Christina Tayles

Educator, entrepreneur, and founder of Scottsdale Education Center (SEC), Christina Tayles graduated from Northern Arizona University summa cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree with a dual major in Education and Special Education K-12. She also holds a Master's degree in Educational Leadership and Administration from NAU. She taught Math in the traditional strand at Desert Canyon Middle School and Cheyenne Traditional School for eight years specializing in pre-algebra and algebra. She has had many award nominations including the Disney Learning Partnership and Charros Outstanding Teacher of the Year. She was awarded the KTVK 3 TV Silver Apple Award for teaching excellence.

• Nomination Charros' Outstanding Teacher of the Year
• Disney Learning Partnership Nomination
• Silver Apple Award
• Principal Recommendation letter
• Parent Recommendation Letter

Kristi Hartmann

Kristi Hartmann graduated Magna Cum Laude from Northern Arizona University. She received a B.S. in secondary English education with a minor in Spanish education. She also graduated Magna Cum Laude with a Masters in Educational Leadership from Northern Arizona University. She taught high school English for four years and is currently teaching AIMS support and LRC English. She is certified in Special Education K-12 from Rio Salado Community College.

Gwynne Heiser

Gwynne Heiser graduated from ASU West with a BA in Spanish. She speaks, reads, and writes Spanish fluently. Gwynne enjoys helping children and young adults improve their Spanish conversation and grammar skills. Since 1998, Gwynne has assisted the Vietnamese community in Phoenix with citizenship classes. Many of her students have become US citizens. Gwynne works full time as the office manager at Mission Montessori Schools. She likes the positive atmosphere and enjoys interacting with the children. Gwynne's hobbies include swimming, reading, and cooking.

Lesley Gibbs

Lesley Gibbs received her Bachelor's degree from Marycrest College in Davenport, Iowa. Since moving to Arizona seven years ago, she has worked at Aztec Elementary School in Scottsdale. She has done private tutoring for two years prior to coming to Scottsdale Education Center. She enjoys watching the young students progress and achieve their personal best.

Joalynn Dahlgren

Joalynn Dahlgren graduated from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota with a B.A. in Elementary Education. She taught 2nd grade and 4th grade at Earle Brown Elementary School in Brooklyn Center, Minnesota and tutored for two years with Bucket Brigade at Countryside Elementary in Edina, Minnesota. Joalynn was also a private tutor as well as a substitute teacher in K-5th grade and special education in Edina, Minnesota. She is presently working as an assistant, in the Scottsdale School District in the area of special education.

Chris Hartmann

Chris Hartmann has received a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and a Secondary Teaching Certificate from the University of Arizona. In addition, he has his Master's Degree in Educational Leadership and Principal Certificate from Northern Arizona University.

He taught grade levels 7-12, including Middle School Social Studies, Language Arts, Humanities, and all levels of high school English. He is currently the 11th grade Assistant Principal at Desert Mountain high school, as well as a tutor and teacher of the SAT English Class at Scottsdale Education Center.

Chris grew up in New Jersey (the best state in the USA) and owes much of his identity to his mother, Toni, and his stepfather, Chuck. He has the same best friend, Keith, since he was four years old and has a great brother named Jon.

Chris considers himself very lucky to be surrounded by the dedicated professionals at Scottsdale Education Center. His hobbies include all sports, reading, watching ESPN, and spending time with his puppy named Oliver and the beautiful woman named Kristi who agreed to marry him in October of 2005.

Deborah Pollard

Deborah Pollard graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics and a minor in Statistics. While at the university, she tutored students in math, ranging from consumer math classes to calculus. After graduating, Deborah worked for 12 years in the computer industry working in a variety of positions. She was an operating system programmer for large mainframe computers, an application programmer for several large businesses, and a program manager for a consulting firm.

In 1993, Deborah decided to stay home with her children and started tutoring high school students in mathematics. Deborah enjoys working with students one-on-one. Students learn in a variety of ways and Deborah understands that logic can be found from different angles.

John Kettlewell

John Kettlewell graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. in mathematics from Arizona State University in 1997. In 2002, he received his Masters in Secondary Education from Arizona State University. This is his eighth year of teaching high school mathematics, and he currently teaches at Notre Dame Preparatory. John is a major Sun Devil fan and his hobbies are mountain-biking, water-skiing, racing model boats, and listening to music.

Kristen Engle

Kristen Engle graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Science in English Education and a Minor in Teaching French. She studied abroad in France while completing her degree and loves to travel and learn about different cultures.

Kristen taught English to 9th, 10th, and 11th graders at Desert Mountain High School for two and a half years before moving abroad to Helsinki, Finland. There she taught English to students of all ages who were learning it as their second language.

Kristen just moved back to the Valley and now teaches English Immersion Studies at Coronado High School. She is working to complete her full ESL endorsement.

Kristen loves reading, movies, music, and being back in Scottsdale with her friends, family, and soon-to-be hubby Janne. She is excited about working with the students at Scottsdale Education Center!

Christine Lewis

Christine Lewis is currently enrolled in the PhD program at Arizona State University in the field of Organic Chemistry.

She has completed over half of her research and just passed the Oral comprehensive examination (equivalence of a master's degree.) This test is the last obstacle in the studies except the final dissertation upon graduation and completion of the last portion of her research. She studies the fundamentals of DNA damage and what applications this process has in producing cancer. In doing her research, she also synthesizes new compounds chemically for studies, runs quantitative DNA gels, runs DNA visualization programs, spectroscopy and photochemistry of DNA with a laser. In addition to research she is also trained to teach and tutor in the field of chemistry. Prior to her research in this lab, she worked in a synthetic chemistry lab where she synthesized potential cancer agents and ran assays for analyses. She has a diverse background including working with eye surgery as a surgical counsellor and prior to this, she was an interrogator/linguist for the US military.

As a mother of two daughters, she understands the necessity of a full and diversified education for young people and she feels privileged to be part of the process. In addition, Christine understands how challenging it can be for the students to be accomplished in all subjects.

In teaching new college students she has found that she enjoys the challenge of helping students to understand something that they had once struggled with. She also believes that all students have the potential to learn, it just requires patience and perseverance, even in complex subjects such as organic chemistry. She plans to always be involved with teaching and looks forward to adding tutoring to her experiences. Her diversified background in the work area has enhanced her ability to identify with all types of students and she has learned how to adapt her teaching to what works best for different types of learning styles.

Joshua Pantier

Joshua was born in Spokane, WA, and has also lived in Hartford, Virginia Beach and Richmond before moving here with the family in 1988. Joshua attended "old" Anasazi Elementary, Mohave Middle and Saguaro High (class of 1995) before moving on to Scottsdale Community College and Arizona State University. In his spare time he enjoys reading, sports and going to sporting events, snowboarding, working out at Bally's, taking care of his goldfish, and spending time with family and friends.

Joshua currently holds a B.A. in Secondary Math Education (ASU) and an M.Ed. in Educational Leadership (NAU). At DMHS, he serves on the Site Council, works as a teacher representative on the IB Steering Committee, and chairs the Site Improvement Team.

This is his sixth year of teaching. Joshua loves coming to school every day, and he loves the opportunity to affect young people in a positive way.

Julie Kreiman

Julie Kreiman graduated Summa Cum Laude from Grand Canyon University in May 2000. She received a B.S. in Secondary Education and is certified to teach both mathematics and physical education for grades 7-12. In May 2003 she graduated with a Masters in Secondary Education from Arizona State University specializing in educational technology. She taught high school math for six years and helped establish an elective course that provided algebra students with extra support and encouragement to be successful in their algebra course. She is very excited to have the opportunity to work at Scottsdale Education Center where she can focus solely on the best part of teaching, helping students learn.

Jenny Kaiser

Jenny Kaiser earned her degree in mathematics from Grand Canyon University in 1989 along with a secondary teaching certificate. She complete her Master’s of Education from ASU in 1998 and has been teaching high school math for 17 years at Alhambra High School. In 2004 she reduced to part-time teaching to be able to spend time with her 2 year old daughter. She has taught math from pre-algebra through pre-calculus and also is an adjunct faculty member for Grand Canyon University. She enjoys high school students and believes that investing time in students is not only rewarding, but fun.

Brad Rutkowski

Brad Rutkowski grew up in the small town of Milford, Michigan until he went on to Western Michigan University. While in university, in addition to academics, Brad was a member of the track and cross country teams. In high school and college, he set both school and state records and went on to become a State Champion in the 3200 meter relay.

Upon graduation from Western Michigan University, Brad decided to experience life in another part of the country, so he moved to Scottsdale, Arizona where he found a job at Desert Mountain High School. During his time at DMHS, Brad met many new friends, and he continues to enjoy his time here in the Valley of the Sun. He has even managed to lure some of his Michigan friends out to the Valley

Shannon Cronn

Shannon Cronn graduated from Arizona State University with a B.A. in special education. She is certified to teach K-12 students with learning disabilities and mental retardation. She also graduated with a Masters in Educational Counseling from Northern Arizona University.

For the past seven years, Shannon has taught academic support classes in the Learning Resource Center at Chaparral High School. She has also had the opportunity to team-teach English, Earth Science and World History. She will graduate in May 2007 with a Masters in School Psychology. During the 2007-2008 school year, she will be completing an internship to become a certified school psychologist.

Katie Kerrigan

Katie Kerrigan graduated from University of Wisconsin with a Bachelors of Business Administration with a Marketing emphasis. She worked in a corporate finance position at a large Bank in Chicago before deciding to go back to school. She received her Masters in Math Education from the University of Minnesota and is licensed to teach grades 6-12. She taught for 4 years in Chicago and New York City before moving to Phoenix, where she taught at Notre Dame Preparatory High School. She recently had a baby and is now a full time mom and part time tutor.

Todd Otanicar

Todd Otanicar graduated with distinction from the University of Kansas with a BS in Aerospace Engineering. He then went on to work in the aircraft engine business for four years. During that time he graduated magna cum laude with a MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. He decided to change course in 2006 and pursue his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from ASU. His current research is in renewable energy.

Shawn Despins

Shawn Despins is the product of he Scottsdale Unified School District. She graduated from Saguaro High School and in 2000 graduated Magna Cum Laude with a degree in Special Education from Arizona State University. She has been teaching in the Scottsdale School district for 7 years. Currently she works at Chaparral High School and has been there for 5 years. In 2006, she obtained her Masters in Curriculum and Instruction, graduating Suma Cum Laude.

Sam Villalobos

Sam Villalobos graduates from Arizona State University in May 2007 with a Bachelor's of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. Sam has worked as a math and science tutor for the Tempe Union High School District and Arizona State University. He also has experience in semiconductor processing with Motorola and has performed research on fuel cell technology at ASU's Biodesign Institute. He has been a tutor at SEC for over 2 years.