Laurie Bell
Art Director/Teacher

Laurie Bell attended Washington State University and received a BA in Fine Art with emphasis in Health. She graduated with Honors. Laurie completed her student teaching in Taipei, Taiwan.

She lives in Underwood, Washington, where she lives on a farm with her family. She loves camping, horses, and the outdoors. She also boards horses on her farm.

Mrs. Bell teaches art at Horizon. Her duties include the instruction of students pre-kindergarten through 12th grade.

Note: As of August 2010, Mrs. Bell is taking a year sabbatical to focus on family.

Christy Berthold
Pre-Kindergarten

Christy Berthold has been with Horizon Christian Pre-School since 2003. She holds an Oregon State Certificate for Pre-Kindergarten. Christy lives in Mosier with her husband Philip and two children Anna and Andrew. Both children are enrolled at Horizon. She has two grown sons Claude and Will, and two grandchildren. In her spare time Christy likes to garden and watch the Horizon Lady Hawks play basketball.

Jim Brown
7th - 12th Grade

Mr. Brown attended Cypress Junior College and San Diego State University from 1970 - 1973 and received a B.S. degree in Zoology pre-dental from Cal Poly Pomona, Pomona, California in 1975.

Jim played college baseball for two years. He has four children and one grandchild. Mr. Brown also enjoys the art of hunting.

Mr. Brown has been with Horizon Christian School for many years and teaches a wide variety of courses including Biology, PE, Algebra ½ and Algebra 1, Government/Economics, SAT Prep, and 7th grade World Studies.

Crystle Durham
9th - 12th Grade Teacher
Spanish

Elizabeth Griffin
3rd and 4th Blended Class

Elizabeth Griffin is a Horizon graduate and is extremely excited to be part of the Horizon Christian School family once again. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from George Fox University and holds an Oregon teaching license. She is currently working on her Masters of Education with a concentration in Curriculum and Instruction through Concordia University in Portland. Elizabeth taught in blended classrooms for one year in India where she helped to pioneer a school for slum children in 2008. She is married to Aaron Griffin, and they both absolutely love the Columbia River Gorge. Elizabeth likes to read, hike, play the piano, and go white water rafting in her spare time.

Christina Hicks
Preschool Teacher

Christina Hicks is the Pre-Kindergarten teacher on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the teacher’s assistant on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. She graduated from Columbia High School in 1994 and later began attending Columbia Gorge Community College where she is working towards an associate degree in Early Childhood Education.

Christina, her husband Rusty, and their family live on a small farm in Husum, Washington. Their three children Kelsey, R.J. and Jodee all attend Horizon. In her spare time, Christina enjoys riding and training horses as well as being an enthusiastic 4-H leader.

Mac Jackson
Math and Earth Science

Mac has a BA from Dartmouth College, a Masters of Science in Geology from the University of Nevada Reno and completed the teacher education program at Concordia University. He worked for 14 years as a gold exploration geologist for major mining companies in Nevada.  He loves sports and played both football and lacrosse in college. He currently coaches the boy’s lacrosse team at Hood River Valley High School.

He is married to Lynn Jackson and they have four sons. The Jacksons are members of Hood River Alliance Church. At Horizon Christian School, Mac teaches Algebra II, Pre-calculus, 8th grade Earth Science and 9th grade Geography.  

Melissa Kamp
2nd and 3rd Blended Class

Melissa Kamp recently taught at a Christian School in Montana. She has a Master's Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Seattle Pacific University, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Elementary Education from Dordt College, Iowa.

Faith Kempf
9th thru 12th Grade

Faith Kempf went to college and got a B.S. in Biology Education and a Broad Science minor from Washington State University (WSU). She holds a Washington State teaching certificate. She also has special training in classroom accommodations for the learning disabled. One more thing she did was she worked with the Illinois State Board of Education in 1993-1995 developing hands-on traveling science curriculums for Kindergarten through 12th grade classrooms.

Some of her hobbies are reading, gardening, working outside, and being with her family. Her husband also teaches at Horizon and she also has three kids that attend Horizon.

Mrs. Kempf now teaches high school English and upper-level high school Science for the 9th through 12th graders.

Ray Kempf
8th thru 12th Grade

Mr. Kempf has a BA in Literature, (education emphasis) from Washington State University (WSU). He also has an MA in Philosophy from Southern Illinois University (SIU) at Carbondale. Mr. Kempf has also been involved in pastoral ministry since 1997.

Some of Mr. Kempf’s hobbies include chopping wood, playing chess, reading the Bible, and thinking.

At Horizon Christian School, Mr. Kempf teaches 8th grade Speech & Logic, 9th and 10th grade Geography, Bible classes for students in grades 9 through 12, and a Geometry class.

Collette Kingrey
Kindergarten & combined Kindergarten/1st grade

Collette Kingrey has enjoyed teaching Horizon’s kindergarten class since 2003. Prior to Horizon Christian School she taught a Pre-K/K class at Kids-R-Us Preschool and Daycare Center in Hood River. She is deeply committed to nurturing, protecting and drawing out the sense of wonder so generously given to every child. Collette is motivated to instruct from a “delight-directed” teaching environment as well as developing “fearless learners” who are able to overcome the challenges that come with learning to read and write. .

Collette and her family have resided in the beautiful Columbia Gorge for over 20 years. She and her husband, Kevin, have three grown children: Hannah, Tyson, and Emma. Preventing them from the bittersweet experience of an ‘empty nest’ is their beloved dog, Bozz, who also considers himself to be the youngest sibling in the Kingrey Household!

Collette delights in spending time with dear friends and family talking about good books, memorable movies and enjoying great food and music together. You may also find her with her family walking along a Columbia Gorge trail or cross country skiing when the snow flies.

Angela Lynn
Part Time Secondary Art Teacher

Angela Lynn's bio will be posted shortly.

Kristin Marble
Part Time Elementary Art Teacher

Kristin Marble has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Pepperdine University and is currently pursuing a Masters degree in art from Warner Pacific. Kristin recently taught at a Christian School in the Portland, Oregon area.

Roxanne McClure
Elementary Music Teacher

Mrs. McClure's bio will follow shortly.

Diane Phelps
1st Grade Teacher

Diane Phelps received a bachelor of science degree from Idaho State University in elementary education. Diane and her husband, Dave, moved to Hood River in April of 2008. They have 4 children and 5 grandchildren, who are scattered from Oklahoma City to Anchorage, Alaska. She spent 2 ½ years teaching English in Ukraine through the Peace Corps, but is very happy to be settled down in Hood River now. In her spare time she likes to travel, cook, sew, garden and walk. Diane feels it’s a great opportunity to be teaching at Horizon and loves teaching 1st graders.

Renee Rieke
5th Grade

Renee Rieke attended Concordia University of Irvine, where she obtained her Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Life Science. She ran track and cross country for the Eagles for 4 years. Upon graduating, Renee traded back the sunshine and warm beaches of Southern California for the green forests and mud puddles of Oregon. (There's no place like home!)

Renee worked for AmeriCorp's "I Have A Dream" Foundation in Forest Grove while she attended graduate school at George Fox University. She graduated in 2004 with her Master of Arts in Teaching. Mrs. Rieke moved to Hood River in 2009 with her husband Abe, after teaching for 5 years in Oregon City.

During the winter months Mrs. Rieke can often be found up at Mt. Hood with her snowboard, or curled up at a coffee shop with a good book! Her favorite activities in the summer are hiking, wakeboarding, and playing tennis. However, after watching all of the fun that the kiteboarders have on the Columbia, she is thinking about learning a new sport!

Sheila Sletmoe
6th Grade and Blended 5th/6th Grade

Mrs. Sletmoe attended Portland State University. She has a Bachelor’s degree of Science in Business Administration and Accounting, a Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction. Sheila enjoys doing many things including: hiking, biking, gardening, skiing, and windsurfing…when she is not reading.

Oscar Stenberg, III
7th and 8th Grade
Athletic Director

Mr. Stenberg has a BA in biological science, and a Masters in Biblical Studies from Dallas Theological Seminary. He taught for one year at Faith Academy in the Philippines, three years at W’yeast Junior High, and for the past twenty-nine years at Baptist Christian School and at Summit Christian School which were predecessor schools to Horizon Christian School.

Mr. Stenberg’s hobbies include reading, and watching and playing sports.

At Horizon Christian School, Mr. Stenberg teaches 8th grade U.S. History, General Math, Life Science, Physical Education, and is also the Athletic Director for Horizon.

Leslie Sullivan
Music and Drama

Leslie Sullivan graduated with her Associates Degree of General Studies with honors and as a member of Phi Theta Kappa from Columbia Gorge Community College in 2007. She is currently studying to complete her Bachelors of Science Degree in Liberal Arts with focuses in music and theatre at Eastern Oregon University.

Leslie lives in the upper Hood River valley. She is married to Michael Sullivan and has a step-daughter named Devyn. In her spare time, Leslie enjoys playing the piano and singing as well as cooking, camping, sewing, and cross-stitch. She is involved with the youth group and is on the worship team at her church, River of Life Assembly.

She began teaching at Horizon in 2004. She teaches all music classes which encompasses pre-school through 6th grade general music along with 5th through 12th grade band, choir and drama.

Susan Wade
9th thru 12th Social Studies

Susan Wade earned a BA in language arts education from Seattle Pacific University, graduating summa cum laude, and received her Washington State teaching certificate through the University of Washington. She also holds a Masters degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Seattle Pacific University and an Oregon State teacher's license. She has taught at every level from kindergarten through 12th grade and has public and private Christian school experience, including a two-year term in a one-room school for grades K-8 in Taiwan. (Ten students in seven different grades -- what an experience!) Prior to coming to Horizon, she lived in Hong Kong with her husband and two boys for 12 years, working in lay leadership development in the local churches as well as teaching English, history and drama and developing the community service program at International Christian School.

She currently teaches all of the high school social sciences courses and 7th grade math.

Tonya Aldrich
4/5 Grade Blended Class Aid

Ms. Aldrich's bio and photo will be posted shortly.

Debbie Lingel
2/3 Grade Blended Class Aid

Ms. Lingel has a degree in elementary education from Eastern Oregon University. She and her husband own a franchise in Hood River and The Dalles, Oregon.