Get to Know Us

Aubrey is a longtime resident of Indian Hills, and a lifetime resident of Colorado.  She taught 3rd grade in Denver for 7 years, before discovering Orton-Gillingham through Rocky Mountain Dyslexia Camp in 2016.  Since then she has been taking every opportunity to further her education using this method, and has been exclusively tutoring using OG methods since 2020.  She is currently working on her practicum to get certified in Y-OG. She is a lifelong learner passionate about helping kids succeed! 

She lives with her husband, her five year old son Arlo, cat Penny and dog Daisy. When she is not reading or teaching, you can find her embroidering anything she can get her hands on, soap making, sewing, maybe hugging a tree or two! She is very excited to join the Vertical Skills Academy family!

Michelle has her Doctorate of Pharmacy and worked as a pharmacist for 17 years before transitioning to teaching in 2015.  She became passionate about dyslexia because of the struggles her two dyslexic children have had to face.   By watching her children grow with positive support and Orton-Gillingham instruction, she became inspired to help other children with dyslexia.  Michelle has taken numerous courses, including O-G Basic and Advanced, O-G Multisensory Math, Dyslexia Screening and Evaluations, and Language-Based Learning Disabilities: Strategies for Success through the Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators, Orton-Gillingham International, the Dyslexia Training Institute, and the Landmark School Outreach Program.  She also has completed the Google Education Level 1 training course.  Michelle enjoys spending time with her family on the hiking trails and slopes and camping in their camper in her free time.

Ms. Josie is going into her 4th year of teaching. She obtained her Bachelor’s degree at the University of Northern Colorado. She has been working for the past few years in Early Childhood special education in Jefferson County public schools. As much as she loved teaching the youngest learners, she is ready to use her skills and focus on students with Dyslexia. During her free time, she enjoys being outside, spending time with her family and traveling as much as she can! Ms. Josie grew up in Evergreen and is now residing in Lakewood. She is very excited to start this year with the students and staff!

Lynn Peesel is passionate about education, especially helping children to discover their unique interests and talents. She has a background in Montessori education and has taught for over 20 years, primarily in first through third grade. Before getting her education credential, she received a Masters in International Development with a focus on education and literacy from American University. Lynn has taken the basic and advanced Orton-Gillingham training, as well as other literacy and writing training programs. During her teaching career she enjoyed working to meet the needs of each student and helping them to reach their potential. She is thrilled to be supporting VSA and bring her educational background to a school that strives to meet the needs of students with Dyslexia.

Lynn is from Colorado and lives in Evergreen with her family. She enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking, rafting, and exploring, especially with family, friends and dogs.

Ms. Gretchen has a bachelor’s degree in Spanish with a focus on Interpretation and Translation, and a minor in History from the University of Arizona. Following her credentialing program, she received her post baccalaureate degree in Education, Special Education, and English as a Second Language. Her husband’s career brought them to Houston in 2013 and she continued her teaching career with Pre-K, 3rd grade and special education. In 2015, she wanted to expand her skills as an educator and earned her credential as an Applied Behavior Analysis Therapist supporting students with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

This is her 10th year in the classroom and she is pleased to say she has found her new home away from home at Vertical Skills Academy.

Christina has worked for many years in the financial services and banking industry. During these years, she developed a strong understanding of personal and business finance and learned about the operational needs of both large and small firms. Some of the industries that Christina has worked in include Environmental and Business Consulting, Property Management, Investment Banking, Corporate Housing, Real Estate Brokerage, commercial and residential construction, electrical engineering, personal investment planning, IT Services, Association Management, Government, Publishing and Digital Marketing. For these companies she instigated stronger operations, built a solid financial structure and improved customer relations.

Christina started Gemsbok Consulting, Inc. in 2001 to assist companies in building a solid foundation from which to grow. Through Christina’s years of experience, she learned that business owners are experts at their business product or service, but running a successful company was not always a strong point. As a result, Gemsbok Consulting, Inc. was founded to help owners with all the back-office processes of the organization. Some of these functions include bookkeeping with a CFO perspective, setting up operational processes, developing healthy human resource habits and strategic planning. In addition to running Gemsbok Consulting, Christina has served as the CFO for a successful Digital Marketing Agency in the Denver area for the past 11 years.

Christina was drawn to serve on the VSA board after seeing how much of an impact the school had on her own son’s educational experience and wanted to support the school in providing this experience for other kids. Since Christina has worked with many companies over the past 20 years in reaching their growth goals, she felt her financial background and leadership skills could support the school in reaching its goals. Christina is doing this through building forecasting tools for the school and helping the school move into the next phase of its business growth.

When not working or supporting VSA, Christina is an avid Crossfitter. She also loves to bake as well as travel with her family.

Becky Kalahiki comes to the Vertical Skills Academy (VSA) family from the Cayman Islands. She is a proud mother of a dyslexic son and wife to a dyslexic husband. Becky and her husband searched the globe for the best middle school for their son and found VSA on-line. VSA’s mission and especially VSA’s primary goal of “…empowering students with skills to continue their academic growth and self-advocacy beyond their tenure at the academy” was a deciding factor to move to Evergreen, Colorado for their son’s schooling.

Although Becky grew up in Colorado, she has lived and worked on all 7 continents and volunteers her time in activities to assist people around the globe.

Along with volunteering on the VSA Board, she volunteers as a Mentor for female professionals in the Caribbean and is an active member of the Gender Equality Cayman initiative in the Cayman Islands. She currently is a Senior Advisor, Growth Strategy & Transformation for a USA headquartered global company.  She has extensive experience working in over 100 countries with a variety of talented and skilled employees. She loves to travel internationally which provides her an opportunity to interact with new people & cultures.

Marnie comes to Vertical Skills Academy as a former parent of a student with
dyslexia. Her family is originally from New York and after struggling for several
years to reach a diagnosis for her daughter, the family moved across country in
order to get the much needed support of a small school structure, the 1:1 tutoring
and the safe learning environment that VSA provided.

Marnie is a Director of Market Research for a personal care company based in NJ
& Texas. She holds a unique position that allows her to be the eyes and ears of the
consumer as her company makes decisions on new product innovations and
advertising campaigns, while also helping her teams understand the ‘why’ behind
decisions that people make on their product choices on a day-to-day basis. Marnie
loves to learn and teach the psychology that underlies the factors of these
seemingly easy choices.

Marnie joined the board to bring her marketing expertise, with a focus on
strategy, branding and research. She is excited to work with the team on
understanding student and parent choices when it comes to schools and helping
the school reach more families. Mostly, Marnie wants to help other families avoid
the same struggles that her family went through to land at VSA and get their
children the education they need and deserve.

In her spare time, Marnie enjoys time with her husband and two daughters, trail
running and walking the hills of Evergreen.