Specialties
Meet the Team
Aaron Nahinu
Health/Physical Education
Aaron Nahinu
Coach Aaron is from Waianae, Hawaii. Growing up in Hawaii with three brothers, he had many opportunities to play and love many sports, both on land and in the ocean. When he wasn’t playing sports, he was watching sports. Coach Aaron's favorite thing to do is to be in the ocean. Coach Aaron has been teaching for the last 9 years. He holds a Bachelors of Arts degree in Secondary Education and a Masters of Education in Advanced Teaching and Leadership. He's very excited to continue to be apart of the IEA team for the upcoming school year! "I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I cannot accept not trying." - Michael Jordan
anahinu@igniteutah.org
anahinu@igniteutah.org
Tawny Slothower
Innovations/Media Center
Tawny Slothower
Tawny is so excited to be back for another year at Ignite. Tawny learned her love of teaching as she sat in the back of her father's college classes watching him teach speech and theatre. She has a passion for teaching and loves watching each student learn and grow. She finds joy when a student finds a book that they love and relate to. Her favorite thing is talking about books with the students. She has a passion for literacy and giving each child a love of reading by allowing them to find the books that they will love and connect with. She wants the library to be a safe and happy space for all of the students at Ignite.
Tawny has been married for 21 years and they have 3 wonderful children together, Kolby, Riley and Lily. Her greatest joy is being a wife and mother. She loves to travel (Oregon is her favorite place). She grew up doing theater and goes to as many shows as she can. She enjoys reading and listening to podcasts.
tslothower@igniteutah.org
tslothower@igniteutah.org
Ashley Green
Math Specialist
Ashley Green
Ashley Green is from Pleasant Grove, Utah. She earned her elementary education degree from Utah Valley University. Ashley developed a love of teaching math during her years teaching and is excited to work as the Math Specialist at Ignite. She hopes to instill a love of math in her students and find ways to engage them in finding ways to connect math to the real world. She also looks forward to supporting teachers with the development and implementation of math interventions in the classroom. In Ashley's free time, she enjoys reading a good book and spending time with her famiy.
agreen@igniteutah.org
agreen@igniteutah.org
Angela Gomez
Montessori Support Specialist
Angela Gomez
Angela Gomez was a teacher at IEA for two years before making a change from classroom teacher to a Montessori Support Specialist.. After welcoming her second child this past Spring, Miss Angela made the transition from classroom teacher to Montessori Support Specialist so she can continue her passion for Montessori through advocacy and mentorship. She enjoys teaching educators about creating an environment that encourages peace, creativity, collaboration, and responsibility.
agomez@igniteutah.org
agomez@igniteutah.org
Kelly Tate
Literacy Specialist
Kelly Tate
Kelly is an educator, mentor, and founding board member of Ignite Entrepreneurship Academy. She has started and owned a private tutoring business for 15 + years specializing in teaching children to read. Kelly also co-founded and directed a private school in 2016, then she moved onto starting IEA in 2017. She is forward-thinking in education and believes in hands-on learning, experiential learning, and project-based learning. She has a demonstrated history of working in the educational management industry. She is skilled in K-12 education start-ups, entrepreneurship, dyslexia therapy, and Language Arts. She has strong communication skills and business development experience. She holds a Master’s Degree focused on Educational Leadership and Administration and is a Certified Academic Language Therapist.
ktate@igniteutah.org
ktate@igniteutah.org
Jaylene Timothy
Montessori Support Specialist
Jaylene Timothy
Jaylene is thrilled to be a Montessori Specialist this year! She graduated BYU with her BS in psychology and went on to work for a robotics company teaching STEM to K-8 students. She also spent time as a behavior technician working with children with autism before finding her way to Ignite. She taught for 3 years as an upper elementary teacher and recently graduated Westminster College with her Masters in Education emphasizing in Montessori.
Jaylene and her husband welcomed a sweet baby boy, Brixton, to their family this past May and she is enjoying the mom life. She loves international travel, baking, soccer, eating tacos, the beach, and creating stained glass mosaics.
jtimothy@igniteutah.org
jtimothy@igniteutah.org