLEY BUDD - SCIENCE FAIR COORDINATOR
e-mail - abudd@ames-slc.org
ext:
B.S: Composite Teaching and Physical Science
Utah State University

SHANNON FREESTONE - ENGLISH
e-mail - sfreestone@ames-slc.org
ext: 218
BS: English and Political Science
Weber State University
University of Utah--Graduate school in political science
BS: English teaching--Special Education
Weber State University
Teacher, Highland Middle School, special education math, science and language arts (2001-2003)

CINDY HACKETT - PARAPROFESSIONAL
e-mail - chackett@ames-slc.org
ext: 119
BA - French, English Minor, Music Minor
Brigham Young University
2011 Utah Paraeducator of the Year

CRAIG HASLIP - DEAN OF STUDENTS
e-mail - chaslip@ames-slc.org
ext: 110

MA. Ed, Educational Counseling Specialization
University of Phoenix
B.S., Mathematics & Physical Education
University of Utah
Professional Educator License for the State of Utah – Level 2
Endorsements:
School Counselor
Secondary Education (6 – 12)

Craig is currently the Dean of Students for AMES High School. He has spent 28 years in secondary and higher education. Immediately before coming to AMES he was a CTE (Career & Technical Education)/Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program Specialist for Jordan School District.

Craig has also worked at the Utah System of Higher Education for UHEAA as a member of their College Access and Outreach team. He was actively involved in the UtahMentor website that was focused on helping students reach their goal of post-secondary education. He also worked closely with Utah colleges, universities, and high schools and their college access programs such as; GEAR-UP and TRiO.

Before working for USHE, Craig worked as guidance counselor, math teacher, and coach at both Hillcrest and Alta High Schools.
He is currently a board member and Secretary of the UACTE (Utah Association of Career & Technical Education) Guidance Division. He is a current member of the Comprehensive Counseling and Guidance Program Advisory and Steering Committee for USOE (Utah State Office of Education). He has also been on the board of USCA (Utah School Counselor Association) and the Utah Jump$tart Coalition (Financial Literacy) as the Education Chair. He has also been a board member of MESA (Mathematics Science Engineering Achievement) serving on their Public Education, Higher Education and Funding Committees.

BECKY HATCH - SOCIAL STUDIES
e-mail - bhatch@ames-slc.org
ext: 117
Becky Hatch received a bachelor's degree in Political Science and Sociology from Weber State University, and a master's degree in Multicultural Education from the University of Utah. She is a National Board Certified Teacher in Social Studies/History. Her teaching experience began in Jordan School district for six years, and then she was hired by Granite School District. While in Granite School District she organized and coordinated the new teacher induction and mentoring process, "Great Beginnings" for four years before returning to the classroom. She enjoyes now being at AMES and teaching AP Human Geography.

Other professional activities (past and present) include being involved with the following organizations: (1) Utah Geographical Alliance; (2) NCATE Board of Examiners; (3) Chair of the Utah National Board Coalition; (4) Utah Teacher Standards Executive Committee; (5) Lead Mentor, among others.

She lives in South Jordan with her husband. They are the parents of two children, both married, and 3 grandchildren (with another on the way!). Her hobbies include music (playing the piano and organ), reading, watching movies, and just being home with her husband.

DOUG HENDRICKS - PHYSICS, MATH, ASTRONOMY
e-mail - dhendricks@ames-slc.org
ext: 213
BS - Physics
University of Utah
BS - Chemical Engineering
University of Utah
Utah State Certificate of Teaching
endorsement in Physics and Math

Douglas Hendricks became a high school physics and math teacher in 2003 after retiring from a 20-year engineering career in Silicon Valley where he made computer micro-chips and related equipment. Now as a teacher his focus is on helping students understand how many real life applications there are for the things they learn in school. Mr. Hendricks's educational background includes two bachelor's degrees from the University of Utah, one in physics and another in chemical engineering, and a masters degree from the University of Arizona in optical sciences.

KEITH HOMER – FOREIGN LANGUAGE/ESL
e-mail - khomer@ames-slc.org
ext: 214
Bachelors in Political Science (Major), Spanish (Minor)
Brigham Young University
Masters of Education (M.ed.)
University of Utah
Utah State Certificate of Teaching with endorsement in Political Science/Government, Spanish, ESL, Social Studies Composite

Keith Homer comes to AMES after several years working in the Salt Lake City School District . With time spent at West High School and several years at Glendale Middle School teaching Spanish, Foreign Language Exploration, and Utah History, Keith is well acquainted with the many issues facing at-risk populations.

Keith isn't from Utah originally having lived in several states growing up. He spent his formative years in Connecticut before moving to Utah for college. He received degrees from Brigham Young University in Political Science and Spanish and a Masters of Education from the University of Utah .

Keith has strong interests in the public policy arena having completed internships in the U. S. Senate in Washington, D. C. and the Utah State Legislature as well as running as a candidate in District 30 for the Utah House of Representatives.

Keith lives in Midvale now with his wife, Kristin, a former schoolteacher herself, and their six children. Along with teaching he supports his family with a landscape/garden design business using experience and training gleaned from several years working on the Temple Square gardens in Salt Lake City . His wife has hopes that someday he'll be able to work on his own landscape.

LISA JASUMBACK - MATH
e-mail - ljasumback@ames-slc.org
ext: 113

Lisa Jasumback received both a BS and M.Ed. from the University of Utah. She has also received a Level 4 Math Endorsement. She began teaching in 1983 at Riverview Junior High School where she taught Reading, English, and Mathematics. Later she taught Mathematics and was the Student Body Advisor at Murray High School. In 2003 she became the Math Supervisor in the Curriculum Department in Davis School District. She began teaching Mathematics at AMES in 2007.

MARY MARTINEZ - CHEMISTRY
e-mail - mmartinez@ames-slc.org
ext: 152
B.S. in Chemistry (minors in history and music)
College of Idaho
M.S. in Chemistry
University of Utah
Level 2 Professional Educator License for the State of Utah

JANNA MARTIN -SOCIAL STUDIES
e-mail - jmartin@ames-slc.org
ext: 240
Janna Martin will join our social studies department. Janna is a recent graduate from Westminster College and completed her student training at Cottonwood High school. She is working toward a master's degree at Westminster College in Multicultural Studies.

LESLIE MAUGHN - COMPUTER LAB
e-mail - lmaughn@ames-slc.org
ext: 157

ALISA MCDONALD - STUDIO ART, A.P. ART HISTORY
e-mail - amcdonald@ames-slc.org
ext: 215

Masters in Education, Westminster College
BS Secondary Education, History & Art, Westminster College
BA Art History, University of Utah
English as a Second Language Endorsement
National Board Certification,
Early Adolescent through Adulthood Art Education

BRENDA MCKENNA - U of U WRITING
e-mail - phantomcat3@hotmail.com
Brenda McKenna received her B.A. from Brigham Young University in 2005 and her M.A. from the University of Utah in 2007. Brenda received her only detentions in elementary school for reading, and in high school she discovered that all those hours with books gave her some nice writing abilities as well. She won numerous national and international writing contests before college, including a Gold Award from the Scholastic Art and Writing Competition and a winning essay entry in the Kaplan/Newsweek "My Turn" Essay Competition. At Brigham Young University she earned recognition for her fiction and creative nonfiction, winning several contests and scholarships, including top awards for a short story about sisters, music, and whales. Brenda currently teaches at AMES for the University of Utah, and spends her time playing with her two children, reading, writing, painting, gaming, grading, and planning classes for her intelligent and awesome AMES students.

JOEL MILLER - MATH
e-mail - jmiller@ames-slc.org
ext: 155

Joel Miller earned his bachelors of science degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education from Westminster College in Salt Lake City, Utah. Joel comes to AMES after working in a variety of fields. Joel is certified through the State of Utah as a level 4 Math Teacher and is certified to teach both Math and Spanish. Currently, Joel is seeking his Masters of Statistics in Education.

AUDREY NELSON-AIKIDO
e-mail - audrey.nelson@granite.k12.ut.us
ext: 6166

JOHN NORDSTROM - U of U MATHEMATICS
e-mail - john.nordstrom@utah.edu
BS: Applied Physics
University of Utah

AMY NOYCE - 9th GRADE LANGUAGE ARTS & CREATIVE WRITING
e-mail - anoyce@ames-slc.org
ext: 153
BA History (Minor: Classical Civilization)
University of Utah
BA English Teaching
University of Utah
Secondary Teaching Licenses: English, History, and ESL.

LAURIE OBERG - ENGLISH
e-mail - loberg@ames-slc.org
ext: 219
Bachelor of Arts, English
Master of Education, Educational Studies
Certification: Secondary Language Arts, 7-12
Reading Specialist Level I

Laurie Oberg Hadden, B.A., M.Ed., brings to AMES eleven years of teaching experience across grade levels and in both public and private schools. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and history from Westminster College, and a Master of Education degree in teaching and learning from the University of Utah. She holds Utah state endorsements in secondary language arts and reading. Her areas of teaching interest and expertise encompass all facets of adolescent literacy, and she has enjoyed success using chess in the classroom to teach thinking skills and sporting behavior. Her leadership roles have included accreditation steering committee member, department chairperson, and faculty advisor for chess program and yearbook. A voracious reader and writer, she also is a past board member of the Autism Society of Utah, and a volunteer, along with her son, with the Autism Research Institute.

TONY PANTZIRIS - U OF U PHYSICS
e-mail - app@physics.utah.edu

PAUL RAMSEY - EARTH SCIENCE
e-mail - pramsey@ames-slc.org
ext: 217
BA - Earth and Space Science Education
Brighan Young University
Level 2 Professional Educator License for the State of Utah
with endorsement in Science, Earth

Paul Ramsey has had an exciting and varied life. As a boy, he lived in Brazil, his mother’s home country. In the mid 1960s, Paul’s family moved to the pine forests around Atlanta, Georgia where they lived for eight years. During this time, he gained a great appreciation for the outdoors. After that, he lived in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where his mother pursued a Ph.D. They eventually moved to Utah, where Paul’s mother worked as a University professor. The Utah landscape fueled a passion for the desert, where he spent a few years as a desert survival instructor. He later decided on a career in the Earth Sciences. Paul studied Geology at Brigham Young University and worked as a geologist during the Summers. As a geologist and concurrent student, Paul had the advantage of learning in the context of the field as well as in the classroom. Paul worked in platinum exploration in Montana, placer gold exploration in Arizona, and disseminated gold exploration in Nevada and Utah. As an Engineering Geologist, he worked all over the western U.S. These included fault investigations, soil and slope stability characterizations, ground water monitoring, and detailed geologic mapping. He also worked with hazardous material sampling. Paul’s greatest satisfaction as an Earth Science professional has been in the area of education. For 7 years he was the Science Department Chair at Meridian School, a pre-K through 12 private school in Provo, Utah, where he helped develop different methods of teaching science. Paul participated in a NSF funded project administered by Dr. Paul Cox, which developed various projects and strategies for service learning in the Sciences. He also worked with NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratories educational outreach in relation to the Galileo Mission to Jupiter. Paul believes that educators have the responsibility to be role models for students. Knowledge and experience are the princial tools of an educator, and we have the obligation to consistently add to our toolkit.

NICOLEEN RICHARDS - TEACHER
e-mail - nrichards@ames-slc.org
ext: 109
BA in Family Consumer Science
Utah State University
Master's degree in Special education
Phoenix University
Utah State license to teach special education
Highly qualified in both math and secondary mild and moderate special education

MICHELLE SAFADI - WORLD LANGUAGES
e-mail - msafadi@ames-slc.org
ext: 122

B.A. Middle Eastern Studies/Arabic
University of Utah
M.Ed. Elementary Education
University of Phoenix
World Language Endorsement for Arabic and Secondary Education USOE
Gifted and Talented Education Endorsement
Level 2 Teaching License

LYNDA SIMMONS - SPECIAL-ED.
e-mail - simmonsonmission@juno.com
ext: 119
BS Secondary Education, Major-History, Minor-English
Master Degree - Special Education
Administrative Certification

Lynda is the Consultant for Special Education. Her education, experience, activities and honors are listed below. Lynda is so glad she is an educator because she likes to touch lives and hopefully makes them better. Lynda's greatest joy is her loving family: husband, four children, their spouses and sixteen grandchildren.

Principal Hartvigsen School - 9 years
Vice Principal - Bennion Junior High - 3 years
Teacher Leader - Special Education/Granite School District
Teacher-Special Education -Eisenhower Junior High
Teacher- Special Education - Park City High
Teacher-History/English - Altamont High School
Teacher- History/English - Wasatch Junior High

Utah Federation Council for Exceptional Children
Special Educator of the Year
Utah Federation Council for Exceptional Children
Administrator of the Year
South Salt Lake Chamber of Commerce
Business Woman of the Year
Board of Directors - Junior League of Salt Lake City
President - Woman's Athenaeum Club of Park City
General Federation of Women's Clubs of Utah
President Salt Lake District and State Treasurer
Leadership positions in her church and with her husband
served a year in Blacksburg, Virginia

KIM SPENCER – SOCIAL STUDIES
e-mail - kim.spencer@ames-slc.org
ext: 211
B.S. Social Science Composite; Minor: History
Westminster College, UT
Utah State Secondary education certification

Kimberly Spencer is a graduate of Westminster College, Salt Lake City, Utah. Kim has a Bachelor’s of Science, with a Social Studies composite major, and History minor. She will be teaching U.S. History and Psychology. She is also the advisor for the Student Council. Kim is very excited to be a part of the AMES program. Kim thinks that AMES is a great program that will be very successful in meeting the needs of our students, and making their high school experience stimulating and enjoyable. Kim decided to become a teacher because she understands how much of a positive influence the good teachers that she had in school have had on her life. Kim considers AMES the perfect setting to continue those relationships with students.

MARTHA TAYLOR - INTERNSHIPS
e-mail - mtaylor@ames-slc.org
ext: 151
BA: Education
Blackburn College
Endorsement areas:
Career and Technical Education, Work-Based Learning

VAUGHN WEBSTER -TECHNOLOGY
e-mail - vwebster@ames-slc.org
ext: 116
Vaughn Webster has agreed to join AMES as our Technology Teacher. He most recently was the technology teacher at Brighton High School and has great experience working in the IT industry.

LAURIE WILLIAMSON - COMPUTER LAB
e-mail - lmaughan@ames-slc.org
ext: 157

TARA WION - SCIENCE FAIR COORDINATOR
e-mail - twion@ames-slc.org
ext:

Parents have a right to request and receive information on the qualficiation of their children's teachers. Please contact the AMES Principal for additional information.