Bart Martin was born and raised in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, though he would like to think he was born and raised in Middle-earth. He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point where he majored in philosophy. During his five years as a M1A1 Abrams tank platoon leader and company executive officer, he discovered that […]
Becky Pliego was born and raised in Mexico City where she lives with her husband and youngest daughter, among 25 million other souls. Her passion for languages and art inspired her to take several Linguistic courses in various classical academies and to paint with two celebrated watercolor artists in Mexico City. Since they began preschool, […]
Becky Winn is a long-time teacher and former school principal with decades of teaching experience in various settings, including classrooms, co-ops, and private tutoring. She began homeschooling her own seven children in the “pioneer” days” of the early 1980s, ultimately teaching all of them at home all the way through high school. In 1988 she […]
Bill Jester earned a BS and MS in Engineering Mechanics from the Pennsylvania State University, followed by a Ph.D. in Computational and Applied Mathematics from the University of Texas at Austin. He worked for 17 years as a software engineer, leading a worldwide team to develop technology in the area of Computational Fluid Dynamics. During […]
Bob Donaldson fell in love with history and foreign languages as a teenager, and has been a life-long learner of both. He credits his father’s love of history and literature for the first love, and his father’s insistence that he study Latin beginning at age 13 (even though his preference was German) for the second. […]
Brittany Williams is new to Wilson Hill Academy in 2019. She was born and raised on the Gulf Coast in Corpus Christi, Texas, where she spent her childhood waterskiing and on a boat. After completing a Discipleship Training School with Youth with a Mission (YWAM) and spending several months doing outreach work in Nepal, she […]
With more than 20 years experience in education, Mr. Etter is most passionate when he is teaching. He has taught various subjects including Great Books, Spanish and an array of Bible and theology classes. He has also enjoyed writing some of the curriculum he teaches. Mr. Etter has a love for the Spanish language and […]
Christie Jester graduated from Pennsylvania State University in 1996 with a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering. She continued on to the University of Texas at Austin, where she earned an M.A. in Organic Chemistry and an M.Ed. in Instructional Technology. Christie taught Chemistry and general science courses at Regents School of Austin from 2000-2002. Now she lives […]
New at WHA for the 2015-16 school year, Eric Reini has a BA in mathematics secondary education and a Master’s of Education from Cedarville University. His 16 years of teaching experience include teaching in a “brick and mortar” Christian School, an inner-city public school, community college, and 3 years in a classical Christian online school. […]
Greg Lawrence joined WHA for the 2017-2018 school year and has become an important member of The Great Conversation teaching team. As a life-long learner, he is passionate about teaching God’s truth revealed in His Word and His world. Greg has served as a pastor (17 years) and a Chaplain in the USAF (7 years), […]
Haley Story is very excited to join the team at Wilson Hill Academy for the 2016-2017 school year. Haley graduated summa cum laude with a B.S. in physics from the College of William and Mary in 2002. She developed a passion for teaching during several college tutoring jobs and a summer student teaching position, but […]
Joanna Hensley has been teaching Latin and literature online since 2007. Active in classical education for over a decade as a teacher, writer, and conference speaker, Joanna has published several chapters in the Veritas Press Omnibus series, which forms the backbone of WHA’s The Great Conversation courses. Inspired by her own high school Latin teacher, Joanna studied classics and […]
Jodi graduated with honors from Auburn University of Montgomery with a B.S. in Elementary Education. She taught for five years in both public and private schools before staying home at the birth of her first child. In 2002 when their oldest child reached kindergarten, the Smiths decided to homeschool. The next years were spent raising, […]
Prior to joining Wilson Hill in 2018, Joel Varano taught for six years at a classical Christian school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where he lives with his wife, Stephanie, and their two children, Moses and Pearl. His degrees include a Master of Arts in Philosophy from Southern Evangelical Seminary, and a Bachelor of Music from Lebanon […]
Jordan Dwelle is new to Wilson Hill Academy for the 2017-2018 school year. He graduated with a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. During graduate school Jordan, along with many interesting research projects, had numerous opportunities to teach college students […]
Josie graduated from Wheaton College with a B.A. in Social Science/Psychology and an emphasis in Education. She taught middle school English, literature, and math at a private Christian school until her first child was born. In 2003, the Lowerys decided to homeschool their three children and enjoyed every minute of that journey together. During that […]
Julie has been an educator for the past 20 years, working with students in preschool to ninth grade in both online and bricks-and-mortar schools. She has a love for history that began with a 4th grade Virginia state history project, evidenced by the fact that she reads every plaque in history museums. Julie attended Liberty […]
Karina Venable was asked in fifth grade to write about what she wanted to be when she grew up. Now she considers herself blessed beyond measure to be living out each of the dreams she listed as a ten-year-old: to be a mother, teacher and writer. Karina graduated from the University of Texas at Austin […]
Kaye Pepin joins the WHA faculty in 2018-19 with many years of online teaching experience in both math and the humanities. She also brings a wealth of life experience. First as a military brat and then as a spouse of an American soldier, Kaye Pepin has spent her life traveling the globe. Her primary professional […]
Kelly Songer is new at WHA for the 2015-16 school year. She graduated from Abilene Christian University in 1990 with a B.A. in Human Communication. She and her husband, Jimmy, lived and worked as missionaries in the Philippines for fourteen years, where all four of their children were born. Her love of languages was sparked […]
Laura has loved children since she was a child herself and has enjoyed teaching children of all ages – preschool through eighth grade. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, by beloved Christian parents of five, she benefitted from a solid biblical foundation before she left home to attend Baylor University and later graduate from the […]
Leah Coll graduated from Bowling Green State University in 1986 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing, spending the first ten years of her working life as a critical care RN. When her first child had not learned to read by the end of public school first grade, she went to a local teacher’s store […]
Leslie Gray Smith is a two-time graduate of Auburn University with an undergraduate degree in secondary mathematics and English and a graduate degree in secondary mathematics. She has been teaching for almost 30 years, including 12 years in public school, 7 years in online classical Christian schools, and 12 years of teaching local homeschool students, […]
Marie Owens grew up in Michigan and attended Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, where she graduated magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree in biology. She then attended the Medical University of South Carolina (in Charleston), earning a PhD in microbiology and immunology. (As you might guess, little things are important to her.) […]
Matt Colvin holds a PhD in Classics from Cornell University, and a BA in Latin and Greek from the University of Maryland. He is ordained in the Reformed Episcopal Church, and spent 2012-2017 as an Anglican missionary in Indonesia and the Philippines, where he taught Biblical languages to Filipino pastors. An experienced classical Christian teacher, […]
Nicki Chandler’s inquisitive and analytical nature is what originally drew her to the study of science. She had an amazing and influential high school biology teacher who inspired her to major in Zoology in college. Searching for “truth” in the life sciences always brought Nicki to her knees in awe of God and His creative […]
Onastazia grew up in Rhode Island and has a deep love for the ocean. She holds Bachelors (Biology/Pre-Med with a minor in Chemistry) and Masters (in Teaching) degrees from Liberty University, and has 9 years of experience teaching high school biology, geometry and chemistry at Liberty Christian Academy, New Covenant Schools and Rudolf Steiner School […]
We are pleased to welcome Rachel Verbois to the Wilson Hill faculty for the 2019-20 academic year. Rachel earned her B.S. in Chemistry from Louisiana State University in 2004, followed by a Masters in Teaching from the University of Virginia in 2006, where she met and married her husband Caleb, also a Louisiana native. She […]
Ranya has a B.Sc. in Biology with a focus in biochemistry, molecular biology and genetic research. This was followed by a Doctor of Medicine degree and Family Medicine residency. She left the practice of medicine once her first child was born. She now has 5 children and has been teaching in homeschool and homeschool co-op […]
Before joining Wilson Hill Academy for the 2017-18 school year, Ryan Handermann has been teaching Latin and Humanities for 8 years. He taught four years at an ACCS school, three years at a homeschool coop, and two years online with the Davenant Latin Institute (among others). He has taught a wide variety of students, ranging […]
Samantha Lucas is a second generation Spanish teacher, following in her mother’s footsteps. She is originally from Ft. Wayne, Indiana, but moved with her family to Naples, FL when she was twelve years old. After high school, she returned to Indiana where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from Valparaiso University where […]
Sara loves to teach and learn. Her students’ aha moments of comprehension, their wonderment at God’s world, and their sheer delight of learning bring her both joy and blessing. Beginning her career in the semiconductor industry, she knew even then the excitement of training other engineers. With a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the […]
Shannon Galloway was born and raised in Texas. From a very early age, Shannon knew she wanted to teach, but it wasn’t until she attended the LBJ Science Academy for high school that she discovered that she loved science. After attending Concordia University in Austin where she majored in Secondary Education with a Science Composite […]
Shelby received his Bachelors of Science degree in Geology and Environmental Geosciences from The College of Charleston in 2016. Since then he has worked with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), conducting seafloor mapping and ocean exploration while pursuing his Masters of Science in Structural Geology and Tectonics from Western Kentucky University. He currently […]
Sheryl Vine is new at WHA for the 2015-16 school year. She has been a lover of words and language since before she started storing memories. She grew up in small-town Minnesota then studied English at The Master’s College in California. During her college years she also spent one enchanted semester at Oxford University, England […]
If you were to ask her family, they would tell you that Starlet’s love of reading, writing and teaching were evident very early on. If she didn’t have her nose buried in a book or if she wasn’t writing in her journal, she was playing school (and most likely coercing her little brother into playing […]
Susan Joslyn is a magna cum laude graduate of West Virginia University and mother of six children. She began homeschooling her children in 1987. She later went on to teach professionally beginning in 1999 when she took a position at the grammar level at New Covenant Schools of Bedford, a classical Christian school. There she was […]
Sylvia Chen is excited to begin teaching with Wilson Hill Academy this school year 2018-19. She received her B.A. in Biochemistry in 1987 from Harvard College, completed her medical degree in 1991 from Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, and finished her pediatric residency in 1994 from Baylor. Subsequently, she practiced as a pediatrician for […]
Tammy Jones graduated from Biola University in California with a B.A. in Elementary Education. She taught for several years in Christian schools, and after moving to Arizona, came home to raise and homeschool her own children. During those happy busy years, she enjoyed homeschooling children from other families in a creative and multi-age “one-room schoolhouse” […]
New to Wilson Hill Academy for 2015-16, Teri holds a BS in Biology Teacher Education from the University of Houston and has a combined 5 years of teaching General Science, Life Science and Physical Science to middle school students in Texas, Maryland and Washington. She also served for one year as a Science Aid at […]
Dr. Tom Vierra is Director of Academics at Wilson Hill Academy and a teacher of Great Conversation, Rhetoric, and Logic courses. He holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Arizona State University and has taught in classical education for fourteen years, the past six entirely online. In addition to having taught courses in classical literature, philosophy, […]
Tracie Upham has been involved in education since 2000 when she began homeschooling her own children using a classical Christian model. She attributes her love of rhetoric and communication skills to her 12 years of coaching speech, debate and mock trial teams. Her most recent mock trial team took 2nd place at state! Tracie taught […]
Wendy’s enthusiasm for math began when her high school teacher explained that God reveals himself in the ordered and consistent world of math. She attended the University of Delaware where she met her husband of 25 years and graduated with a degree in Secondary Mathematics Education. With a desire to apply the mathematics she studied, […]