Venture High Faculty and Staff


Jenn Thompson Principal, Venture High jthompson@venturelearning.org	Miss Jenn fell in love with teaching as a graduate student. Much to the disappointment of her Thesis Committee (who would have preferred that she spent more time studying Latin and less time studying instructional strategies), she completed a Master's Degree in Medieval and Early Modern Literature at Utah State University, and promptly joined the charter movement as a teacher in 2004. Over the next 6 years, Jenn worked with an incredible team of educators to build an inner-city high school from the ground up. She taught AP and CE courses, and served as the Director of Curriculum, Assessment, and Teacher Development in a project-based-learning environment. In 2010, Jenn decided to explore the world of online education by taking a position as Director of Curriculum and Instruction for a private online high school that focused on high-risk students in urban settings all across the country. In this position she supervised teachers, coordinated content development, and worked with several state boards of education. During this time, she also served as a board member for the charter school where she began her career. Additionally, Jenn has been an adjunct instructor for Weber State University's Developmental Writing Program for four years. Despite all her adventures in education, the charter world called her back. In 2011, the Venture Academy Board offered her an opportunity to join their team as a principal for Venture High. She is excited for the familiar challenges of starting a high school, and is looking forward to the pioneering experience of taking Expeditionary Learning to the high school level.
Andrea Eggett College and Career Counseling aeggett@venturelearning.org	Ms. Andrea grew up in (very) rural Western Pennsylvania and came west to attend Utah State University in Logan and earn a degree in English Literature. She fell in love with both her husband and Cache Valley and is still here! She has 1 husband, 1 dog, 1 cat, 1 African dwarf frog, 2 parakeets, and 5 children. She has been a foster mom to teens and children and worked in residential treatment facilities. She returned to Utah State to complete an MS in psychology with an emphasis in school counseling. After graduation, she worked in an inner-city school before coming to Venture. She also enjoys reading, singing, traveling, theater, and watching her children compete and perform in their various activities.


Andrea Bennett English Mrs. Bennett's Website abennett@venturelearning.org	Inspired by the idea of offering a superior educational environment, Andrea Bennett graduated with a BS in English Education and a minor in History Education from Utah Valley University in 2012. She and her husband relocated from Orem, Utah to Ogden after she was invited to join the Venture High team the following summer. She is very excited to be teaching English and Yearbook classes while learning to love her new community. Andrea grew up in Orem but has spent a great deal of time in California where much of her extended family resides. She has also spent a number of summers working with her husband in the Deep South where they adopted a baby Gulf Coast Box Turtle (Sam) that wandered up to their front door in Alabama. She has a love for music of all kinds and being involved in theatre productions. She often spends her free time watching movies or playing video games with her husband.
James Gardner Mathematics jgardner@venturelearning.org	Mr. Gardner grew up in Austin, Texas and moved to Logan, Utah where he finished high school. He recently graduated from Utah State with a Math/Stats Composite in Secondary Education, and a Political Science, and Philosophy BS as well. He has volunteered for many years as an assistant debate coach and loves working with high school age students. He loves art, poetry, and Russian Literature, and enjoys traveling in Eastern Europe. His favorite philosophers are Kant and Nietzsche, his favorite Mathematician is Euclid, and his favorite artist is John Singer Sargent. He married his high school sweet heart and they have an adorable daughter.
Jared Taylor Social Studies jtaylor@venturelearning.org	Mr. Taylor has been an Expeditionary Learning teacher since 2012. He is a recent graduate of Weber State University with a focus in History and Secondary Education. He has three academic publications that discuss the interaction between war, society and culture in the U.S. and interwar France. Mr. Taylor's research was awarded a grant that allowed him to research primary documents at the Marine ARchive at quantico and the National Firearms Museum in Washington D.C. Mr. Taylor loves to fish, travel, and eat good food. (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)
Jeff Gunther Science jgunther@venturelearning.org	Mr. Gunther graduated from Cornell University with a double major in Neurobiology and Behavior and Environmental Engineering Technology. He then went on to complete a Master's of Arts in Teaching at Deleware University. While in college, he researched the communication behaviors of naked mole rats, and spent three years living in a firehouse as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. He has constructed two full-sized solar-powered homes, and was recently married at 13,000 feet. Mr. Gunther taught this past year at a charter school in Deleware and is excited to join the Venture team! (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)
Jessica Asher English and Social Studies jasher@venturelearning.org	Mrs. Asher is originally from Middleton, NY. The Air Force brought the Asher family to Utah. Jessica holds a M. Ed. in Divergent Learning from Columbia College, South Carolina. Her research focus was in social and emotional learning. She has taught in a public school in New York and an alternative school in South Carolina. She met her husband playing rugby and was married by their rugby coach. She loves the outdoors, her two dogs and her beautiful baby girl. (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)
Kevin Wasden Visual Arts keviswasden.com kwasden@venturelearning.org	Mr. Wasden has been a Project Based Learning teacher for 3 years. Prior to teaching, Kevin spent 12 years designing mascots for companies like Disney, the NBA, and ESPN. He is Co-creator and illustrator of the Hazardous Universe young adult book series, and Creator, writer, and artist of the TECHNOSAURUS comic books. He believes that art is an academic skill that helps students perceive the details of the world around them and further understanding in other academic disciplines. His heroes are Jim Henson, James Christensen, and the Mythbuster guys. (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)

Stacy Swapp
Adventure P.E.

sswapp@venturelearning.org

Stacy Swapp was born in San Diego, Ca. With her father in the military, she grew up moving every two years to places all over the globe. She spent her high school years in Italy and Northern California. Her college experience started in Northern California and finished at Weber State University with a pit stop in Virginia. She graduated with a Human Performance major and Mathematics minor. Sports and outdoor adventure have always been a staple in her life. At an early age she started swimming competitively, not only in pools but in oceans. Volleyball became very important to her as she grew. Stacy has spent the last 20 years coaching high school volleyball. Five years ago, she decided to run a marathon! Now, with eight under her belt, you could say she likes it.

Teaching children and youth is something that is in her blood. Not only does she enjoy teaching PE at school, she is also a swimming instructor, piano teacher and math tutor. She finds working with kids one of the most rewarding things in life. Being able to now teach her own four children in school is also a joy. She is very excited to bring new experiences to her students. She believes there is no better place to learn about life and yourself than in the outdoors. When she is not busy teaching something, she is traveling somewhere! There is always someplace new to discover and explore! (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)

Cindy Child
Band

cchild@venturelearning.org

Mrs. Child was born in Utah and lived in Cache Valley until she was 16. Her family then moved to St. Paul, Minnesota where she finished her last two years of high school. Mrs. Child received a bachelor's degree in music education from BYU and a master's degree in clarinet performance from Arizona State University. Following graduation she taught clarinet on the faculty of BYU from 1990 -1995. During that time she performed as a freelance clarinetist with the Utah Symphony, Ballet West, Orpheus Winds, the Utah Chamber Artists and the Canyon Winds Woodwind Quintet. Mrs. Child lived in Traverse City, Michigan for the last 11 years where she taught band at Woodland School from 2001 -2007 and chamber music at the Interlochen Arts Camp from 2002 -2004. While living in Traverse City, Mrs. Child performed with the Northwood Trio, Traverse Symphony Orchestra and the Encore Winds. Mrs. Child is a member of the Orchestra at Temple Square and frequently performs with the group at TV broadcasts of Music and the Spoken Word. Dr. and Mrs. Child are the parents of four children ages 20, 17, 13 and 10. Mrs. Child is delighted to "venture" with the band and music students at our school into the wonderful world of music! She especially loves the enthusiasm students show when starting a new instrument! (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)

Jennette Madsen
Special Education

jmadsen@venturelearning.org

Miss Jennette was reared in a Military family that moved every four years. This created the opportunity to see new places as well as meet many interesting people. After graduating from WSU with her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication she moved to Washington State. There she ran her own desktop publishing business along with a small monthly newspaper for the city of Hazel Dell. Loving the great North West but missing her family, she then moved back to Utah.
After returning to Utah, she met and married a real gentleman who already had two of his own children, thus creating a blended family. Jennette stayed home with her young children until the youngest was in kindergarten. After that time, she turned to volunteering at their schools. She was hired on as a paraprofessional and from there, decided she wanted to teach because she really enjoyed helping the students succeed to their fullest potential. (NCLB Highly Qualified Teacher.)