Once-A-week Classroom Instruction Enhancing Home Education for *7th – 12th Graders
Mark Ball With eighteen years as a math teacher of junior and senior high students in private Christian schools, he was also the coach of a junior high student that won a state championship in a math competition. He enjoys supporting the home school community. Having a passion for learning math and science, Mr. Ball loves to see students experience the positive results of understanding math for themselves. He is gifted at explaining concepts, so that everyone can understand. He has a B.S. in Pastoral Theology and a Masters in Education. He and his wife have seven children. Jeff Bartel, owner-operator of Bart's SDS, is a Christian man who gave 18 years of his life to teen ministry. He brought his enjoyment of teens to his work as a licensed driving instructor in 1981. His company is bonded, insured, licensed and approved by the state of Minnesota. Bart's SDS places a higher standard on his instructors than the state requires to ensure quality instruction and safety. This company has been with South Heights since we began in 2002. Michelle Billman graduated with a B.A. in Bible & Missions from Bethany College of Missions and a B.S. in Business Administration with minors in Organizational Communications and Economics from North Dakota State U. She has taught structure and organization in writing and speeches in the homeschool community for many years. She and her husband have been homeschooling their four children since 1992. Rachel Boyd graduated from Cedarville University with a degree in English Education and earned a Master's degree from Grand Rapids Theological Seminary. She has been a school teacher since 1999 in a variety of settings: a suburban school in Indiana, a charter school in Chicago, an urban school in Minneapolis and even an international school in Japan. She has been teaching at South Heights since 2004 and she really enjoys the time spent with her students. History and government have been her areas of specialty since she believes that the way our nation is ordered has a great impact on each of us. Her international travel to the Ukraine and Japan has given her firsthand experience in how government affects every aspect of our lives and solidified her desire to see Christian students educated in such a way that they can go on to preserve the values and freedoms of our nation.
Tami Clough is a retired Registered Nurse and nine-year homeschooling mother. Upon retiring from health care to teach at home, she found her true passion: learning and teaching. She thanks God every day for the blessing of home education! Her favorite subjects to learn and teach are science, art, and history. 2011-12 will be her third year teaching Biology, and her fifth year with South Heights. She believes in learning by "doing" and teaches using a variety of methods in the classroom. In her spare time she enjoys cooking and nutrition, reading, taking nature hikes, working out at the local gym, travel, and studying Christian theology. Tammy Feigal graduated with a B.A. in Education from the University of South Florida. She has taught in public school (4th & 5th grade) private school (9th & 11th), and home educated her four children since 1989. She has taught seminars on varying topics of concern for parents and home educators. Patrick Gilligan is a retired engineer who loves math and loves seeing students understand math. The father of four and grandfather of eleven (six who are currently being home educated), Patrick knows how to communicate complicated math concepts in ways that students can understand. He has been tutoring at an inner-city school for the past four years. He finds tutoring very rewarding and his students' scores have improved since they started tutoring with him. Patrick knows that getting a good grade is important, but he also knows that building strong study skills and a thorough understanding of the material will be the key to unlocking the student's potential in mathematics and science coursework both now and in the business world.
Carol Glassel has her B.A. in Bible from Pillsbury Baptist Bible College in Owatonna, MN, and her B.S. in Speech from Mankato University in Mankato, MN. She has been a teacher for over 20 years including teaching speech on the college level for 3 years. She has also taught speech to various home school groups since 2000 as well as judged and hosted speech competitions. She and her husband, Terry, home educated their four children through the completion of high school.
Laura Glassel grew up in the New England area, Germany, and Minnesota. She received her associate's degree in Aircraft Maintenance, her bachelor's degree in Missionary Aviation, and her master's degree in Bible Translation from Bob Jones University. As part of her education, she earned both her aircraft mechanic's and pilot's certificates. Her involvement in the aviation world has given her a keen interest in seeing science applied in every-day life. During her college years, she tutored high school students in math and science, and learned a lot about teaching techniques and learning. She has since been able to transfer her tutoring skills to the classroom situation in order to share her passion for science and math with more students.
Kathleen Koch graduated with a B.A. in Family and Consumer Sciences with an emphasis in education from the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul. She has taught a variety of subjects including child development, food nutrition and health issues, sewing construction, personal finances as well as peer relationship topics at both the junior high and senior high level. She has taught in public and private schools and has home schooled for several years. Kathleen has also facilitated various family support groups, providing direction and helpful resources, and has been actively involved in various activities with her church youth group. Heidi Kuiper has a B.A. in Education from Minnesota State University in Mankato, MN. She received advanced training in language arts instruction from the Reading Center in Rochester, MN. She worked for over 11 years for the Reading Center designing and implementing programs for students and small groups with learning challenges in reading, spelling, and writing. She currently runs her own tutoring and consulting practice providing academic instruction for students of all ages. Heidi has a love for the structure of the English language. She has a desire to make it understandable to all types of learners. She has home educated her four children since 1996. Her oldest son is in college. Adriana Luengos-Nolette was born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina where she graduated as a Professor in Spanish and English as a Second Language, followed by a Specialization in Teaching Adults and Adolescents. She has traveled to several South American countries and incorporates the many cultures and customs into her classes. Over the past sixteen years, Adriana has taught Spanish in private schools, college, several international companies, and more recently in homeschool co-ops. She believes that students should be active participants in their learning, so her classes encompass a wide variety of dynamic and conversational activities. She encourages students to experience the Spanish language not just through understanding the words but also through understanding the culture, thus encouraging life-long learning. Adriana and her husband home educate their two children. Marie McKeown has a BA in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of Minnesota with an emphasis in Photojournalism. She studied abroad in Birmingham, England her sophomore year. She was a freelance Photojournalist for the Minnesota Daily, a student run newspaper on the U of M campus and for International Student, a student run magazine. She worked as a portrait photographer for Proex Studios for 3 years (1998-2001) before starting
her own business, LightSmile Photography. www.lightsmilephoto.com She has a passion for making photography as uncomplicated and unpretentious as possible for beginners and young enthusiasts.
Eric Menzhuber graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a B.A in Art History. He devoted himself to the study of realism and painting in oil at the Minnesota River School of Fine Art in Burnsville where he then became an instructor teaching children and young adults. He entered his first juried show in 2004, "The Burnsville Area Society for the Arts (BASA) Art Fete," and was awarded the "People's Choice award." He currently teaches at the Eagan Art House and at "River Ridge Arts Academy" where his studio is located. Eric has completed commissions for the Church of St. Michael in St. Michael; Church of St. Louis, King of France; Sharing and Caring Hands; and the Cathedral of St. Paul. He has received several art awards, including the Minneapolis Religious Art Show for two years in a row, and the Elk River Area Arts show in 2006. Mary Mueller graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and a second major in Interpersonal Communication from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She has been involved in the homeschooling community since 1993 and has homeschooled her five children since that time. She has always had a consuming passion for history and literature, and she looks forward to sharing this passion with other students. Julie Nelson has always had a love for the arts. She has spent many years acting, dancing, and singing, and majored in theater at Mankato State University. She has taught acting classes and directed plays at HOPE co-op, and is currently a Performing Arts Teacher at In the Company of Kids Creative Arts Center in Burnsville. Julie is enthusiastic about sharing her love for theater with her students, and loves to help them explore their creativity and develop their talents. Julie has also acted, written, and directed many dramas and plays for various churches and Sunday Schools. She is married and has four boys whom she home schooled for eleven years. Karen Rohrbach a gifted watercolor artist, has studied, and continues to study under one of her teachers from" the MN River School of Fine Art. In previous years, she has enjoyed tutoring home-educated students in her own home. Students who had not considered themselves artistically gifted produced beautiful, satisfying art as a result of her tutoring. Karen is enjoying her expanded opportunities to share her giftedness in and passion for watercolor with more students. Some of her students have received awards at the Dakota County Fair and the MN Junior Duck Stamp Competition. Carol Schultz is a parent of three children and has home educated them for fifteen years. She is an NIC certified interpreter and freelance interprets in the Metro area. Her education includes an Associate of Arts degree from Normandale Community College and a degree from St. Paul TVI (Technical Vocational Institute) in Interpreter Training. Jill Swanson has a BA in Communications and Writing from Bethel College. She loves the written word, reads extensively, and launched her children's book blog, Orange Marmalade, just over a year ago. She loves to learn and teach, and has enjoyed doing both through home-educating her four children and leading various book clubs for 18 years. She and her husband spent five years as missionaries in Guinea, West Africa, and are now involved in ministry in the inner-city. Mike Thorud has a Minnesota license for teaching secondary science. He has a B.S. in physical science from the University of Minnesota College of Education, and B.S. and M.S. in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota Institute of Technology. He has taught science at CHAT for the last 7 1/2 years (including Apologia General Science, Physical Science, and Physics, and Spectrum Chemistry), where he is noted for being very thorough, organized, enthusiastic, and fun. He has also taught physics and chemistry at Wayzata High School, physics and math at the International School of Minnesota, and substitute taught grade 7 -12 science and math in Eden Prairie, Chaska, and Minnetonka public schools, Chapel Hill Academy, and Holy Family High School. He has spent several years as a R&D engineer for biomedical, computer, and appliance companies, worked on a particle physics experiment, wrote a USAID report on "Renewable Energy Systems for Producing Potable Water in Developing Countries", and been on short term missions trips to the Philippines. In addition, he serves as volunteer president of Philippine-Asian Missions, Inc. (www.pamimission.org) |