Education - Zion Hills Academy

Ken Huey - Executive Director

Ken Huey completed a Ph.D. in Marriage and Family Therapy at Purdue University in 2002. Dr.
Huey’s first job after that doctorate was in an adolescent residential treatment setting as a therapist. That job changed the course of his career. In that setting, where almost all of the variables impacting a teen were controlled, positive change became a likely outcome instead of a surprise.

Being adopted himself, Dr. Huey was always drawn to the large population of other adoptees in residential treatment. He ultimately became convinced that this population needed specialty care and in November of 2006, Dr. Huey founded Calo. Calo was and is a specialty program for adopted youth who have a significant trauma history. Calo grew to a 200 plus employee organization with about the same numbers of teen clients served each year.

After selling his ownership in Calo Dr. Huey enjoyed semi-retirement for a number of years. After some time off he began looking for a career and team fit in the residential world and became acquainted with Zion Hills. He joined Zion Hills Academy as Executive Director in October of 2020.

Dr. Huey and his wife, Bev, are the parents of 6 children. They will be welcoming their third
grandchild into the family in December of 2020.

Anthony Perez - Team Lead

Anthony Perez was born in 29 Palms, California and grew up in Ridgecrest. When he was 15 he moved to Colorado with his grandparents where he became adept at playing hockey. He graduated high school in 2012 and shortly afterward moved to Cedar City to marry his high school sweetheart. Anthony had made the decision to join the US Navy and shipped off to bootcamp in February of 2014. He served a total of six years on active duty as a Hospital Corpsman and is currently serving in the Navy Reserves. His passion involves working in the medical field and aspires to obtain his bachelor’s degree from Southern Utah University in pre-med, and being accepted to the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences to become a neurosurgeon. He hopes to inspire not only his own children but also our clients to strive for greatness and follow their dreams no matter how big or small they may be.

Jared Kidman - Team Lead

Jared Kidman is originally from Southern California. He moved to Cedar City in 2014 with his wife and two children to make a better life for his family. Jared went to ITT Tech, where he received his degree in Multi-Media. He has had a knack for design but always felt that the job was not fulfilling, and that something was missing. Deciding that he needed a change he took a chance and started working for The Hope Group where he discovered his purpose and the rest is history. Jared has a lot of passion and drive in this industry in hopes to see growth and success in these young lives. Having experienced trouble as a youth himself, he has an understanding and compassion for the struggles these teenagers have and will experience. He strives to push growth, care, and understanding within the program. Jared really enjoys teaching, training and showing useful skills that will help these teens prepare for adulthood.

Steven Fife - Teacher

Steven Fife is a teacher and curriculum developer for Havenwood academics, where he teaches classes and develops curriculum meant to complement Gradpoint learning with kinesthetic or more hands-on experiences. Originally from the Cedar City area, Steven has moved around working as a youth counselor, mentor, and teacher for almost twenty years. In addition to receiving his Bachelors from George Wythe and Masters from St John’s, he helped to found a private school Liberty Tree Academy, worked as department chair at Paradigm Schools, and has held accreditation responsibilities working with Advanced Ed. Steven helps build strong educational teams through leading professional development seminars and trainings. He loves mentoring. He loves to focus on the individual students and teachers as he helps them kindle the fire each one has within for learning and growth. Steven often strings up a tune playing folk music on the fiddle or banjo, and he creates functional art with clay on a potter’s wheel. In addition to these arts, he is great at wielding a hammer or drill and enjoys coaching and playing many different sports. His love of mentoring, learning, sports, and art plays into each next adventure with his wife and kids.

Bentley Smith - Team Lead

Before college Bentley didn’t have very much experience with children besides an occasional babysitting job. Once she got to college and decided that she wanted a job doing something meaningful and important. One of her friends raved about how much he loved his job at The Hope Group so Bentley thought why not? Shortly after that Bentley got hired in February of 2019. As a team lead Bentley does her best to work with clients through their residential work as well as be a part of their support system. Bentley also plans what the girls do day to day in the house from art projects to workouts to introducing new coping skills. She aims to push the girls to do their work and make progress in their program while also having fun and taking some self care breaks along the way. When asked about her job Bentley will always reply the same way: “Even though this job can sometimes be tough, I would always do it over and over again because being able to make an impact on the girls while also learning more about myself is more than I could ever ask for in a job.”

Kyle Peterson - Therapist

Kyle is a native of Cedar City and grew up hiking some of the most beautiful country in the world in Southern Utah. Kyle is an Eagle Scout, a deeply spiritual person, an avid inviter, one who is accepting of all people from all walks of life. For the past 4 years Kyle has lived near the Canadian border in Minot, North Dakota. Kyle enjoys biking in the snow, CrossFit, playing and teaching the piano, and spending time with his wife and children, especially doing things outdoors. Future goals for Kyle include pursuing a PhD, hiking the Zion Narrows with his kids, coaching a swim and waterpolo team, and getting his tennis and golf game back. Kyle says, “Listening to others is a supportive way that helps develop important life skills brings the kind of satisfaction to my life that is difficult to describe with words. I crave learning and am constantly on the lookout for ways to improve and develop my knowledge in any way that I can.”

Diana Baldwin - Therapist

Diana completed her social work degree at the University of Utah, where she was also lucky enough to participate in a rigorous Feminist Multicultural internship and training program. She has worked and trained in many different environments, including homeless shelters, international orphanages, very low funded treatment centers and some of the top treatment centers in the U.S. She’s passionate about justice work, confidence building, trauma work and body image work. She has also worked and traveled extensively in places like South Africa, Ecuador, Colombia and Costa Rica. Overall she has been to around 30 countries and plans to visit many more. When she’s not working you can find her with her family and friends, at the gym or dancing salsa.

Chase Morgan - Program Director

Chase was very fortunate to start in this industry as a struggling 17 year old kid looking for a mentor and something to be passionate about. Wilderness therapy was Chase’s first stop in this industry and was truly a transcendental experience for him. Chase has an enormous love for this line of work and the power that it has in creating change in everyone involved. Chase’s biggest belief is the power a mentor, strong, healthy relationships, and accountability can have on anyone, especially youth. Taking a very relational approach to his work, Chase has always been very relatable to the students he works with. Being able to understand and relate to a vast variety of the same struggles as a lot of the students he works with has been able to help him continue to grow, learn, and teach. Chase believes that with great rapport and trust, he can use his experience to continue to coach and train new staff, and has the ability to find those staff with the passion for this industry, and help them grow. His love and passion can be felt the moment you talk with Chase about this industry and he passes that on to others he works with. In his spare time you will find Chase cheering for the Eagles, Yankees, and Mavericks, hanging out with his brother, learning more about Eastern Psychology, and continuing to grow and learn.

LoraLynn Jones - Equine Director

LoraLynn is a certified Equine Specialist with 43 years of experience with horses and has also received certification by International EAGALA (Equine Assisted Growth And Learning Association). She studied Equine Science at Southern Utah University and holds numerous certifications through the State of Utah. Her experience also includes over three years of working for the Utah State Youth Corrections. Throughout the years, LoraLynn has proven to the Zion Hills Academy owners, staff, parents and students that horses truly mirror a person’s emotions allowing them to safely work through and overcome their negative behaviors, issues and traumas. Her work has become a crucial element of helping our young women succeed in their individual programs.

Heather Lopez - Physical Education & Health Teacher

Heather Lopez is the Physical Education and Health teacher at Zion Hills Academy. She graduated from California State University – Fullerton with a Bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in teacher education. Mrs. Lopez earned her teaching credential in 2017 and has experience teaching at the secondary level. Her focus is on creating a safe space for students to work on their physical health while gaining the necessary tools to live healthy adult lives.

Mrs. Lopez is driven and passionate about physical education and having a healthy mind, body, and spirit. Working at the Zion Hills allows her to give back and be part of beautiful personal journeys. She makes each of her students feel like they have a purpose and a voice. Mrs. Lopez lives in Cedar City, Utah with her husband and young daughter. She enjoys being outdoors, shopping, and spending time with her family.

Scott Sharp - Education Director

Scott Sharp is so excited to be part of the academic team here at the Zion Hills Academy. Mr. Sharp recently retired after 30 years of successful teaching and administration in the public education system in the state of Utah. His most recent assignment was as the Assistant Principal at Cedar City High School. He loved his career in education, and working as an assistant principal and principal in both elementary and secondary education, has prepared him now to work at Zion Hills Academy.

Mr. Sharp has 2 children and 9 grandchildren and loves spending time with them. 3 of those 9 grandchildren are adopted so he understands some of the challenges that come with that. He loves spending time with his wife MaryAnn and being outdoors, jeeping, camping and hunting. He loves music and played professionally in a country band for many years. He recently has taken up playing the bagpipes and loves performing. He and his wife have served, each summer, over the past 8 years as directors of a bagpipe band in Nauvoo Illinois.

Mr. Sharp and his academic team are working hard to enhance and build upon the great educational system already in place at Zion Hills. He has already helped put P.E., College and Career Readiness and other curriculum and programs into the schedule. His team is working hard to make the school day more exciting and rigorous and giving the girls as many opportunities to learn and grow as possible.

Marie Johns - Nurse

Marie Johns RN, BSN is the staff nurse. Prior to being hired by Zion Hills Academy, Marie worked for seven years as a psychiatric nurse. Her resume includes working the adult unit at the University Neuropsychiatric Institute (UNI), in Salt Lake City. UNI is an acute care facility for the mentally ill in crisis. Marie also worked at Mountain Regional Services, Inc. (MRSI), a day habitation/residential habitation facility that cares for people having both Mental Illness and Developmental Disabilities. MRSI is located in Evanston, Wyoming. While in Evanston Marie also worked in a similar capacity at Best Home Health. While working at Best Home Health Marie was awarded the Nurse of the Year.

Marie enjoys associating with the girls and works diligently to ensure the girls get proper medical care. Outside of work, Marie loves to knit and is an avid hiker. Her favorite season to hike is winter. She is discovering that Southern Utah is a wonderful place to explore. Marie is also a Hospice Nurse.

Trevor Dahle - Clinical Director

Trevor graduated from Brigham Young University with his bachelor’s degree in Family Studies, master’s degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, and will enter the Human Development and Family Studies Ph.D. program at Auburn University this fall. His education and career have been spent trying to find the best ways to help individuals and families thrive. This focus, and his extensive experience in family research, gives Trevor a unique understanding of how family dynamics affect individual choices. In the future, he plans to develop community programs and influence public policy to increase awareness of addiction and trauma, and to improve access to therapy.

Trevor comes to the Zion Hills Academy from another residential treatment center where he specialized in treating complex trauma and addiction. He is trained in EMDR and SMART Recovery, and loves working with argumentative teens. His therapy perspective focuses on working collaboratively with the youth so they can learn more about themselves and develop their personal value systems. This, in turn, provides them with an internal guide when making decisions.

You can read Trevor’s thesis here: Longitudinal Examination of Observed Family Hostility and Adolescent Anxiety and Depression as Mediated by Adolescent Perspective Taking and Empathic Concern. In his personal time, he enjoys taking his family hiking, backpacking, and biking.

Julie Foster - Executive Chef

Ask anyone who knows Julie Foster and they will tell you, “She can be found in the Kitchen”! Julie joined Zion Hills Academy as the Executive Chef in November of 2018. Born and raised in Cedar City, Utah, her love and passion for the culinary arts began early on from humble beginnings as she was taught the basics of cooking and baking from her beloved Grandmothers. Upon entering the workforce at age 15, Julie began working in the food industry learning all positions and aspects of food and service. At the age of 24, while working on her associate’s degree from Dixie State College, she was offered a cooking position at The Meadows Retirement Facility in St. George. Within a few months, she was promoted to the Executive Chef position which lasted for ten years. During this time she was provided with an excellent opportunity to travel to Seattle Washington and work side by side with other outstanding Chefs to further her knowledge and expertise in the industry. Throughout a 34 year career, Julie has worked in four long-term care facilities and assisted living centers as the Executive Chef, and four years experience working at a treatment facility for youth, all in St. George, Utah. She is knowledgeable in hiring and training staff, purchasing, receiving, meal planning, production, and food safety regulations.

Julie lived in St. George, Utah for 27 years after graduating from High School. She is married, and has four beautiful daughters. She is also the Grandmother of three girls. In 2007, she moved back to Cedar City to be closer to her family. Julie enjoys the great outdoors, and the beautiful mountains of southern Utah. Her Hobbies include Hiking, Fishing, Gardening, Sewing, Writing Poetry, and she sings at weddings and funerals. Her Greatest passion in life has been her ability to cook delicious meals not only for those she serves in her work life, but also for her family and loved ones during holidays and family reunions. In the childhood memories of every good cook, there’s a large kitchen, a warm stove, a simmering pot, and a Mom! Julie loves her job working for Zion Hills Academy and strives to be an inspiration to everyone and make a positive difference in their lives. She has become known as Grandma Julie, and she can be quoted as saying: THE SECRET INGREDIENT IS ALWAYS LOVE!

Eric Allred - Executive Director

Eric Allred was born and raised in Rigby, Idaho. He grew up on a family farm where he learned the value of work. He graduated from Rigby High School and attended Rick’s College, now known as BYU-Idaho. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Utah State University, received a master’s degree in organizational behavior and human relations from the University of Phoenix and a second master’s degree in marital and family therapy from Phillips Graduate Institute. Eric has been involved in Rotary and was president of a local Rotary Club. He enjoys being with his family and doing outdoor activities such as fly fishing.

Eric has gained a wide variety of experience as a result of being in various leadership positions at multiple residential treatment centers since 1989. During that time, he has continued to expand and grow his knowledge and education regarding program development, fundraising, family seminars, administration, hiring and training, budgeting, community outreach and overall patient treatment. His primary focus is to make a positive difference in the lives of young people who are struggling. He has been able to affect the lives of many teens and their families as a result of his dedication to helping families heal. He joined the team at Zion Hills Academy in 2019 as the executive director to continue his life’s passion to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

He loves watching the change process in a person and has seen his former clients move on to have happy and productive lives. To Eric, this work is rewarding and sweet and he never grows tired of it! He looks forward to joining the great staff at Zion Hills Academy and to continue his life’s passion to make a positive difference in the lives of others.

D'Jay Scott - Program Director

D’Jay came to work at Zion Hills Academy as the Program Director. D’Jay has always viewed the therapeutic process as being a holistic multi-faceted journey with therapy, recreation, activities & education being at the heart of the process of growth and will take the necessary strides to ensure our clients have that special experience here at Zion Hills Academy. In 2014 he completed his Bachelor’s degree in Psychology which focused on Child Development. As Program Director, D’Jay’s goal is to continue to enhance the effectiveness of programming through collaboration with his residential staff & clinical team. As well as developing refreshing and innovative programming, such as skiing, vision boards, artistic expression, snowboarding, life skills, camping trips, and numerous winter/summer sports. D’Jay views programming as a means to empower the young women at The Hope Group.

Prior to working at Zion Hills Academy, D’Jay established a strong reputation as a Senior Program Director for the YMCA in Santa Monica. Under his leadership at this nationally recognized organization, he proudly managed multiple departments during his tenure & contributed to several program development initiatives. Such as the entire spectrum of Youth and Adult Sports, Healthy Lifestyles, Marketing, Youth & Government, volunteerism, philanthropy, and outstanding communication with Board Members, Professional partnerships, parents, and most importantly, enrolled participants. In 2008-2017 D’Jay served as a Youth Mentor, Program Coordinator and Personal Trainer for the Young Life Organization, a non-profit organization committed to community outreach, and development of healthy recreational opportunities for inner city youth.

D’Jay came to Zion Hills with his fiancé and two daughters from sunny San Diego, California. His passion for bettering the youth comes second to none. Throughout his interviewing process, he showed a strong consistency of compassion, intention to help, and collaborative spirit. When D’Jay is not leading peers through programming or facilitating activities, he enjoys playing football, basketball, Frisbee golf, volunteering to coach youth sports, hiking, scenery running, and most of all spending time with his family.

Bryan Cook - Assistant Program Director

Bryan Cook is the Assistant Program Director for the Zion Hills Academy, working with and beside the Program Director to meet the needs of the program. His primary role is providing safety and containment during the evening, night and weekend hours. He provides staff their training and scheduling as well as programming and schedules for the clients during those times. He has been in the industry for over 5 years starting as a youth mentor, and through his dedication and work ethic has been able to move up to his present position. Through this tenure, he has found his passion, which is to help and give back. His previous work experiences and life experiences have prepared him for where he is today. He spent 21 years in manufacturing working his way up into management positions, which helped him develop skills such as patience, time management, mentoring, teaching and training. At the end of his manufacturing stint, he was responsible for over 200 associates and their training needs. In that position, he learned that he had a gift for training and coaching people to be successful and gain personal confidence in the abilities to grow and develop their skills. His professional achievements include earning a Foundations of Leading Certification, along with a Training and Development Diploma from Langevin Train the Trainer company. After some life and career-changing events in 2015, he found himself in the behavioral healthcare industry teaching and mentoring youth and realized this was his passion and what he wanted to do for the rest of his career.

Alex Baird - Therapist

Alex Baird received her undergraduate degree in psychology from Utah State University and her master’s degree in marriage and family therapy from Salt Lake City’s Argosy University, in 2011. Alex began her practice in 2010, when she was one of only two students who earned a highly sought-after internship at one of the biggest community mental health clinics in Utah. Since then, Alex has practiced as a therapist in many different settings, with a variety of populations. These settings have included community mental health, in-home child and family therapy, adult substance abuse treatment, adolescent residential treatment and private practice. While practicing independently, Alex took a special interest in working with individuals who identify with the LGBTQ community, as well as continuing relational work with adolescents and their families.

Alex’s passion for helping young people and their families, led her to working in residential treatment centers for adolescents and she has been doing so since 2013. Alex’s areas of expertise include depression, anxiety, attachment disorders, oppositional and defiant behaviors, emerging personality disorders, addictions, and trauma. Alex is well versed in Dialectical Behavioral Therapy and relational therapy. In particular, she has a talent for helping young people learn to manage their emotions in a healthy, safe way, and re-build the strained bonds between teens and their parents. Alex is a great coach for parents who need help navigating through the difficulties of having an adolescent with behavioral and mental health challenges. She also has significant experience helping families navigate through divorce, couple’s issues and blended families. When Alex isn’t working with our young women, she loves spending time with her husband, her two boys and her two step-daughters. She enjoys practicing yoga and meditation, solving puzzles, learning new things, and traveling with her family.

Maria Salsberry - Therapist

Maria Salsberry grew up in Southern California where she spent most of her time caring for her daughter and with family. Maria reached a crossroad in her life and moved to Cedar City, Utah, where she began working in treatment centers. Maria’s time as a line staff and mentor to adolescent girls inspired her to pursue an education in social work.

In 2012, Maria graduated from the University of Phoenix and entered the Graduate Program of Social Work at the University of Utah in 2014. In graduate school, Maria further developed her passion of working with adolescents and their families and graduated in 2016 with a Master’s of Social Work. Since that time, Maria has been actively providing therapeutic services to adolescents and their families. Maria joined the Zion Hills team in 2019.

Maria has worked in many different settings including outpatient, in-home, residential and with the foster care system. She has expertise in treating adolescents struggling with trauma, attachment, anxiety, depression, behavioral disorders, family conflicts, substance abuse and trauma.

Janie Sabin - HR Director

Janie handles all of the compliance at Zion Hills Academy, which she feels is a great fit for her background in law. She also handles the Human Resource department at Zion Hills Academy, which she has learned to love. While at Zion Hills Academy, Janie has seen the other side of adoption and what families go through once the adoption is finalized.

Janie Sabin is a paralegal. Janie has worked in a law firm as a paralegal for 12 years. Janie has experience in business law, family law, criminal law, contract law and adoption law and is passionate about laws and regulations.

Janie attended Southern Utah University where she received a degree in criminal justice with a legal studies minor. Immediately after graduating from SUU, Janie started working at Hofeling, Wayment and Marchant, LLP handling criminal, corporate and adoption law. Janie has seen the law work for couples who are were unable to have children of their own.

Janie has 2 active young boys and loves to spend time with her family outdoors camping and playing board games. When Janie is not with her family you will find her reading, doing puzzles or planning.

Kelly Espinoza - Lead Teacher

Kelly grew up in the mountains of Southern California and moved to Cedar City to attend college. She is a Southern Utah University graduate earning her Bachelor of Science degree. Her areas of study are in Education with an emphasis on ESL and Reading.

After serving as a teacher with Zion Hills Academy for three years, Kelly is thrilled for the opportunity to have become Academic Team Lead, assisting the principal. Her passion has always been in academics, serving and teaching young adults. Before coming to Zion Hills Academy, she worked at Cedar Middle School for twelve years in the Special Education Department where she found her love of helping struggling learners achieve their highest potential. While at CMS, she applied her love of English to establish an ongoing reading program for students with academic challenges. She continues her passion here at Zion Hills Academy and always looks forward to working with students to help them find their achievable strengths to succeed.

Kelly has three children that have always kept her quite busy. When not teaching, she loves spending time with her family, cheering on her children, exploring our beautiful state and National Parks, spending time at the lake, planning special events, and enjoying the fine arts.

Angel Pena - Teacher

Angel spent the first half of his life in Nogales, Sonora; a border-town in Mexico. He later moved to Salt Lake City where he attended middle school and high school. He moved to Cedar City to attend Southern Utah University and initially pursued a degree in Biology. He quickly realized his passion for teaching and changed career paths. He graduated in the Spring of 2019 with a Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. He joined Zion Hills Academy in September of 2019, his specialties are Spanish and math. Before teaching at Zion Hills, Angel gained experience working in treatment centers by tutoring in math and teaching P.E. at his previous facilities. He enjoys working with our students and seeing their faces when hit a breakthrough. It is those moments that make being a teacher all worth it.

In his free time, he likes to spend time with his wife and son. When the weather and his son allow it, they love to get out of the house and take walks. Angel currently serves with the Utah Army National Guard as a cannon crewmember. He enjoys teaching during the week and serving his community on the weekends.

Jessi Marchetti - Case Manager

Jessi has always had a love for working with adolescents and has worked with youth since she was in high school. After high school, she worked in a middle school as an aid where she helped run the SPED classroom. In 2014 after spending time in retail and food service management, Jessi decided to go back to her love of working with youth. She applied at Zion Hills Academy and was hired in January of 2015. While at Zion Hills, Jessi has worked as the receptionist, Program Director Assistant, and in her current role as Case Manager. As the Case Manager, she spends her time ensuring that all the needs of the clients are met. This includes coordinating everything from hygiene items, to home visits, to clothing purchases, to communicating with parents. Since being hired she has reignited her passion for working with youth.

When she’s not working, Jessi can be found surrounded by family. Jessi enjoys spending her days with her husband and two young children. She loves watching her daughter dance, and is often seen traveling to Las Vegas to enjoy the warm weather, family, shopping, and good food.

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