jange@northstarcharter.org

Mrs. Ange loves all things History. She wanted to become a teacher at the young age of seven. Her mom was a teacher and middle school Principal. Her dad was a Music teacher and was always playing his saxophone and piano around the house. Mrs. Ange knew she wanted to teach students; she just did not know what age or subject. Mrs. Ange attended college at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. It was here that she met an amazing and animated professor named Professor Barnes. Professor Barnes had a true love of maps and battles. It was through him that she discovered her own love of maps and battles. It was there in Professor Barnes class that she knew she wanted to teach history, just like him. She received her BA in History in 2000 and got her Teaching Credential in 2001.

After college, her fiancé, Joe, got a job offer at a Produce company in Salinas, Ca. Mrs. Ange accepted a dream job at Carmel High School, a job that she held for nearly 20 years. She taught Government, Economics, US History, World History, Geography and AP World History. Mrs. Ange’s most memorable highlights from her career at Carmel High School are when she received Mentor of the Year, Teacher of the Year and KSBW Monterey Bay Crystal Apple Award recipient. Mrs. Ange and Joe have been married since 2003 and have had three beautiful daughters. Her daughters all attend North Star and love the Husky life!

Mrs. Ange and her husband visited Yellowstone in the summer of 2019. It was that vacation that changed them forever! The beauty of Idaho sparked something in Mrs. Ange and her family. It is simply breathtaking and aligns with the Ange family’s desires to be outdoors. Joe loves fishing and Mrs. Ange and the girls love to camp. Life is amazing in Idaho and the only missing piece for Mrs. Ange was her job. She longed to find a teaching position where she could continue her love of teaching and history. Mrs. Ange feels that teaching World History and Mythology this year at North Star has completed the missing piece to her Idaho journey. She is excited to teach and is ready for…you guessed it, more maps!

cbaron@northstarcharter.org

Christine Baron joins the North Star Charter family having been a high school educator for over 17 years in Vermont. She started her career as a high school English teacher in 1989. She spent several years in social services as a case manager before returning to the classroom with a master’s degree in special education. Hired out of her internship at South Burlington High School (Vermont) she ran the supported study program. A pattern of student disengagement in an educational landscape that, despite technological and cultural advancements, hadn’t significantly changed since its founding drew her to become an advisor in Big Picture. Big Picture emphasizes real world learning, learning through internships, and empowers students to integrate content learning into self designed projects. In her role, Christine supported seniors in completing a required capstone project. According to Christine: “Students’ most significant academic and personal growth came from the internships and major projects. It was incredibly rewarding to see students discover their personal agency- their power to affect change!” In an order to bring these opportunities to a wider range of students, she was asked to step into the role of Career Development Coordinator for South Burlington High School. There she developed and taught an internship course that required each student to log 40 hours of field experience in local businesses. Additionally she ran a community service club, vetted and managed students community service hours, and advised a student team in producing an annual Job and Career Fair. The fair regularly had upwards of 70 participating companies interfacing with the entire student body.

Christine is excited to bring her networking, project management, coaching, and professional skills to the students at North Star as the Venture Capstone Coordinator. She moved to Idaho last year from Vermont, and is looking to build a network of collaborators. If you have a business, or know of someone who does, she would love to connect with you. Please take a moment to fill out this very short Google form.

Christine moved to Idaho to be closer to her daughter and family- including a first grandchild! She is enjoying everything living in the West has to offer- hiking, river floats, camping, biking and traveling around another side of the country. In her free time she practices Yoga and is a certified Zumba instructor.

pbrown@northstarcharter.org

Born in Rockland, Massachusetts Patrick J. Brown grew up with two older brothers and one younger sister. Having older brothers involved in sports and a Father who coached, Patrick grew up very active and involved in organized sports. He also loved fishing and playing in the woods with his brothers and neighborhood friends. Growing up on South Shore of Boston, Patrick became an extremely passionate Sports fan for his home team Patriots, Red Sox, Celtics and Bruins. With strong family values instilled by his Father and Mother, Patrick is extremely loving and loyal to his family and close friends.

After graduating high school he traveled to Northfield, Vermont to attend our Nation’s oldest private military college, Norwich University. Patrick was recruited to wrestle for the Cadets. Patrick wrestled and played rugby all 4 years at Norwich. He earned All-New England for both rugby and wrestling. Patrick received his degree of Bachelor of Science in Physical Education.

Patrick is a father of 4 children. Being a father is his greatest honor. He has served in the Idaho Air National Guard with the 124th ASOS since 2012.

With over 20 years of experience working with students as a coach and teacher, Patrick has realized there is no better job than teaching and coaching. Motivating students to believe they can accomplish anything they set their mind to, has been Patrick’s mantra to his students. Throughout the years, Patrick has developed life long friendships with his students and athletes. With his passion for physical activity, kinesiology, fitness and sports he has been blessed with the opportunity to share his love to his students on a daily basis.

This will be Patrick’s eighth year teaching and first year coaching Cross Country at North Star Charter School.

vcampbell@northstarcharter.org

aj.davidsen@northstarcharter.org

AJ Davidsen was born and raised in Calgary Alberta, Canada where the influence of great band directors led him to pursue a degree in music education.

AJ graduated in April 2013 in the top 10% of the graduating class of BYU-Idaho. His main instruments are the piano and French horn. In February of 2013, AJ was given the “Outstanding Piano Soloist” award at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. AJ completed a Master’s degree in Piano Performance at Boise State University in December 2017.

In November 2020, AJ was recognized by KTVB as an innovative educator. He received a grant which enabled him to acquire the necessary equipment to create high quality multi-track recordings of his ensembles, working around the limitations of running a band program during a pandemic.

AJ met his wife Ashley at BYU-Idaho where she earned a degree in piano performance. Ashley completed her Master’s Degree at Boise State in 2015. Ashley and AJ are the proud parents of two children, Cleah age 9 and Cecil who will be 4 in January.

Apart from his family and music, AJ’s passions include Mountain Biking, Road Biking and any other form of cycling.

jhickey@northstarcharter.org

Josh Hickey grew up in rural Pennsylvania where he developed a love for the natural world through exploration of the rivers, mountains, and woods surrounding his childhood home. His love for the natural world inspired him to pursue a degree in Fisheries Biology so he could develop a better understanding of the creatures and natural environments that fascinated him as a child. His love for the natural world also drove him to seek out opportunities to be and play outside as often as he could. Consequently, at the age of 16, he began ski instructing at a local ski area near his childhood home. Through his experiences ski instructing, he became fascinated by the way people learn and began to develop a passion for teaching. As time went on, he realized that his love for the natural world and his passion for teaching drove him to share his understanding of natural environments, and creatures that inhabit them, with anyone that would listen. This realization led him to pursue a career in education so that he could be better equipped to pass on his knowledge of the natural world with the future (i.e., kids!). Josh believes that by helping future generations better understand how the world works at a biological level can help to preserve it for generations to come.

When Josh is not in school, he likes to spend as much time outdoors as possible. This could be mountain biking and camping with his wife, fly fishing a remote river, hiking a mountain peak to photograph the landscape, or tending to his garden with his yellow lab and chickens.

This will be Josh’s second year at North Star Charter. He looks forward to continuing to inspire students to learn more about science and how they fit into the natural world.

khutchens@northstarcharter.org

Kevin Hutchens made the decision early in high school to pursue education after helping run football camps for elementary students in the summer. His passion for business came from his high school electives and working around the family accounting business much of his young life. When he is not in school, he enjoys playing golf, cooking, and spending time up north helping on his friend’s cattle ranch. He is thrilled to be a part of the North Star Charter family and to continue to help students prepare for their future!

tholladay@northstarcharter.org

Trevor Holladay grew up in the great outdoors of Northwest Montana. He likes to spend his down time hunting, fishing, hiking, or playing pickleball, cornhole or basketball. He is originally from Kalispell, Montana where he went to school K-12th grade. Following his passion for being physically active, he moved to Bozeman, Montana and went to Montana State University and received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Health Enhancement.

After graduating, Trevor moved to the Treasure Valley and got his Masters in Educational Leadership at BSU and married his wife Danica shortly after. They now have a one year old named Jack who is following in his dad’s shoes loving the outdoors and being active.

Trevor has taught 8 years at North Star and every year he looks forward to meeting new students and families.

srau@northstarcharter.org

Shirley Rau is a lifetime learner—a reader, writer and researcher. She earned her graduate degree from the Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College in Vermont, completing a summer residency at Lincoln College in Oxford. An Idaho native, Shirley’s undergraduate degree was from Idaho State University. She was a fellow in the Treasure Valley Writing Project at BSU and the Northwest Inland Writing Project at U of I.

Shirley has had more than 30 years of experience teaching in university, private school and public school settings. She has taught advanced placement and college preparatory English in public school settings and taught high school English in an innovative integrated seminar-style classroom at an independent school that emphasized critical thinking. At the university level Shirley taught undergraduate English composition and writing methods, and supervised intern teachers in a variety of high school and middle school settings.

Shirley has held a number of educational leadership positions. She was co-founder and program coordinator for a Reggio-inspired pre-school that included active parent participation and documentation of student learning. She was education director and interim head of an independent school. She was Executive Director of the Idaho Charter School Network, and had the privilege of serving under Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Luna as School Choice Coordinator, providing support for Idaho’s charter schools.

She has long been an advocate of children’s right to a quality education. She has spoken to parent groups, teachers, administrators, business leaders and policy makers on a range of issues: education reform, early childhood and adolescent literacy, conflict and tolerance, and the value of parental involvement in education. She has published a number of articles about education and co-authored A Classroom of Teenaged Readers: Nurturing Reading Processes in Senior High English (Addison, Wesley, Longman) a research-based book that focused on the development of critical reading in the high school classroom.

The highlights of Shirley’s career have included coaching a two-time national champion coed cheerleading squad, speaking in front of the US Senate Education Committee as a finalist for National Teacher of the Year, and participating in the Japan-America Grassroots Summit.

Shirley lives in Boise with her husband and son, their Bernese mountain dog and ragdoll cat. She and her family share a passion for soccer, canoeing, gardening, the Oregon coast and international travel. Their most memorable family vacation was a birding expedition to Honduras.

Shirley says of teaching at North Star: “I feel as if my personal and professional life have come full circle. I love working with the engaged student learners, the committed parents and the outstanding teaching team at North Star. It offers me an opportunity, not only to share my knowledge, but to continue to learn and grow personally and professionally.”

hwhitt@northstarcharter.org

Heather Whitt grew up in Boise, attending McMillan elementary school, with her mom as librarian. She then moved onto Lowell Scott MS, then onto graduate from Centennial HS. Heather grew up playing recreational and competitive soccer in the Treasure Valley. She played all four years on Centennial’s varsity team and earned a spot on the Idaho state team. This along with her academic achievements earned her a scholarship to College of Idaho for four years. There she met the love of her life, the famously epic, Ty Whitt! She finished schooling with a BA in Secondary English Teaching and then later acquired her Art credential.

After finishing college Heather was able to buy an “around the world” plane ticket allowing her to visit over ten countries over the course of a year. She taught summer school for the Boise School District along with Special Education and coached girls JV soccer at Capital HS. She then started the art program for the middle and high school at North Star Charter. For three years she was able to teach students from 6th-12th including introduction classes, multicultural art and commercial art in the high school.  After taking a break to raise two feisty daughters she has been back at North Star for five years!  She has taught 6-12 Visual Arts and for the last two years has taught IB Visual Arts as well.

In her spare time she loves to garden, camp with her family and friends, and create one of a kind mosaic art pieces for her and Mr. Whitt’s art business, R.A.D Mosaic.