KidsTek Staff
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Elizabeth Leenhouts, Executive Director
KidsTek is excited to announce that Elizabeth Leenhouts will be joining KidsTek as its new Executive Director. Her career began with a BA from the College of William and Mary in Virginia, moved on to an MSED at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and finally to a Daniels College of Business (DU) MBA. While at Daniels, she served as President of GIVE (Graduates Involved in Volunteer Efforts) and developed Non-Profit Business Solutions, a business internship program for non-profit organizations. She currently serves as Director of Events for the Daniels College of Business Alumni Advisory Board. During her coursework, Elizabeth assisted Seniors Inc. in developing an expansion plan for their non-profit elder services and upon graduation, worked there for three years in new program development and marketing. In addition to her work in non-profits, Elizabeth also volunteers for the Northeast Park Hill Coalition, Reisher Scholarship Committee, and the Greater Park Hill Community, where she coordinates the Historic Home Tour. She also directed the college preparation program at Denver East High School for the Daniels Fund. Elizabeth ran her first marathon in May 2006 (Colorado Colfax Marathon) and when they are not running throughout Denver, Elizabeth and her husband, Pieter, run after their twin daughters, Amber and Bridget (born July 11, 2005) and new daughter Chloe (born December 6, 2007).
elizabeth.leenhouts@kidstek.org
Andrew Bissland, Program Coordinator
Andrew has over twelve years experience working to improve the lives of children and families in underprivileged communities. He has worked with adults and children with developmental disabilities, and has managed several after school programs for children and teens in Colorado Springs and Denver. He has served two terms as an AmeriCorps*VISTA; one in Michigan with an adult literacy program in 1994, and more recently in 2005 leading a group of VISTAs who implemented service-learning initiatives in schools throughout Colorado. Andrew has a B.A. in Mass Communications and a B.S. in Secondary Education from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.
andrew@kidstek.org
Julius Mendoza, Instructor
Julius teaches KidsTek computer classes for Boys and Girls Club members in Loveland. He was raised in Colorado Springs and is currently a senior at Colorado State University, majoring in Human Development and Family Studies. He is looking toward obtaining a certificate in Gerontology and graduates in the fall of 2007. Julius experience with children includes teaching hip hop dance for the Break It program; giving kids a positive image of themselves and advising them to the negative impacts of gangs, drugs, and alcohol. Julius is the President of Club Kulturang Pilipin@ at CSU, a Filipino-American organization that shares the Filipino culture by performing cultural dances at the University.
Steve Kessler, Instructor
Steve performs a number of functions for KidsTek-- he teaches young teens at West Middle School in Aurora, substitute teaches at other sites as needed, and has been instrumental in garnering donations of time, money and equipment from the local community. Steve grew up in Los Angeles and received his B.A. in Speech Communications from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois. He has taught a variety of topics in both classroom and informal settings for different age groups. Currently, Steve teaches religious school and owns a computer consulting company. He was recently awarded the 2006 Chidush award that recognizes local educators who creatively design and execute innovative Jewish educational experiences and share them with the community.
Matt Rockwell, Instructor
Matt teaches technology at the Fort Collins and Wellington Boys and Girls Clubs. He grew up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania and moved to Colorado four years ago. He is currently attending college at Colorado State University, majoring in Philosophy with a minor in Music. He is also in the Pre-Law program at C.S.U., with the ambition of becoming a public interest attorney. His technology background includes technical support work and software testing. Matt has worked as a youth pastor in Pennsylvania and has also taught guitar lessons to children. He is the president and founder of the Philosophy and Religion Club at C.S.U.
Starr Hogan, Instructor
Starr has spent her career in the arts, including working in screen-printing, graphic design, preparing retail displays, and theatre and video productions. She believes the arts are a valuable resource for all and she works to give a creative voice to youth, seniors and other often marginalized populations. She is currently working for KidsTek at Girls Incorporated, teaching technology in creative ways to their elementary-aged participants.
Jennifer Crawford, Instructor
Jennifer is an artist who has been working in the education field for over 10 years and continues to seek contemporary and progressive teaching environments. She has taught in various settings including museum education, at a creative arts magnet school, and currently teaches in a distance-learning program for Denver Public Schools. Her degree is in art education and studio arts. Jennifer teaches KidsTek classes at Fletcher, Sable, Vaughn and Elkhart Elementary schools in Aurora.
Veena Walker, Instructor
Veena facilitates the after school classes at North and South Middle Schools in Aurora. She has spent the last seven years teaching Technology Education to middle school students in Michigan and Colorado. She has a B.S. in Technology Education and a M.A in Educational Leadership from Eastern Michigan University. Veena is looking forward to taking a slightly different direction in her teaching career by working in an after school setting.
Julia Nevin-Esch, Executive Assistant
KidsTek is happy to announce that Julia Nevin-Esch has joined KidsTek as Executive Assistant on a parttime basis. Julia will be assisting the Executive Director and providing the human resources function for KidsTek. Julia graduated from Trinity University in San Antonio with a B.A. Having lived overseas while growing up, Julia brings a valuable diversity to the team at KidsTek. Her career has been mostly in Human Resources as a generalist and she has over 15 years of experience at a variety of levels and types of industries. Julia volunteered at the Houston Independent School District and was a translator/interpretor at St. Luke's Hospital in Houston. In Denver she volunteered at the Park Hill Community Bookstore and also at Seniors Inc. which is where she met Elizabeth Leenhouts, KidsTek's ED. The two are happy to be collaborating again!