Our 

Amazing 

Staff

Sharon Gore

Coordinator

slgore@aurorak12.org

Sharon is a former Elementary School Counselor. She believes that making learning fun is essential. She homeschooled her own son for 8 years. Sharon is married and loves to travel, hike, bike, being outside and spending time with family. 

Emi Fundenburger

 Education Assistant

efundenburger@aurorak12.org


Emi is a homeschool mom who has homeschooled her three children for at least 10 years. 2


Emi loves spend watching football with her husband, bake, and be in the mountains.


Melinda Lasater

Education Assistant

mlasater@aurorak12.org

Melinda is a former elementary school teacher who has homeschooled her two girls for 7 years. They attend Brighton Options too. 

Melinda has lived in 5 states, loves to cook, read, and snuggle with her dogs.

Andrea Gleason

Education Assistant

agleason@aurorak12.org


Andrea has been involved in education for 20 years. She is a former PE teacher. She has two sons. Her hobbies include movies,  basketball, football and Disney.

Allison Holtom

Kindergarten

apromero@aurorak12.org

Allison has her master’s in special education as well as middle grades education and her bachelor’s in elementary education. She believes that learning should be fun, productive, lifelong, and a team effort. In her free time, Allison enjoys writing children’s books, reading, and spending time with four daughters. Allison was homeschooled K-12 and homeschools her own children as well. 

Alicia Witkowski 

 1st grade teacher

albroseghini@aurorak12.org

Alicia graduated from CCU in Elementary education. She has taught both Kindergarten and 1st grade. She loves to create lifelong learners by reaching a child's natural inquisitive spirit and making learning fun! Alicia enjoys spending time with her baby, being outside, reading and swing dancing! 

Ada Seal

Kinder/1st Grade Aid

aseal@aurorak12.org


Ada has taught P.E. for grades K5 through 12th grades for 33 years. She is high energy and loves the interaction with kids of all ages. Her and her husband, Roger have two grown children and three beautiful grandchildren. Ada loves to jet ski and play pickleball. She has had a photography

 business for 30 years and has her real estate license with SOS Realty.


Becki Rodriguez 

Spanish & Technology

rrodriguez@aurorak12.org

Becki is married with two daughters that she homeschooled. She also lives with her family and adorable cats. She loves spending time with her family and is also a little bit of a "nerd" as she loves to work with the computer in her free time. 

Jennifer Osgood

Variety of classes

ja.osgood@aurorak12.org

Jen loves teaching unique classes in creative ways. She loves being in the sun - preferably at the beach! She also loves reading, boating and spending time with her family.  Jen homeschooled her own children and is passionate about coming alongside homeschool families. 

Jeremy Paxton 

Science and PE jgpaxton@auroraK12.org

Jeremy is married and his wife also teaches at an Options school. They have four kids. Jeremy will make learning science and PE fun! 

Johanna Brown

Math Teacher

jebrown@aurorak12.org

Johanna loves to motivate and teach students about math and finance! She has five kids, two grandkids and one dog. She coaches track and cross-country on the side and she also loves to read, bake and go on walks or hikes. 

Janelle Flanscha 

Elementary teacher

Jsflanscha@aurorak12.org

Janelle is a 3rd generation Coloradoan. She and her husband Dan have four sons who were homeschooled. She now is a proud grandma. She is passionate about learning new things and loves to spark that interest in her students. 

Stephanie Silvey

Music and various classes

sdsilvey@aurorak12.org

Stephanie loves to be creative and that is why she is such a great teacher. She loves art, music and crafting. She also loves to read, go camping and sleep. She is happily married and has two beautiful children of her own that she  homeschools. 

Rylee Gore

English and Social Studies

rgore@aurorak12.org

Rylee is creative, fun, and is passionate about teaching English and History. She lives with her husband and two kitties. She has tons of energy and will make learning these subjects Fun!!

Emily Grajeda

Cooking and Reading

ekgrajeda@aurorak12.org

Emily is happily married and has 3 children of her own. She loves having different cooking classes, and books to read. 

Kathleen McIrvin

Music Teacher

khmcirvin@aurorak12.org

Kathleen loves the variety of classes she gets to teach and all the students she gets to know. Kathleen has a "fur baby" of her own - a dog that she loves. Even in her free time Kathleen still spends it musically playing drums, Irish pipes and tutoring on the side. She also enjoys Jui Jitsu. She has tons of energy and pours that into her teaching! 

Janet Solano

Art Teacher

jsolano@aurorak12.org

Janet is a former homeschool mom, and her daughter graduated from Brighton Options. She has been teaching art for several years.

Amy Wilson

Field Trip Coordinator

awilson1@aurorak12.org

 Amy is a homeschool mom to two children. She's been part of Options for 7 years. She loves doing fun things with kids so she is an amazing field trip coordinator. She also teaches classes on instapot cooking and charcuterie. 


Larry Thigpen

Options Principal

lthigpen@aurorak12.org

Larry has been in education 30 years. A Principal of Options for 6 years. He has two kids, loves sports of all kinds, and loves to travel.