Our Instructors

Arick Little is currently the chairperson for the Amador Valley High School Mathematics Department, and is teaching AP Calculus and Math I. Arick earned his B.S. in Applied Mathematics at Iowa State University and has taught every level of high school math. He has been a mentor teacher in the district and has worked on numerous curriculum projects for improving high school mathematics.

Lindsay Maher earned her B.A. in Spanish Studies with a minor in English from Santa Clara University. In addition to teaching Spanish and Freshman English at Foothill High School, Lindsay has also acted as the AVID instructor and program coordinator for students in grades nine through twelve.

Jennifer Kelly graduated from Boston University (summa cum laude) and holds both a Bachelor of Science and a Master’s Degree in Mathematics Education. She has been teaching since 1997 at Foothill High School in Pleasanton, and has taught Algebra, Intermediate Algebra, Geometry, Honors Geometry, and Math II & III. Jennifer loves teaching, and particularly enjoys the one-on-one attention and instruction she is able to give her students at STEPS.

Randall Lomas earned his B.A. in Mathematics Education in 1989 at Brigham Young University his M.A. in Curriculum and Instruction from Chapman University in 1995. Mr. Lomas taught for seven years in Palmdale, California, where he coached basketball, volleyball and MATHCOUNTS before relocating to Pleasanton in 1996 to work at Harvest Park. He and his wife Shelleen are the proud parents of two children. Mr. Lomas has been honored several times in his career including Mesa Intermediate’s Teacher of the Year (1993), a recipient of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers (4th, 5th, 7th, 8th and 9th editions), awarded with Pleasanton’s Partnerships in Education “Excellence in Education” (1999), was selected as California Association for the Gifted Teacher of the Year (2000) and received the Edyth May Sliffe award in 2009. He looks forward to the opportunity to help more students with their understanding of mathematics.

Burt Dixon has been teaching Math at Foothill High School since 1990. He has taught nearly all math courses offered in high school and currently teaches AP Calculus and Geometry. Burt earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Mathematics at U.C. Davis and is currently the chairperson for the Foothill High School Math Department. Burt also teaches math and teacher education courses at the University of Phoenix.

Mark, a graduate of UC Berkeley, has taught at Foothill High School for the past eight years. In his career, he has taught all levels of mathematics from 6th grade through Calculus in a wide variety of environments with an equally wide variety of students. Mark has worked with other teachers as a mentor teacher, a beginning teacher support provider, and as a Peer Assessment and Review (PAR) consultant. Outside of school, he teaches SAT classes throughout the west coast and serves as a math consultant for People’s Publishing Company, publishers of school texts and review programs for the California Standards Tests. Mark also volunteers as a member of the organizing committee for the annual Asilomar Mathematics Conference.

Matthew Kelly has been teaching mathematics for 14 years. He taught for 3 years at Bret Harte Middle School in Hayward, 4 years at Hart Middle School in Pleasanton, and is currently in his 7th year at Amador Valley High School. Mr. Kelly earned his Bachelor's and Master's Degrees from Boston University. He holds teaching credentials in both Mathematics and Social Studies, and has been a part of the STEPS team for the last 6 years. He is married to the incomparable Mrs. Jennifer Kelly of Foothill High School, and is the proud father of 2 beautiful young children.

Chris Tofanelli graduated from UC Davis with a B.S. in Math and received his teaching credential at CSUH. Mr.Tofanelli taught in many diverse schools from Sacramento to Hayward before joining the Amador staff in 2003. He currently teaches Algebra 2 and Honors Intermediate Algebra. Mr. Tofanelli strives to have all his students succeed and love math. He’s happy to be a part of STEPS Community Prep School where he can provide additional support seeking greater success with high school math.

Cy Ogle is currently in his 15th year of teaching with the Pleasanton Unified School District. He graduated from U.C. Davis in 1993 after earning a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics, and continued his graduate work at U.C. Davis where he also received credentials to teach both science and mathematics. He has taught Pre-Algebra, Integrated Math, Geometry, Algebra, Algebra 2, and PreCalculus at both the middle school and high school levels. Mr. Ogle currently teaches Algebra 2, Honors Algebra 2, and Problem Solving at Amador High School in Pleasanton.

Rochelle Morris graduated from CSU, Sacramento with a BS in Chemistry in 1999. She continued on to graduate school at UC Davis where she completed a Ph.D. in chemistry in 2003. During her time at UC Davis, she discovered a love for teaching. After graduating she decided to obtain her teaching credential at CSU, Hayward and began her teaching career at Foothill High School in 2003. Currently, Dr. Morris teaches chemistry and AP Chemistry classes at Foothill HS in Pleasanton.

Tom Hall is currently in his 24th year of teaching with the Pleasanton Unified School District. He is enjoying his assignment of teaching Physics and AP Physics C. He has also spent an extensive time teaching Chemistry and has taught Physical Science and Algebra. He has served as the department chair of the Amador and as Master Teacher for teachers entering the profession. Tom earned his B.S. in the Geological Sciences from San Diego State University and his teaching credential from California State University, Hayward.

Renee Ogle graduated with a B.S. in Biopsychology from UC Santa Barbara. She received both her teaching credential and Master’s of Natural Science at San Jose State. She has taught at PMS, Thomas Hart, and is currently teaching at Amador Valley High School. Mrs. Ogle loves teaching science, and hopes her excitement for science gets her students even more interested in the subject.

Eric Thiel is completing his 26th year in the Pleasanton Unified School District. He taught his first seven years at Foothill and has spent the last 19 years at Amador. He has a B.S. in Biology and a M.S. in educational technology. Life Science is Eric’s passion and he has been teaching the subject his entire time while in the district. Eric is responsible for starting the AP Biology program in Pleasanton Unified as well as co-creating the award winning “Project Creek Watch” program and has recently been appointed Co-Chair of the Amador Science Department. His summers are spent working at UC Berkeley teaching AP Biology for their Academic Talent Development Program.

Anne Johnson is a former graduate from Amador Valley High School and been teaching for nine years. She taught Spanish 1 in middle school for 5 years before teaching at Amador Valley High School. She is currently teaching Spanish 3 and AP Literature Spanish 5. She earned her bachelor's degree at UC Berkeley with a major in Spanish Literature and a minor in Ethnic Studies. Ms. Johnson is very passionate about the Spanish language and culture, and has spent years studying abroad in Mexico, and has also lived in Costa Rica. She received her Master’s degree from San Francisco State in Spanish Literature. She has been with Steps for four years and looks forward to tutoring all levels of Spanish.

Brian Shackelford received his Bachelor’s Degree from UC Davis in 2001. He then went to Chico State for graduate school and is credentialed to teach both mathematics and physical education. Since starting his teaching career in 2003 at Foothill he has taught Algebra 1, Geometry, Algebra 2, Math III and Math IV and Advanced Placement Statistics.