TAMARA AHO - SCIENCE
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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.

BARBARA BOROWCZYK - FOREIGN LANGUAGE
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Barbara Borowczyk, a University of Utah graduate, will teach our AMES German class as an adjunct professor. She is also fluent in Polish and Russian.

RAY BARTON - U of U MATH
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DANA BOGAARD - LANGUAGE ARTS
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MATT BRADLEY - U of U Communications
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ASHLEY BUDD - CHEMISTRY
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HARMONY BUTTON - U of U Writing
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Karen Carter - Special Ed.
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OWEN DENISON - Math
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SHANNON FREESTONE - ENGLISH
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Shannon Freestone has earned bachelor degrees in English and political science from Weber State University. She also attended graduate school at the University of Utah in political science. Currently, she is working toward her special education endorsement. For the past two years, Shannon has worked for Ogden School District teaching special education and language arts. She has had the opportunity to work with a broad range of students, including learning disabled, English language learners, students with autism, and students with emotional and behavioral disorders.

LAURIE OBERG HADDEN - ENGLISH
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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.

CRYSTAL HANSEN - LANGUAGE ARTS
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Crystal Hansen, recent graduate of the University of Utah, will be teaching 10th grade language arts. Crystal also has an ESL endorsement and will be working with our faculty team on Advanced Placement course work.

MARGARET HAUKE - U of U WRITING
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DOUG HENDRICKS - MATH
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Douglas Hendricks comes to AMES after a 20 year career in Silicon Valley California (with several international assignments along the way) making computer microchips and semiconductor fabrication equipment. One of his responsibilities during this time was to teach engineers what they needed to know in order to effectively use the complex equipment his company produced. This required that they understand a broad range of disciplines including math, physics, chemistry and general engineering principles. Mr. Hendricks’s educational background includes a master’s degree in optical sciences from the University of Arizona, and two bachelor’s degrees from the University of Utah: one in physics and another in chemical engineering. Originally from Salt Lake City, Mr. Hendricks is excited about returning after so many years and working with high school students here. He is especially interested in helping them see the many “real life” applications for the things they learn in high school.

KEITH HOMER – FOREIGN LANGUAGE/ESL
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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
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DAVID KESSINGER - ART
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David Kessinger comes to AMES after completing his student teaching fall of 2002 at Murray High School. Mr. Kessinger has remained involved with Murray High School throughout the 2002-2003 school year through substitute teaching and student mentoring. Mr. Kessinger’s educational background includes a Masters of Education in diversity and technology from Westminster College, secondary license in art and history from Westminster College (with an endorsement in EDNET), and a Bachelors of Arts in History from the University of Utah. Originally from Brookfield, CT, Mr. Kessinger moved to Utah in 1997 to pursue his higher education. Mr. Kessinger is excited about the opportunity to work with the outstanding AMES staff and partners to help create a new educational model for the state of Utah.

ANNE LOVELL - TITLE I PARA-ED.
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ALISA MCDONALD - SOCIAL STUDIES
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JANNA MARTIN -SOCIAL STUDIES
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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
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JOEL MILLER - MATH
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AUDREY NELSON-AIKIDO
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JOHN NORDSTRUM - U of U Math
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Dr. GREG OWENS - U of U CHEMISTRY
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TONY PANTZIRIS - U OF U PHYSICS
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KIM PEHRSON – SOCIAL STUDIES
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Kimberly Pehrson 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 World Civilizations and Geography starting this fall, and 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.

PAUL RAMSEY - SCIENCE
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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.

CINDY PETERSON - MATH
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NICOLEEN RICHARDS - PARA-PROFESSIONAL
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LINDA SIMMONS - SPECIAL-ED.
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JESSE STEARN - SOCIAL STUDIES
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Jesse Stearn is a graduate from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in English and a minor in ESL. Jesse completed his student teaching at Highland High School and feels honored to be a teacher at AMES Academy.

He is a native of Salt Lake City and now lives in Holladay with his wife, Amy, who is a kindergarten teacher at Midvale Elementary.

Among Jesse's passions are: discovering the unique aspects of people and their cultures, traveling, music, literature, and surfing. He has traveled to several foreign countries including: Singapore, Malaysia, France, Italy, Belgium, Ireland, Mexico, Panama, and Costa Rica.

Philosophy of Education:
I believe that education should:

If these three things are met in a person's life then I believe that that person will have a better chance to be successful in body and mind.

HALEY STOKES - U of U WRITING
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JOHN STRANG -MATH
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John Strang, a teacher from Brockbank Jr. High, will be joining our math department. John has also had experience teaching math at Salt Lake Community College and is a retired business executive.

MARTHA TAYLOR - INTERNSHIPS
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REBECCA VERNON - U of U WRITiNG
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TANYA VICKERS - SCIENCE FAIR COORDINATOR
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SUNDY WATANABE - U of U Writing
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VAUGHN WEBSTER -TECHNOLOGY
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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.

TARA WION - INTERNSHIPS
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Tara Wion, a graduate from the University of Indianapolis with a Bachelor of Science degree, has joined AMES as a science teacher. Tara comes from Glendale Middle School where she worked with 7th and 8th grade students as an Integrated Science Teacher. A avid Track and Field participant and coach, Tara is committed to helping students have positive experiences in secondary school to inspire them to continue their education beyond High School. Tara feels that it is important to apply consistency, flexibility, and patience within the classroom. By applying these principles students enjoy positive experiences that include choice, challenges, and praise for work well done. Tara was recently married and will be joining AMES in early August.