Specialists

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.

She took a break to raise two beautiful daughters and now that they are both attending North Star she is BACK! It’s a family affair with both daughters in first and fourth grade, Mr. Whitt teaching sixth grade and Mrs. Whitt back to MS and HS ART. 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.

mchelko@northstarcharter.org

• 2nd year at North Star; 22 years total as a school counselor
• Enjoys hanging out with her husband and three dogs
• Focus: Getting to know students and helping them reach their
• high school and post-secondary goals

aholland@northstarcharter.org

Mrs. Holland LOVES being the school counselor for our amazing middle school students! She strives to have an open door and welcoming space where students feel seen, heard, and valued, as they navigate the fun (and inevitably challenging) middle school years. She also loves the connections she gets to make with the families of our students. It takes a village and she is so thankful to be part of this one.

Mrs. Holland is married to her best friend and together they have three of the best kids ever. When she isn’t running between practices and games, Mrs. Holland lives to adventure outdoors with her family and friends, hiking, camping, and finding spots on the water to cool down in summer.

dholladay@northstarcharter.org

Danica was born and raised in Spokane, WA. She grew up playing soccer and riding horses. She had a love for school and learning which guided her into the field of education. In 2012 she received a B.S. from Eastern Washington University in Applied Developmental Psychology. She then returned to Spokane and attended Gonzaga University where she received a Masters in School Counseling in 2014.

Since moving to Boise in 2015 life has been full of fun for Danica. In August 2015 she joined the North Star Team. In 2016 she met Trevor and in October 2018 they got engaged. In May 2019 she graduated with her second Masters in Educational Leadership. Then on July 6th, 2019, she married Trevor and became Danica Holladay! Most recently in June 2020 they bought 7 acres and look forward to making this slice of heaven into their forever home!

Entering her 6th year at North Star she will continue her role as the elementary school counselor, as well as the IB coordinator for the juniors and seniors! She loves the opportunity to work with such a range of students!

When she is not at North Star you will find her and Trevor doing almost anything in the outdoors. Some of their favorite things are fishing, hunting, camping, and being with their animals! She is SOOOO excited for this new year with the best school community there is!

kmahaffey@northstarcharter.org

I am thrilled to join Mrs. Holladay as a school counselor for our outstanding K-5 elementary students. I will be collaborating with Mrs. Holladay to promote the social, emotional, and academic success of K-5 students. I am dedicated to creating a safe and positive school environment for all learners and am passionate about nurturing resilience, kindness, and a love of learning in every student.

I am the mother of two amazing teenagers, Hunter and Madalynn, and have been married to my husband, Wayne, for over twenty years. I am currently pursuing a master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy. I have been working at North Star since 2018 as a paraprofessional and look forward to serving the students at North Star in a new capacity.

cbenton@northstarcharter.org

Growing up, Carrie was fortunate enough to have lived all over the United States and overseas. After graduating from high school in Idaho, she attended Boise State University. With a degree in psychology and a new husband, she decided to make Boise/Eagle her new home.

Carrie was excited to take on the role as North Star’s librarian in 2004. She loved the close-knit community and high achievement focus found at the school. A move to Tokyo, Japan with her family in 2009 necessitated her departure.

She continued her work in the library at the American School in Japan while she lived in Tokyo. The experience was life-changing and rewarding. After returning to Eagle in 2015, she was grateful to assume the role of North Star librarian once again.

Carrie has a daughter in school at The University of Texas and a son at Boise State. When her son graduates, all members of her family will have graduated from Boise State University. Go Broncos!

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.

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 at an early age. He also loved fishing and playing in the woods with his brothers and neighborhood friends. Growing up South 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 in 1998.

During the two years after college, Patrick taught and coached wrestling in his hometown before heading to Sydney, Australia to play rugby for the UNSW Rugby team. Patrick loved his experience playing rugby with the Australians and traveling. Upon returning to the States, Patrick moved to sunny Los Angeles to make movies at Sony Pictures with four of his friends from college. After working 2 years at Sony, Patrick married his wife Kristen and decided to move back to Marshfield, MA to pursue his passion for teaching, coaching wrestling and raising a family. After coaching and teaching for 7 years in Massachusetts, Patrick and his family of four (two sons) moved to the Treasure Valley.

Since 2009, Patrick and Kristen have made the Treasure Valley their home. Patrick has been a teacher here in Idaho for the past 9 years. In 2010, Patrick and Kristen’s love for fitness turned into their business when they opened CrossFit E3 in Eagle, Idaho. Their family also expanded, they had a third son and a daughter. Patrick has served in the Idaho Air National Guard as TACP since 2012.

With over 18 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. 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

chawkins@northstarcharter.org

Mrs. Hawkins grew up in a rural town, Mariposa, CA, just outside of Yosemite National Park. She has always been actively involved in sports and anything that has to do with the outdoors. Her love of children and passion for teaching have been with her since she was a young girl.

After graduating on the Dean’s List with a Bachelor’s degree from Sacramento State and earning a teaching credential from Chapman University, Casey moved to Grandview, ID, in October of 1995. Midyear, after three months of subbing, she was offered a fulltime second grade position at Mountain Home AFB. She spent the summers of 1996 and 1997 teaching Spanish speaking migrant ed. preschoolers. In 1997, she moved to Eagle, ID and taught in the Meridian School District for the next eight years. She has also spent twenty-four summers tutoring students in math. Every position she has filled with passion and excitement.

When her boys arrived into this awesome world, it was apparent that she needed to be at home more; however, as much as she loved being home, she also needed to keep her feet in the classroom. While getting her Master’s degree in Administration, she also shared a fifth grade teaching contract for three years with Mrs. Mariah Rodeghiero, one of North Star’s amazing fourth grade teachers. This was an incredible opportunity that she thought she would enjoy until retirement…until she stepped foot into her first charter school.

Upon viewing what charter schools could offer students, immediately she knew it was part of her next phase of life. She was impressed and excited about working with a group of teachers that were all grounded in the same beliefs. She has spent the past fifteenteen years successfully teaching with some of her greatest friends at a charter school; her students’ enthusiasm towards learning and their ISAT scores prove that the method North Star has to offer is exceptional.

Casey has been married for twenty years to her best friend, Dan Hawkins, Asst. Fire Chief at Mt. Home AFB. They have three adorable lil’ men (ages 19, 17 1/2 and 16), so life is incredibly busy attending sporting events and enjoying quality family time. Together they enjoy biking, snow skiing, waterskiing, camping, hiking, hunting, fishing, swimming, jet-skiing, and spending time with family and friends.

Casey looks forward to her first year teaching K-5 PE and her 26th year as a teacher. She can’t wait to meet and develop working relationships with her upcoming K-5 students and their families.

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 city league sports such as volleyball 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 and married his wife Danica shortly after.

Last year was Trevor’s fifth year at North Star and he looks forward to meeting new students and families throughout the year.

prex@northstarcharter.org

Patrice Rex was born and raised primarily in Utah, with a few summer excursions to Virginia where she worked as a full-time nanny. She spent her teenage years playing lots of basketball, volleyball, softball and running track, and particularly loved basketball and high jump. She has always been curious about the way things work and natural processes, especially human physiology and life sciences. Mrs. Rex believes her love of science can be traced back to the times that she spent accompanying her grandfather on his Forest Service rounds throughout Utah and Idaho. She attended Brigham Young University on an academic scholarship and graduated with honors in 1998 with a degree in Zoology and a minor in Biochemistry. Mrs. Rex has taught and tutored science and math in Utah, Nevada and Idaho.

After her first child was born, she was a stay at home mom and part-time tutor for 10 years. She returned to teaching in 2009. She holds Secondary Teaching Endorsements in Biological Science and Natural Science. She also has an Elementary Teaching Certificate. Mrs. Rex is extremely excited to be teaching science at the elementary level and getting kids excited about science at a young age. She loves to do lots of “hands-on” lab work and watch students make discoveries.

Mrs. Rex loves to spend time with her husband of 26 years and her two kids (ages 20 and 16). Some of their favorite activities include traveling, camping, hiking, biking, swimming, playing games and doing puzzles. She also loves to read, play sports, watch college football, garden and take naps. She has been an Idaho resident since 2006 and loves living here.

kowen@northstarcharter.org

Kendyl Owen was born in Eugene, OR and moved to the Boise area when she was in the 3rd grade. She graduated from Lewis-Clark State College in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology. Shortly after graduating, she returned home to Boise and started working at North Star as a Special Education Paraprofessional. Miss Owen quickly realized her passion was in the education field and returned to school to complete her teaching credentials. She graduated from Boise State University in 2020 with her Master’s in Teaching Special Education. She came into her teaching role with a great amount of experience with children with disabilities. She has a sister who has Autism and serves as her greatest inspiration in life. Miss Owen has also spent time as a developmental therapist, youth development professional, and a long-time nanny.

When she is not at North Star, she enjoys spending quality time with her friends & family, trying new recipes, or hiking the foothills with her 4-year-old golden retriever, Huntley. Miss Owen is so excited to continue her career at North Star, seeing that it is the very place where she found her passion for teaching!

svanzanten@northstarcharter.org

Susan grew up in Pasadena, California before moving to San Diego to attend Point Loma Nazarene University. There she received her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Studies with a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. During those years, She was a member of the women’s tennis team and an avid beach volleyball player. Several years later she met and married her husband Dan in Del Mar, California where they raised their 2 boys Hayden and Griffin. She was later drawn back to teaching and decided to return to school for higher education. At Azusa Pacific University, she received her Masters along with an Education Specialist Teaching Credential. Since that time Susan has been teaching students with diverse learning styles in both California and now Idaho since relocating 2 years ago. In her free time, Susan enjoys snow skiing in the winter and pickleball in the summer along with gardening and cooking at home. She is excited to join the team at North Star Charter and feels blessed to be given the opportunity to help students achieve their full potential.