Mentors

We would like to thank all of our mentors

for helping us achieve and excel our potential.

Jared Pinkston

Pender High Teacher and Coach

Jared Pinkston served his country for ten years, working in intelligence for the U.S. Army and then in the Texas National Guard. While working for the National Guard and later for the U.S. Postal Service, Mr. Pinkston earned his B.S. in Biochemistry and his B.A. in Russian Studies from the University of Houston. Mr. Pinkston loves all things science. He is the science department chair at Pender High School, and a member of the Cape Fear Astronomy Club. Jared devotes endless hours to working with Team PHEnix, because he believes that the world needs more innovative minds!


Justin Rojas, Programming and Build Mentor

Justin Rojas graduated with a bachelor of science in game design in 2013, and began working on making his own mobile games and learning the tools to make games. He published three mobile games, but did not feel it was his passion to keep doing something small. So, he decided to try to teach high school students about making games from start to finish. He wants students to have more choices when looking into careers and to help provide them with an advantage by equipping them with the same tools that professionals use. His main focus is teaching them how to think three-dimensionally, and to understand the meaning of fun while building a fictional world from thin air.

Barbara Melluso, Marketing Mentor

Barbara is mentoring our marketing team . She was an NYC Art director for marketing and promotions for Fortune 500 companies. She worked for React magazine, which featured amazing teens and kids making a difference. When she moved to North Carolina she took java classes at Cape Fear Community College for fun. She loves being part of the team and enjoys being surrounded by our brilliant members and enthusiasm!





Jamie La Londe-Pinkston

Content Marketing Mentor

Jamie works as a freelance writer, and currently donates some of her time to Enable Community Foundation: http://www.enablecommunityfoundation.org/.

She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UNC Wilmington. Currently, she is the Writer-in-Residence for Art in Bloom Gallery in downtown Wilmington: http://aibgallery.com/blog/