Fourth Grade Faculty Bios

4A Lead Teacher, Mrs. Higbee Hello, my name is Leann Higbee, and I am an Arizona Native. I graduated from Arizona State in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature. After graduation, I had a desire to pursue my other passion: education. To examine this passion, I began substitute teaching and realized that I love teaching children. When I learned about Great Hearts and the classical approach to education, I immediately applied for an apprentice teacher position. I have been fortunate to work with highly effective lead teachers in the 2nd, 4th and 5th grades. I am excited to start my sixth year at Archway West, and my third year as a lead teacher within the Great Hearts network of schools. I am looking forward to getting to know you and your child this school year.

Sincerely, Leann Higbee [email protected]

4A Teacher Assistant, Mrs. Bader ​ My name is Laura Bader and I am very excited to be joining the 4th grade team and working with Mrs. Higbee this year. I am a founding Trivium faculty member, and am starting my ninth year as a teaching assistant with ATW. I previously assisted in 3rd grade for four years and 1st grade for the four years before that. Prior to working at Archway Trivium West, I worked for three years in the Litchfield School District as an assistant in a transitional Kindergarten classroom.

I look forward to this opportunity to work, once again, with many of your children, as well as, welcoming many new ones to our classroom!

Sincerely, Laura Bader [email protected]

4B Lead Teacher, Ms. Quintanilla Hello, my name is Deborah Quintanilla and I am excited to be working with you and your child in the upcoming school year! I graduated from ASU with a Bachelor’s degree in Special and Elementary Education in 2018. In my previous internships I had the privilege to work in 5th and 6th grade math classes and worked with special education students from K-6 and high school. I

am thrilled to start my second year in the Great Hearts community and can not wait to see our scholars grow intellectually, in addition to growing in virtue and as an individual.

Sincerely, Deborah Quintanilla [email protected]

4B Apprentice Teacher, Ms. Kolia Hello, my name is Fiona Kolia and I will be assisting Ms. Quintanilla. I hold a bachelor’s in accounting and have been working in a variety of areas, however my long term passion for teaching made me rethink my career path. This will be my second year at Great Hearts and I am looking forward to another great year and to being part of your child's life.

Sincerely, Fiona Kolia [email protected]

4C Co-Lead Teacher, Mr. Cho Hello, my name is Andrew Cho, and I am honored to welcome you and your child to 4th grade. My appreciation for the curiosity of young minds and the Great Hearts mission to cultivate the hearts, minds, and souls of our students will guide me in my first year teaching. I hold a Bachelor's in American Studies from Boston University, and have served as a youth mentor for over four years. I am dedicated to growing in the Great Hearts community, and I look forward to building a successful school year with your child!

Sincerely, Andrew Cho [email protected]

4C Co-Lead Teacher, Mrs. Widowski I hope you all had a wonderful summer and are now getting excited for the school year to begin. My name is Michelle Widowski. I have the privilege of teaching math and science, two of my academic passions to your children this year. I earned my Bachelor’s in Exercise Science at Brigham Young University. Before coming to Trivium, I taught middle school math and science. I have been an assistant track coach at Trivium for four years and I am excited to be now teaching at Archway Trivium West. I have four children attending Trivium. The two oldest, now a junior and a freshman, started attending Trivium when Trivium first opened their doors in Goodyear. My younger two will be starting first and third grade. It has been such a pleasure to watch my children grow and develop as they have worked hard and benefited from gaining a

Great Hearts’ education. I am now honored to now be a part of that experience with your child.

Sincerely, Michelle Widowski [email protected]

Specials Teachers

Latin, Mr. Carmichael My name is Nathan Carmichael and I am thrilled to be your child’s teacher! I graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, where I studied Latin, Greek, and classical archaeology. I have worked in various capacities with Kindergarten and grades 1, 2, and 4, and this is my fourth year at Archway Trivium West. My hobbies include traveling, reading, and all things historical. I look forward to sharing my affinity for the language, together with my experience of excavating Roman sites.

Cheers, Nathan Carmichael [email protected]

Visual Art Teacher, Mrs. Wright It is with great pleasure to welcome you to a new year at Archway Trivium West. It is a joy to be teaching 2nd-5th grade art again this year. This will be my fifth year teaching at ATW and I feel truly honored to be a visual arts teacher here. My love of creating began in my own early education where I was fortunate to have inspirational teachers from elementary through high school AP art. I graduated with my Bachelor’s in Interior Design from Northern Arizona University and worked in the field for several years prior to teaching, and went on to complete my Master’s in Art Education from Arizona State University. I am excited to share my passion for creativity with such young minds and share an exploration of wonder and reason as we seek truth, goodness, and beauty in art. This year, we will delve into great works of art as we learn how to view them in the light of their historical context. We will learn how to identify the various elements and principles of art used in these works, and how to interact with them with wonder and reason. When exposed to a rich classical curriculum through high expectations and a supportive environment, scholars are given the opportunity to understand and create beautiful works of art. I hope to see students expand their visual vocabulary, grow in their

curiosity, and flourish in their creativity. I want to thank you for your support and opportunity to work with you and your child so that we can have a successful year.

Sincerely, Clare Wright [email protected]

PE, Coach “L” Hi, my name is Stanley Larochelle. I am excited as I enter into my 7th year here at Archway Trivium West as a P.E teacher. I played football on a scholarship at Southern Utah University and graduated with a BS in Physical Education. I am also a Health coach, Fit Camp instructor and an Assistant Varsity Football coach at Westview High School in Avondale. I am very motivated and excited to help scholar athletes learn a variety of sports, and expand their physical skills, knowledge, work ethic and discipline.

Sincerely, Stanley Larochelle [email protected]

Music, Ms. Strickland The Fall of 2019 will be my first year with Great Hearts Academy, Archway Trivium West, as th th their part-time 4 ​ and 5 ​ grade choral teacher. ​ ​

I have a Bachelor of Music degree in Piano Performance (from NAU), with a minor in Vocal Performance (from ASU). When I originally moved to Southern California from Arizona, I was a professional classical musician (concert pianist) until I injured my arm and had to quit a promising solo performing career. At that time, San Diego had two classical music radio stations, so I became an on-air radio host and producer at both for 5+ years. That was how and when my professional writing and storytelling career began.

I am a published PBS-television Emmy Award-winning children’s celebrity ghostwriter for Simon & Schuster, as well as being a published author in my own voice. I have also been a member (by audition only) of The Phoenix Symphony Chorus since January 2013.

My mission in life is to delight and bring joy, love and healing to the human heart through music, story and play. My personal motto for many years has been, “Expand, Explore, Express!” I simply cannot imagine life without the gift of music (or any of the arts)! So, I am honored to help ATW’s scholars “Expand, Explore, Express” their own musical experiences!

Sincerely, Norma-Jean (“NJ”) Strickland [email protected]

Student Support

Reading Specialist, Mrs. Irwin My name is Karen Irwin and I am the reading specialist at Archway Trivium West. I grew up in west central Illinois, graduated from Eastern Illinois University, and later received my Master’s in Education from Arizona State University. I have been teaching for over 30 years and this is my sixth year working at Archway Trivium West. The reading specialist is responsible for identifying scholars that may have a reading difficulty and working with scholars, teachers, teacher assistants, and parents to provide necessary reading interventions. At Archway Trivium West, we administer the Dibels (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) Next assessment to help identify scholars that may be having difficulty in reading, and the 95% Group Phonological Awareness Screener, and/or the 95% Group Phonics Screener.

Sincerely, Karen Irwin [email protected]

School Nurse, Mrs. Schooley My name is Denise Schooley and I have the honor of being the school nurse during the 2019-2020 academic year. I have worked at Archway Trivium West for the past three years. This will be my second year as the school nurse. I am very excited to continue in the nurse role and serve your scholar’s health care needs. My 20 years of diverse healthcare experience has allowed me to be the nurse I am today. I look forward to continuing to create loving and trusting relationship with your scholars. I will be at Meet the Teacher Night to collect completed Asthma, Food Allergy and Seizure Actions plans with your scholar’s medications. All medications prescribed by a provider must be in the original container with the prescription label. All Epi-pens must be in a set of two. Please feel free to reach out to me by phone or email at any time regarding your child's health care concerns or needs.

Respectfully, Denise Schooley [email protected]

School Counselor, Mrs. Boerckel

My name is Kelly Boerckel and this is my second year as the counselor at Great Hearts! I have been working with children, teens, and families since 2005 through various inpatient behavioral health settings, residential treatment centers and the public education system. I am starting my th th 12 ​ year in education and 7 ​ year as a school counselor. ​ ​ My husband & I have two children, Drew (11) and Ainsley (8), as well as two dogs. Deagan (12) is a chocolate Labrador and Gunner Blue (1) is an English Bulldog. When I’m not working you can find me at a swim meet or a lacrosse game cheering on my kids! I was born and raised in Texas and have lived in Arizona now for 1 year and we are loving it here!

I am looking forward to working with your students this school year. Helping students to grow and thrive emotionally, socially and academically is my greatest passion.

Sincerely, Kelly Boerckel [email protected]