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.

mbeglinger@northstarcharter.org

Megan grew up in Pocatello, Idaho. She graduated from Pocatello High School, where she participated on the basketball team for three years and was a member of the state championship volleyball team her senior year. After high school, she followed in the footsteps of her parents and headed north to be a Vandal. She met her husband, Matt, at the University of Idaho and they married in 1995 soon after she graduated with a degree in Secondary Education. Megan was hired by a small private school in Boise, and taught a variety of math and science courses for four years. She advised the student council, and coached the girls basketball team alongside her husband, leading the girls to the program’s first ever state tournament appearance. She temporarily retired from coaching and teaching when her first child was born in 2000. She and Matt are parents to three wonderful children, Ryan, Sarah and Ben.

One of her first loves is the Idaho Mountains. She was coerced on many hikes as a child, but grew to adore it and now finds herself doing the same thing with her children. She loves camping (actually “Glamping” in her 1960 vintage trailer), mountain biking, hiking and boating in Idaho. One of her favorite life experiences was in college during the summer when her job was to lead teenagers on backpacking trips into the Idaho backcountry for a week at a time. She has climbed the tallest mountain in Idaho, Mt. Borah, three times along with the tallest mountain in the Sawtooth’s, Thompson Peak.

Megan has tutored math students since her sophomore year at University of Idaho, continuing every year as a stay at home mom to the present. She has a passion to help students understand and excel in Math. She loves the classroom and the students that fill her desks each year.

pbrown@northstarcharter.org

Born in Rockland, Massachusetts Patrick 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 Boston Sports fan.

After graduating high school he traveled to Northfield, Vermont to attend our Nation’s oldest private military college, Norwich University. Patrick wrestled and played rugby all 4 years at Norwich.  He was named All-New England for both rugby and wrestling.  Patrick received his degree of Bachelor of Science in Physical Education in 1998. 

Patrick taught and coached wrestling in Massachusetts and played rugby. He then was recruited to play rugby in Australia. Patrick loved his experience playing rugby with the Australians and traveling. He then moved to LA to work for Sony Pictures for several years before returning back to the greater Boston area to teach and coach wrestling.

Patrick made the Treasure Valley his home in 2009. Patrick has been a teacher here in Idaho for the past 12 years. He opened a CrossFit gym in 2010 and sold it in 2022. Patrick has 4 children who he loves dearly. Patrick has been serving in the Idaho Air National Guard since 2012. He has been a personal training teams, teens and adults since 2006.

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, this has been Patrick’s mantra to his students.

Throughout the years, Patrick has developed life long friendships with his students and their families. With his passion for physical activity, kinesiology, fitness, overall health and sports he has been blessed with the opportunity to share his love to his students on a daily basis. 

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

Mr. 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!). Mr. Hickey 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 Mr. Hickey 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.

Mr. Hickey can’t wait to bring his experience as a biologist to the classroom at North Star this fall. He feels lucky to live in a city that is surrounded by so many unique environments and hopes to use the local area to help students learn more about biology 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 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 at BSU and married his wife Danica shortly after.

Last year Trevor welcomed his son Jack to this world while finishing up his seventh year at North Star. He looks forward to meeting new students and families throughout the year.

lmaroe@northstarcharter.org

Lori Maroe began teaching in 1992. At North Star Charter School she teaches Spanish 2, and
the advanced level Spanish courses. Mrs. Maroe grew up in Ontario, Oregon and Orange
County, California. She has traveled to or lived in Spain, France, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala,
Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Croatia, The Czech Republic, Austria,
Italy and Slovenia. She spent a month exploring Europe with her family during the summer of
2012.

Mrs. Maroe graduated from Tustin High School, in Tustin, California. She earned her Bachelor
of Arts and Masters degrees from Western Oregon University in Monmouth, Oregon, graduating
Summa Cum Laude. Her teaching endorsements are in Spanish, English as a New Language,
Basic Mathematics and Reading. When she was in school she most enjoyed Spanish, History
and English classes and participated on the swim team and in band. Mrs. Maroe has three
children, two of whom attended North Star Charter School. Mrs. Maroe’s hobbies include
horseback riding, reading, mountain biking, skiing, traveling, and SCUBA diving. Her favorite
quote is by Andre Gide… “Complete possession is proved only by giving. All you are unable to
give possesses you.”  Mrs. Maroe is looking forward to an exciting year of teaching at North Star
Charter School!

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.”

mshapiro@northstarcharter.org

Michael Shapiro got his start in Special Education over nine years ago when he took a part-time job as a paraprofessional. He quickly knew this was where he was meant to be, as he loved connecting with students of all ages and enjoyed helping them reach their goals. His passion is meeting students where they are at in their educational journeys, helping them develop their strategies to be successful, and equipping teachers with the right skills to foster growth in all students.

His hobbies outside of work consist of spending time with his wife and three daughters, visiting all the local coffee shops, and home improvement projects —-(which consists of lots of trips to Home Depot). He also enjoys a good game of Spike Ball, Kan Jam, and Corn Hole.

After stops in California, Texas, and now Idaho, he is so excited to partner with the wonderful families of North Star and help equip their students with the tools necessary for their educational journeys.

vwoodward@northstarcharter.org

Mrs. Woodward has been teaching since 2003. She came from being a Navy airplane mechanic on the F/A-18 to graduating with honors from BSU in Chemistry with a professional emphasis and a minor in Mathematics.

After working in research on anti-cancer drugs and then EPA testing for the City of Meridian and Nampa, she obtained her teaching certification and has taught all math levels from 6th grade through Calculus, AP, IB, Advanced, General, and Intro Chemistry, as well as Physical Science.

She taught for North Star in 2010-2011 and returned in 2013. She loves North Star and all the wonderful students and parents!

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.