Pinnacles Newsletter: June 2021
A Note from Jill
Happy June, everyone!!!
In the June addition of our newsletter, you will find the 2021-2022 faculty reveal and social events happening for our enrolled scholars! Also, we have 2 weeks left in our spring fundraising campaign! If you haven’t had a chance to donate, there is still time! We still have a few seats available for grade seven and a wait-list for grade 6. Click here to enroll today!
Upcoming June Events
Visit our event page for more info!
Meet our Staff!
Da’Jon James | Music Faculty
Da’Jon James is a music educator and performer from the tri-state area. He has spent the last few years as a studio private voice instructor in Burbank and Los Angeles as well as a collegiate touring professor. Da’Jon James is excited to continue raising cultural awareness and musical competency as he continues as an educator.
Marya Madsen | English Language Development Specialist
If not at school you can probably find Marya somewhere in the mountains with an old red backpack, barefoot in her garden, cooking something tasty for her loved ones, or savoring a book with a cat asleep on her chest. An eclectic collection of university and life experiences produced a deeply curious ecologist-educator with an adventuring heart, but strongly rooted to the Cascade Mountains. Her professional experiences span the Pacific Northwest and include rare species management, tree fruit and sustainable agriculture research, farmworker education, teaching English to language learners of all ages, teaching and supporting students from Kindergarten through High School in reading and language development, GED skills, life-skills, and extracurricular hands-on learning. She wholeheartedly applies to life an old scientific adage “the more mixed up, the better the solution!” With gleeful anticipation, she brings equal parts: tenacity, creativity, compassion, and humility to this incredible adventure that will certainly be greater than the sum of its parts. Habla Español!
Emilie Chavolla | Special Education Specialist
Emilie was born and raised in the beautiful Wenatchee Valley and loves being close to her family. She has been married to her husband Pablo for 2 years and together they adopted their little dog Nala. She enjoys hiking and loves being an aunt to her niece and nephew. Emilie has been a special education teacher for 3 years and is working on her graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. She is so excited to work at Pinnacles Prep, because this school will adapt to meet the needs of all of our students. She cannot wait to build relationships with students, their families, and the Pinnacles team.
Anni Evans | Humanities Faculty
Anni Evans is absolutely wild about working with young people, and can’t imagine a better way to spend her time than getting to know her students and guiding them along their path to their fullest potential. She’s spent her career teaching in various classrooms, from juvie to Montessori to college to traditional schools, and she is delighted to have the opportunity to work with Pinnacles Prep. What has her all fired up is PP’s dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion—these are things Anni believes will transform our world! Her experience learning Spanish in various settings informs her multicultural approach to teaching, and she loves to share stories of her travels with her students. Anni brings creativity, passion, empathy, and humor to her instruction, and says her favorite part is seeing the “Aha!” moment on her students’ faces. Another favorite for Anni is when she reconnects with former students and gets to hear about their adventures in life. “There’s nothing more fulfilling than knowing you’ve been an important support in their journey,” she says. In her free time, Anni can be found reading, writing, swimming in cold water, rollerblading, swing dancing, and talking with anyone she meets. She’s also pretty jazzed about her family, and enjoys the fun times as well as the ordinary moments—because every minute is a gift! Habla Español!
Abbie Estep | Math Faculty
Abbie is from Wenatchee and graduated from Eastern Washington University with a Masters in Education. She has taught math for 7 years at the middle school level. She and her husband Kevin have two young children, Simon and Florence, and a golden retriever named Clover. Abbie enjoys spending time with her family at Camano Island and Lake Chelan. She is working on her graduate certificate in Applied Behavior Analysis. She is excited to work at Pinnacles Prep, because she wants to foster perseverance through math with her kids. She is most excited to collaborate with team members to facilitate taking learning outside of the classroom!
Angelica Vasquez | Office Manager
Angelica Vasquez, born in El Salvador, moved to the United States in 1985. Angelica lived in Culver City, California until 2008 and then moved to Wenatchee, WA where she resides with her family. Vasquez worked as a Counselor Secretary in the Wenatchee School District for thirteen years. Her engagement with students inspired her to go back to college and obtain her education. Angelica graduated from Wenatchee Valley College in 2020 with an Associate Degree in Arts and Science and Corrections Certificate. She received her bachelor's degree from Central Washington University and will be graduating with B.S. Interdisciplinary Studies, Social Science. Angelica is passionate for education and her one goal at Pinnacles Prep is to be able to engage with students and their families while she provides services and connects them within our community. Habla Español!
Julie Middleton Duran | Humanities Faculty
I am a native of Wenatchee who grew up with extended family around, loving the freedom of childhood being raised in the valley afforded me. I completed my undergrad work at the University of Washington, and graduate work at City University. My interests are diverse from culinary arts and museum studies to fly-fishing and musical performance. A long-time lover of the written word, I’ve instructed students in the valley and abroad over the 28-year teaching career. The opportunity to be part of the founding team at Pinnacles has re-ignited my passion to make a lasting impact.
Aaron Hansen | STEM Faculty
Aaron Hansen aspires to inspire the next generation of STEM leaders with the aim of changing the future of the field to include more women and people of color. He’s passionate about building one-on-one relationships with students in supportive classroom communities and strives to empower learners to take risks.
His educational approach is rooted in experiential education practices and is deeply shaped by his extensive global travels. He is a National Board Certified Teacher, with a bachelor degrees in Social Studies, English Language Arts and Leadership education. His masters degree focused on adolescent literacy and technology use. He is also credentialed as a Career and Technical Education STEM Teacher. When not at school, he enjoys building legos with his daughters and teaching them to ski.
Lara Hays | Science Faculty
Science is awesome!!!! Hi there, my name is Lara Hays and I’m a science nerd. :) I will be the science teacher at Pinnacles Prep Charter School. I am incredibly excited to explore the world around us and discover how it all works with our new students. I have degrees in Biology and Teaching. I worked in biotech research for 10 years and have been in science education for the last 9 years. Wenatchee is such a wonderful place to live. We have great places to explore and and wonderful people to explore with. I look forward to meeting our families and to an exciting year.
Community Events not to miss!
June 16-26: Stage Kids presents Wizard of Oz!
Come support one of our own Argemiro as he participates in “The Wizard of Oz'' cast A! All ages enjoy the journey of a country gal making her way through a magical land to find her way home. Plan to bring your entire family to this in-person (COVID-compliant) production. Performances will be at the beautiful new Community Hall at Grace City Church (277 Melody Lane, Wenatchee). To buy tickets and get showtimes click here.
Cast A performs June 16-19
Cast B performs June 23-26
For more information visit https://stagekidswa.org or contact Lacey Price at (509) 663-6996 x11.
Become a Parent or Community Volunteer
As you all know, Pinnacles Prep will be opening our doors this Fall. Along the way, we will need help with a variety of activities and jobs such as painting our new classrooms, assembling tables and desks for our students, cleaning up the landscaping around campus, and plenty more!
We welcome volunteers who are excited about our mission and want to contribute their time and skills. As well, once we open there will be many opportunities to get involved in our school community. Just fill out our Volunteer Interest Form to get started.
Spring Fundraising Campaign
In June we are continuing our Spring fundraising campaign to support our vision of transforming the current social hall space into our Great Hall! Hear Jill Fineis, Principal of Pinnacles Prep, and her passion for our community. Listen to the amazing plans she has for the Pinnacles students. Consider donating to help her reimagine the learning process while remaining a free, public charter school choice for all. Any donation will help make an impact. Thanks in advance for your contribution to our school. Visit our Go Fund Me page for more information.
EPIC Shout Outs
Every week we shout out someone who exemplifies our Core Values- Equity, Perseverance, Inquiry, or Collaboration. Here are the amazing folks we appreciated in June! We love and appreciate all you do for our community!
