Our Team

Our team is our most valuable asset! We are proud to have a talented team of experts who are deeply committed to ensuring all Coloradans with Intellectual Developmental Disabilities & Complex Communication Needs have access to the resources and supports needed to lead an independent and fulfilling life.

Staff

Aidan Attreau


Executive Director - Real Life Colorado

Aidan spent the first 8 years of their career working as an SLP who specialized in pediatric populations (1-22) with complex communication needs (CCN). They moved from Boston to Denver in 2017 and became an AAC Specialist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, before becoming a founding member of a start-up integrated care center for children with Autism.

Aidan is so excited to take on the Executive Director position at RLC and believes their professional experiences, business and management skills, and unique perspective and understanding as a clinician will bring the added “missing piece” to RLC and Learning Zone. In their free time, Aidan enjoys spending time outside, playing music, or cuddling with their cute pup, Tucker!

 

Michelle Pescovitz

Director of Academics & OperationS

Michelle has been a Special Education Teacher for 15 years! She has taught students with all abilities and disabilities from preschool through 6th grade. Michelle moved to Denver in 2016 and received her Masters in Special Education with a focus in coaching and leadership from University of Northern Colorado.

Michelle brings a passion for providing structures and supports to ensure that all staff and students are confident in their unique skills and have everything they need to be successful. She enjoys traveling, dogs, trying new restaurants and spending time with her husband and daughter.

 

Gretchen Storm


AAC program Coordinator

Gretchen is a certified speech-language pathologist in the Denver Metro Area. She received her Masters Degree in Speech-Language Pathology from Purdue University.  She worked in the public schools for 13 years and was a therapist at Adam's Camp for many consecutive years. Her specialties are in the areas of Apraxia and AAC.

When Gretchen is not working, she enjoys spending time with her husband and two kids, being active, and traveling.

 

Jesica Suddath


Program Manager

Jesica has spent the past 15 years working with children inside and outside of the classroom. She has been a daycare provider, special education paraprofessional, community connector, and home health provider.

Jesica brings an extensive amount of professional skills to our team including instructional and behavioral support, personal, health, and safety care experience, and QMAP certification. Jesica has a remarkable ability to make all learning opportunities fun and relatable to real life experiences to help our students reach their highest potentials. Jesica is the proud mom to 4 boys and enjoys spending her free time with her family!

 

Casey Coppola

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER & Behavior Interventionist

Casey began working in the field of special education as an intern at a school for students with Autism in 2016 and has since then worked as a paraprofessional, behavior technician and special education teacher. Casey has worked at a wide variety of specialized facility schools, public schools, and ABA clinics, with students ranging from preschool to high school age. 

Casey graduated with her masters in Special Education from Purdue University in 2020, and is currently enrolled at The University of Colorado Denver working on her masters in ABA in hopes of becoming a BCBA. 

Casey is passionate about providing her students with the tools to thrive in the world around them. During her free time, Casey loves cuddling with her dog Leonard and hiking the beautiful Colorado mountain ranges.

 

Sarah Mestas

SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

Sarah was born and raised in Denver and got her bachelors in Special Education at the University of Northern Colorado. Sarah has been working in special education classrooms as a paraprofessional and then a teacher in classrooms with students of a wide variety of ability levels and ages. 

She is passionate about the advocacy and empowerment of kids and adults with disabilities in the schools and in the community.  She enjoys reading, camping, thrifting, and spending time with her dog.

 

Rachel Jensen


SPecial Education Teacher

Rachel was born and raised outside of Chicago and moved to Denver in 2022. She teaches special education and is committed to creating inclusive, student-centered learning environments where all learners feel valued, supported, and capable. Her work focuses on meeting students where they are, honoring different ways of learning and communicating, and building confidence through meaningful, accessible instruction.

Rachel is passionate about advocating for students with disabilities and believes that teaching is a shared learning experience with students and teachers learning from one another. Outside of teaching, she enjoys reading, camping, paddle boarding, and spending time with her dog, Gryffin. She is also a lifelong Chicago sports fan, and can always be found cheering on the Cubs, Bears, and Blackhawks.

 

Kelly McKinney


SPecial Education Teacher

Kelly has been a Special Education Teacher for 13 years. She has taught students with a variety of skills and abilities from Kindergarten through 8th grade. Kelly recently moved to the Denver area 2 years ago, but has also taught in Illinois, Arizona, and Oregon.

Kelly received a Master’s of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Concordia University in Portland, Oregon. She is dedicated to forming meaningful connections with students in order to make learning engaging and at the appropriate level. 

Along with teaching, Kelly also has also coached Special Recreation basketball to adults in Illinois and mentored for the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program in Central Oregon. She enjoys road trips, hiking with her dog, and spending time with family and friends.

 

Kelsey Sipka

Speech-Language Pathologist

Kelsey is a certified speech language pathologist from Grand Rapids, Michigan. She earned a B.S. in Communication Disorders from Central Michigan University in 2017 and an M.S. in Speech Language Pathology from Bowling Green State University in 2019. After completing her education, Kelsey relocated to Denver, Colorado to begin her career. Her professional focus is AAC and she has experience working with complex communicators of all ages, from young children to adults.

Kelsey is passionate about working with those with disabilities and empowering them to find their voice. She enjoys traveling, going to concerts and snuggling with her cats in her free time.

 

Olivia Vargas

Speech-Language Pathologist (CF)

Olivia is a speech-language pathology clinical fellow from Oxnard, California. She received her B.A. in Psychology from the University of California, Berkeley in 2017 and her M.A. in Speech-Language Pathology from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2025.

Prior to working at the Learning Zone, Olivia has worked as a behavior technician and a special education paraprofessional. Olivia brings compassion to her teaching by creating a supportive environment where students feel encouraged to grow.

In her free time, Olivia enjoys relaxing at home, training martial arts, and having board game nights with friends.

 

Dana Hanson


ParaProfessional

Dana has a long history of working with children in special education. She has worked in both elementary and middle school settings. Dana also enjoys teaching gymnastics!

Dana brings a long list of strengths to our program including meeting kids where they are at and interacting with positivity, respect, and individualized support for each of our students. We are so excited to have Dana as a part of our team!

 

Addisyn McFee


ParaProfessional

Addisyn comes from a family of teachers. She’s been working with children as a Special Education paraprofessional since 2016. She received her degree in California before moving to Colorado. 

Addisyn continues her passion with working with kids through Coaching Middle School and High School volleyball. She loves her spending time with her two cats and doing anything creative!

 

Lily Holwerda


ParaProfessional

Lily grew up in Texas and earned her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Texas Woman’s University in 2021. She has a strong background working with children, including experience as a nanny and as a Registered Behavior Technician at an ABA center supporting children with ASD, developmental disabilities, and behavioral disorders. 

After moving to Colorado, Lily chose to further focus her career on creating meaningful opportunities for children’s communication within her field. She is currently continuing her education by pursuing a master’s degree in Special Education with a focus on Applied Behavior Analysis at Arizona State University while working.

Lily brings positivity, creativity, compassion, and support to the workplace. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, attending concerts, and relaxing at home reading while cuddling with her two cats.

 

Clint Eckstein


ParaProfessional

Clint has spent the last 20 years teaching and working with youth in various capacities. After graduating from University of Nebraska, he spent two years working in separate AmeriCorps programs in Boston and Boulder. He pursued his M.Ed at the University of Toronto, and has taught middle school and high school in both rural Japan and Dubai.

After returning to Denver, he taught 6th grade English Language Arts at Highline Academy, and was a high school English teacher at Lookout Academy, a youth correctional facility. Before his time at the Learning Zone, he previously worked with non-speaking youth with autism as a paraprofessional in the ILC program at Cherry Creek High School.

When he’s not working at Learning Zone, he enjoys doing CrossFit, coaching CrossFit, hiking, biking, hanging out with his family and two dogs, and taking advantage of all the outdoor activities that brought him to Colorado.

 

Marlo Ganter


ParaProfessional

ADDITIONAL PARTNERS

  • Karie Rossini

    AAC SPECIALIST - STORM LLC

  • Katelyn Zarem

    AAC SPECIALIST - STORM LLC

  • Kate Johnson

    AAC SPECIALIST - STORM LLC

  • Barb Taylor

    SPED DIRECTOR - CATALYST ED

  • Rebecca Urbano-Powell

    BCBA - 7 DIMENSIONS

  • Cory Marchi

    PANORAMA PSYCHOLOGY

“We are blessed to have such dedicated staff that know our kids can be successful. To see our son have the excitement to go to school every day makes all the difference and it is because of this staff and the programming.”

— Learning Zone Parent