Meet the Staff
Faculty
Tophe Anderson (The Sequence Goes Marching “n” )
Tophe teaches math at Everett Community College. He grew up in New Mexico and earned an MS in mathematics from the University of Washington after working for the Peace Corps in Ghana, West Africa for three years. He likes running, playing piano and cooking. He also enjoys find connections between math and art and music.
Eric Bright (Essay Writing)
Eric Bright teaches History for the Early Entrance Program’s Transition School. He received his MA in Modern European History from Arizona State University. He is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the history department at the University of Washington and Lecturer in Modern European History at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma. His primary field of specialization is Ancient Regime and Revolutionary France with secondary fields in modern European intellectual history and women’s and gender history. His research interests include revolutionary political culture, representations of revolutionary violence, and crisis as a motif in revolutionary discourse.
Royce Christensen (Geometry)
Royce Christensen has been teaching mathematics since 1986, when he began teaching with the US Peace Corps, in Kenya. Since then he has taught in New York City, Minneapolis/St.Paul, and the greater Seattle Metropolitan area. He currently teaches at Roosevelt High School, Seattle Public Schools, where he has been for nearly 17 years. His current duties at RHS include teaching algebra, geometry and calculus, as well as coordinating the mathematics department as Department Chair. Royce has been teaching for the Summer Stretch program since 1993, with the exception of a few years taken off for extended breaks. Royce received his MA, Mathematics Education from Columbia Teachers College, NYC, in 1990.
Jason Gilmore (Reel Life in Focus)
Jason is an advanced doctoral student in the Department of Communication where he focuses on political communication across cultures. He has undergraduate and master’s degrees in international studies. Jason also has extensive experience working in K-12 schools, including a stint as an instructor for a gifted and talented program.
Nick Grossenbacher (Essay Writing)
Nick Grossenbacher is a Ph.D. student in the History Department at the University of Washington, where he specializes in the cultural and intellectual history of Byzantium and the medieval Middle East. He received his B.A. from the University of Southern California’s honors college and has studied archaeology at the University of Edinburgh and Arabic language and literature at the University of Damascus. He has been a teaching assistant in the History Department for more than two years and has taught classes for a private tutoring company on essay composition, writing for history, and writing for standardized tests. In his free time he travels the world, studies languages, and reads stacks of literary essays on a panoply of incredibly fascinating subjects.
Dr. Judith Jones Hall (Algebra 2)
Judith Jones Hall has a B.A. in Education from the University of Washington, a Masters of Education from Seattle Pacific University, Mathematics Endorsement from Seattle Pacific University, and a Doctor of Education (Mathematics) from SPU. She is currently a mathematics teacher at Holy Names Academy in Seattle, WA and is the current Mathematics Department Chair.
Curtis Hisayasu (American Literature)
Curtis is the English instructor for the Early Entrance Program’s Transition School. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in 19th and 20th Century American Literature. While working towards this degree, he has also taught several classes for the English Department and has served as a liaison between the UW Extension “UW in the High Schools” Program and the Expository Writing Program, training teachers and coordinating college level composition curriculum in local area schools. Now in his sixth year of graduate school, Mr. Hisayasu is writing his dissertation. His current research interests include theories of citizenship and national belonging, American urbanism, and histories of race and industrialism.
Jean Lutgen (Precalculus)
A Seattle native, Jean Lutgen attended Seattle Public Schools and earned both her B.A. in Mathematics and her Teaching Credential from Seattle Pacific University. She is currently working on her Master’s in Education at SPU. Jean resides with her family a short distance from Roosevelt High School, where she has taught math for many years. This year, she was pleasantly surprised to receive a “Hero in the Classroom” award from the Seattle Seahawks and Symmetra Financial. She is very much looking forward to her another Summer Stretch!
Mark Morrow (Chemistry)
Mark Morrow has a B.A. in Biology from Cornell University and a M.S. in Secondary Science Education from Long Island University. He has been teaching Chemistry & Advanced Placement Chemistry for more than 13 years, and is currently on the faculty at Bellevue High School.
Jeannine Sieler (Chemistry)
Jeannine Sieler has a B.S. and M.A. in Chemistry from the University of Puget Sound. She earned her National Board Certification in November, 2006, and has been teaching Chemistry & Advanced Placement Chemistry for 25 years. Jeannine is currently on the faculty at Bellevue High School.
Sam Timinsky (Debate)
Sam earned his B.A. in History from Marist College in Poughkeepsie New York in 2006 before coming to the Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies at the University of Washington. He will complete his course work for his M.A. in International Studies with a specialty in Japan this Spring. His specialty is Modern Japanese Intellectual History. Sam has taught debate in formal classes at local weekend schools and lectured on argument in several classes at the Jackson School. In addition he has coached debate professionally for four years, first at Newburgh Free Academy in New York State and for the past two years he has been the Head Coach of the University of Washington’s Parliamentary Debate Team. He has coached several debaters to national invitational tournaments.
David Zook (Physics: Rockets & Robotics)
David is a lifelong teacher and technology aficionado. He holds a master’s degree from the University of Washington, runs Big Brains Education Enrichment in Bellevue, and coaches two highly successful competition robotics teams. Over the last few years, his teams have won trophies at the US Nationals (FLL), WorldFest (FLL) twice and last year were named the High School World Champions in VEX Robotics. David loves working with kids and is looking forward his first summer with the Robinson Center.
Teaching Assistants
TA’s are typically undergraduate students at the University of Washington.
Staff
Dr. Maren Halvorsen is the Associate Director and Principal of Summer Programs as well as the Principal of the Transition School. Dr. Halvorsen received her Ph.D. in History from the University of Washington in 2002 with a focus on Early Modern Europe, with special interest in medieval and early modern spirituality. She has taught numerous courses for the UW Department of History, ranging from freshmen general education classes to advanced senior seminars. She joined the Robinson Center in 1990 and served as the Transition School’s History instructor until 2009.
Kristy Carter is the Program Coordinator for the Transition School and Summer Programs. She joined the Robinson Center in January 2010, coming from the Provost’s Office at the UW. Her previous experience includes four years working for the World Affairs Council in Seattle and two years living and teaching English in Japan.