Faculty & Staff Bio's
Kindergarten - Christine Everett
Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Christine Everett is from Portland, Oregon. She attended high school at St. Mary’s Academy and college at the University of Portland earning a degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education. While pursuing her studies, Christine spent a semester at University of Notre Dame Australia. She finds teaching kindergarten at St. Ignatius to be a blessing.
Kindergarten - Kathy Rogers
Kathy Rogers grew up in a small town outside Chicago, Illinois. She is married and has five children and two grandchildren. Her husband, Brian is a physician at OHSU. They moved from Buffalo, New York to Portland in 2001. Their two youngest children, John and Henry, attended St. Ignatius School.
Kathy feels that she has the best job in the world. She gets to enjoy children ages five and six. This is the most exciting time in their lives for learning. To watch these little ones learn alphabet sounds, put them together and suddenly read is amazing! Their foundation for future learning (whether it be math, reading, social studies, science, or religion) is formulated in the kindergarten experience.
Kathy’s past work experience includes volunteer library and classroom aid for grades one through four in Buffalo, New York. She has been working as Kindergarten aid at St. Ignatius School since 2005.
First Grade - Colleen Schultheis
Colleen Schultheis grew up in Spokane, WA; went to college at Santa Clara University, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English; and completed the Teaching Credential Program in Elementary Education at San Francisco State University. Colleen taught at Sacred Heart Elementary in the lower Haight-Ashbury from 1991 to 1998. Then, in 1999, Colleen and her husband, Chip Biechler, moved to Portland so that she could be the first grade teacher here at St. Ignatius. Colleen taught first grade here from 1999 to 2004. She left after that school year to stay home with her new baby, Molly. She returned to St. Ignatius in the fall of 2009 as a long-term substitute, and, in the fall of 2010, Colleen returned full-time as the first grade teacher. (By the way, that “baby” is a St. Ignatius third grader!)
Second Grade - Kathy Downing
This is Kathy Downing's seventh year as the second grade teacher at St. Ignatius School. She is one of seven members of the Hasibar family who graduated from St. Ignatius. She went on to high school at LaSalle in Milwaukie, and then to Concordia University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education in 2002. In 2006, she received her Masters of Education degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University. Kathy feels lucky to be a part of the St. Ignatius community.
Third Grade - Eileen Cox
Eileen Cox was born and raised in Portland. She is one of twelve children. She grew up in north Portland, graduated from Holy Redeemer Elementary School and North Catholic High School. Following high school she entered the Sisters of the Holy Names at Marylhurst and attended Marylhurst College (now Marylhurst University) where she earned her B.A. She also received a nursing degree from Central Oregon CC. After nursing school she cared for the retired and infirmed sisters at the Marylhurst Care Center for many years, then was employed at Providence Medical Center for ten years, working mostly in orthopedics. She returned to school at Warner Pacific College to pursue her teaching certification. Eileen is now in her 22nd year at St. Ignatius School and teaches 3rd grade.
Fourth Grade - Kristin Jost
Kristin Jost is the fourth grade teacher at St. Ignatius School. This is her seventh year teaching at St. Ignatius. Kristin is a proud graduate of St. Ignatius. She went to high school at St. Mary's Academy, and then to Western Oregon University where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education in 2003. In 2010, she received her Masters in education degree from Warner Pacific College. Kristin feels blessed to be part of such a wonderful school community!
Fifth Grade- Sr. Chris Jordan, SNJM
Sister Chris Jordan teaches the fifth grade. She is a member of the Sisters of the Holy Names, the order who began our school in 1908. Although she wasn’t one of the foundresses, Sister Chris has taught for the last 40 years (30 years at St. Ignatius!) Her great dream was to be a pirate queen, but teaching 5th grade has many similarities. The 5th grade ship sails with lots of learning and lots of fun and totally grounded in our faith. Sister Chris treasures having been able to teach so many wonderful kids and to know such great parents.
Sixth Grade - Joel Turvey
Joel Turvey is the sixth grade homeroom teacher. She also teaches seventh and eighth grade language arts. She has taught at St. Ignatius since 1999. She received her B.A. in history from Rice University in Texas and her M.A.T. in English from Stanford. She taught in Houston for three years and in Beaverton for eleven years. She also substituted throughout the Archdiocese before coming to St. Ignatius. What she most enjoys about teaching is helping kids to become excited about learning. In her spare time she enjoys reading, aerobics, walking, hiking, and spending time with her family.
Seventh Grade - Dan Beseau
Dan is working on his eleventh year as the seventh grade teacher at St. Ignatius. But not only is he a teacher, he is an alumnus, graduating from St. Ignatius in 1986. His step-daughter is currently enrolled rounding out his connection to the school making him a school parent. Dan is the science teacher for all three junior high classes and teaches pre-algebra.
Dan is also a graduate of Central Catholic, and recieved two degrees from Gonzaga University in 1995 (religious studies and education.) He completed his masters work at the University of Portland.
He is currently a member of the parish and sees the St. Ignatius community as his extended family.
Eighth Grade - Jessie Heying
This is Ms. Jessie Heying’s third year teaching at St. Ignatius School, her first year as the Eighth Grade Teacher. Jessie was born in Portland, Oregon, where she attended Madeleine School and Central Catholic High School. She received a BA in Communication and Religious Studies from St. Mary’s College of California. She then went on to earn a MAT in ML/HS Teaching at Concordia University. Jessie has a passion for social studies, family, and her St. Mary’s College Gaels. She is honored to be part of the staff at St. Ignatius.
Library, K-8 - Susanne Lohkamp
Mrs. Susanne Lohkamp is our librarian . She comes to us with 30 plus years of experience working at the Multnomah County Library-in a variety of jobs and locations. Her favorite job has always been working in the Children’s department where
she enjoys reading the books as much as she enjoys recommending them. This is her twelfth year at St.Ignatius and she still enjoys reading and recommending books and keeping that spark of reading alive in our students. She says that
matching up the right book with the right reader is an exciting challenge that never loses its
appeal.
When not actually reading, or talking about books, or rereading Great Expections or War and Peace yet another time, Mrs. Lohkamp enjoys listening to music, cooking, shopping,crafting and spending time with her family.
Math Specialist, Junior High- Kristin Thomas
This is Kristin Thomas’ first year at St. Ignatius and her eighth year teaching. She has just moved to Portland from Okinawa, Japan where she taught high school math for the past two years. Mrs. Thomas grew up in Southern California where she attended St. Louise de Marillac (K – 8) and Bishop Amat High School. She earned a BA from Cal Poly Pomona University and her MAT from Chapman University. She is very excited to be a part of the St. Ignatius family!
Physical Education, K-8 - Stephen Brobeck
Stephen was born in Washington DC, but grew up in the small town of Sisters Oregon. He received a BA in Community Health Education at Portland State University. He then went on to earn a MAT in Physical Education and Health at Concordia University. Being a true Oregonian, Mr. Brobeck has a passion for outdoor activities and for local sports teams the Portland Trailblazers and the Oregon Ducks. This is Stephen’s second year at St. Ignatius School and he is looking forward to increasing his role at the school and also becoming better acquainted with the students, parents, faculty, parish, and the rest of the school community. Stephen is thankful that St. Ignatius has helped him realize his biggest goal from high school of being a Physical Education teacher. He has felt welcome from his first day of school last fall and looks forward to many years of fun.
Music, K-8 - Joe MacKenzie
Joe grew up in Jacksonville, Florida. There he was an active member of his high school’s Jazz Band and A Cappella Choir as well as his church’s folk group. Following his love of music, he majored in Jazz Guitar Performance at the University of North Florida. Shortly after graduating, he became the Music Teacher for St. Joseph Catholic School. For seven years he taught general classroom music, private guitar and bass lessons; directed the children’s choir, and the annual Spring Musical. While teaching, he also kept busy with many bands; playing gigs with cover bands and recording music with original bands. After relocating to Portland, OR he toured many cities in California with his college friend’s band. He is happy to be teaching his third year at St. Ignatius as he and his wife Lauren raise their energetic daughter Ruby and await her new sibling.
Technology, K-8 – Kirk Auer
Kirk Auer was born in Columbus, Ohio, and both of his parents graduated from The Ohio State University. As a result, he is a diehard Buckeyes fan. He moved to Cincinnati, Ohio when he was five years old, where he graduated from Guardian Angels Grade School and Archbishop McNicholas High School. He procured a B.S. in Geology from the University of Cincinnati and a M.S. in Geology from Kent State University.
After graduating from Kent State, Kirk was employed for ten years as an engineering geologist at engineering and environmental consulting firms in Louisville, Cincinnati, and Portland. He was a stay-at-home dad for five years following the birth of his second son. Kirk joined the faculty at St. Ignatius in 2004. He feels privileged to be part of a faculty with such an outstanding reputation. He enjoys his interactions with the students (especially ‘the littles’) and faculty. Kirk likes anything related to sports or technology. He also contributes his expertise in geology to the science program.
