Susan White Baumert completed her B.A. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she double majored in Religious Studies and in News-Editorial Journalism.  She went on to earn her M.A. and Ph.D. from the Catholic University of America.

Susan and her husband homeschool their three sons, who have inspired her work in classical education, in the Montessori method, as well as her work in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd, all of which she has used while homeschooling and volunteering in her community over the past eight years.  She is a certified Montessori instructor and has a love for teaching at all levels.

Susan lives in Falls Church, VA, where she enjoys reading, teaching her boys, painting, going on bike rides as a family, and playing with their two toy poodles, Bella and Galaxy.

Chris Butynskyi is professor of European history with over ten years of experience teaching in higher education. He holds an M.A. in Early Modern Europe from the University of Maryland, Baltimore Country (UMBC) and a Ph.D. in Humanities from Faulkner University’s Great Books Honors College. Professor Butynskyi recently published his first book entitled The Inklings, the Victorians, and the Moderns: Reconciling Tradition in the Modern Age (FDUP, 2020). He contributes to academic journals, web-articles, book reviews, and podcasts. When he is not reading, writing, or watching sports, you can find him coaching or playing basketball, biking, and running. He currently resides in Macungie, PA with his wife and two children.

Bill DiPuccio  recently served as an instructor in Physical and Earth Science at Heritage Classical Academy near Akron, Ohio. He has been teaching science since 2002 including a position as science instructor and department head for five years at St. Nicholas Orthodox School, a classical school in Akron, OH. He has designed and taught laboratory courses in biology, earth science, astronomy, chemistry, and physics for elementary school, middle school, and high school. Bill has also, trained elementary school teachers, and taught numerous summer and weekend science camps.

Bill has a Ph.D. in historical theology and a professional background in meteorology, engineering (ultrasonic and electromagnetic polymer joining processes, automation) and graphic design. His academic interests and publications can be found on his blog, scienceetcetera.blogspot.com.

Todd  has been interested in forign languages, cultures, and history since high school (which was quite some time ago now). He has lived and traveled extensively in East Asia and the Middle East, and was for some years a language teacher there. He has more recently combined his interest in Chinese language and history with his interest in Greco-Roman and early Christian history by writing a PhD thesis on the earliest Christian texts written in the Chinese language (from the seventh and eighth centuries).

In addition to PhD obtained from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, he has a BA in Philosophy and World Religions from the University of Tennessee, an MA in Early Christian History from Miami Ohio, and MA in Language Teaching and Linguistics from Georgia State University, Atlanta. He now lives in Tennessee with his wife Kaori, and their daughter Aurelia, whom they are raising to be bilingual (English and Japanese).

Mother Melania (Salem) is the Abbess of the Holy Assumption Orthodox Monastery (OCA) in Calistoga, Ca. She holds the Ph.D. in Theology from the University of Durham, England. She has been a monastic since 1999. She is the author of the series of children’s books entitled Fearless the Fire Duck and His Friends, as well as a continuing series of booklets on the meaning of the Great Feasts of the Church and Stories from the Old Testament.

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Alfred Kentigern Siewers is a Professor of Literary Studies at Bucknell University, Co-Director of the Bucknell Program for American Leadership and Citizenship, and Subdeacon and Warden of St. John of Shanghai and San Francisco Russian Orthodox Mission in Lewisburg, PA. He is an award-winning teacher and journalist, having formerly worked as Urban Affairs Writer at the Chicago Sun-Times. His publications included (author) Strange Beauty: Ecocritical Approaches to Early Medieval Landscape, (co-editor) The Totalitarian Legacy of the Bolshevik Revolution, (co-editor) Tolkien’s Modern Middle Ages, and (editor) Re-Imagining Nature: Ecosemiotics and Environmental Humanities, as well as contributions to The Federalist.

Patricia Slatin received her Ph.D. in Classics from the University of California at Berkeley in 2005, with a focus on ancient philosophy, particularly Platonic metaphysics and theology. Thereafter she served as visiting assistant professor at Georgetown University (2007-2009) and postdoctoral teaching fellow at Stanford (2009-2013); recently she taught history and Greek at St. John’s Orthodox Academy in San Francisco and Biblical Greek at the San Francisco Theological Seminary. Beyond teaching, Patricia enjoys spending time with her cat, walking in the hills of western Iowa, and volunteering at a local nature preserve.

Hannah Wegmann received her Ph.D. in Modern French Studies from the University of Maryland in 2018, following a M.A. from UMD and a B.A. from Hillsdale College. Her research focuses on narratives of urbanization within the nineteenth century French novel, exploring ways that the historical phenomenon of migration can function as a theoretical lens to revisit canonical narratives and understand the social, moral, and physical evolutions present. Her other interests include the intersections of art history, religious intertextuality, the history of Paris, and teaching the quirky details of French grammar to students. Hannah lived in France for a semester of college, a year following graduation, and has spent several summers in Paris conducting research, teaching summer courses, and enjoying French culture and history.  Hannah has taught a variety of French language and literature courses at the University of Maryland since 2011. Before teaching at the university level, she spent several years teaching at the primary and secondary levels, both in traditional and classical schools. She lives in Washington, DC with her husband, son, and daughter.

Rory Adams received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Mathematics from Western Washington University.  He then went on to earn an MA in Theology. Since then he has worked as both a pastor and a math tutor.  In addition to providing individualized math instruction, he developed and taught an after-school class for students struggling in math, and coached a competitive ‘Math Counts’ team in 2019 which placed 2^nd out of 14 schools.

Rory lives in Billings, Montana with his wife Jennifer and their 5 children ranging in age from 4 to 14.  Rory is a skydiver and in his spare time he memorizes digits of pi!

Molly Barnett earned her B.A. with honors in English from The Ohio State University in 2011. Upon graduation, she began teaching middle school English Literature at Grace Christian School in Columbus, Ohio. From there, she accepted a position teaching fourth grade at Immanuel Lutheran School, a Classical School, in Alexandria, Virginia where she taught for the next 6 years. During the summers of 2015-2018, Molly was a graduate student of St. John’s College in Annapolis, Maryland and earned her M.A. in the liberal arts in August 2018. Later that month, she and her husband, who teaches Latin, Theology, and History in the Upper School at ILS, were joyfully married. They and their son and daughter currently reside in Alexandria where they enjoy little adventures outdoors, spending time with dear friends, and savoring all of life's blessings.

John Cathey studied music (B.A.) and religious studies (M.T.S.) in school and has been a classroom teacher for the last 6 years. His teaching experience includes a variety of history, religious studies, and music courses. He also teaches private lessons on several instruments. John's personal interests include reading, tea, the outdoors, and spending time with his family, among other things. One of eight children, John enjoys working with young people of all ages. Currently, John resides with his wonderful wife and first son in Cumming, Georgia.

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Michael Kopf received his MA in Ancient Philology in 2015 from the Polis Institute in Jerusalem after completing undergraduate studies in Classics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and at the University of Vienna. He has working knowledge of 9 languages, and has been teaching Classical Greek and Latin for the last 5 years. He has taught classical languages to middle- and high-school students and graduate students, both through immersion and in more conventional settings, in Rome, Vienna and Jerusalem, and has also taught teacher training courses in Rome and Jerusalem. 

He enjoys rediscovering the ancient world and its reception, especially the history of classical education, grammar and linguistics. He recently settled in rural Austria with his wife and is eager to continue sharing his enthusiasm for antiquity and language learning through online teaching. In this way, he hopes to contribute towards making classical studies more accessible.

Shannon Mauro is a Romance language enthusiast who began studying French at age 12. Her passion for language learning stems from her travel experiences and years of singing choral music in French, Italian, Spanish, and Latin. She holds an MA in Modern French Studies from the University of Maryland, where her research focused on medieval French music. Additionally, she earned an MAEd and a BA in French with a minor in Italian Studies from Wake Forest University. She has taught French to students of all ages, from elementary school to university, and is currently homeschooling her children. Shannon lives in Maryland with her husband, two daughters, and a black cat named Douglas. 

The Rev. Fr. Michael Shanbour is a lifelong Orthodox Christian and pastor of Three Hierarchs Orthodox Mission in Wenatchee, Washington.  He received his M. Div. at St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary in 1989.  He has been active in youth, camp, music, outreach/evangelism and Christian education ministries.  Father Michael was ordained to the holy priesthood in 2001 and pastored mission parishes in Topeka, Kansas, and Spokane Washington before being assigned to Three Hierarchs. He is the author of Know the Faith: A Handbook for Orthodox Christians and Inquirers (Ancient Faith), as well as The Good Samaritan: A Children's Catechism (Three Hierarchs Publishing). He is blessed to live in Wenatchee with his wife, Makrina, and son, Simeon. 

Sue Ellen Turscak has been a teacher of Great Books, Literature, and Composition at Heritage Classical Academy in northeast Ohio since 2006. Prior to that she taught English for ten years at Western Reserve Academy, an independent college preparatory school, and before that, Russian language and literature at Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia.

She earned her A.B. In History and Literature, magna cum laude, from Harvard University in 1986, and a Master in Humanities, summa cum laude, from Tiffin University in 2009. Her thesis was on the forms of contemporary classical Christian education.

During the summer months, from 2010-2017, she was the director of her own Merely Players Shakespeare Camp, a two-week day camp for 7th grade through early college focused on exploring Shakespeare thematically through performance. In 2013, she was the recipient of the American Shakespeare Center’s Words in Action Award “to deserving teachers to honor their commitment in bringing Shakespeare to life for their students.”

Sue Ellen homeschooled her two children through high school. Her son works as a data scientist for a major consulting firm, and her daughter is a software developer for Microsoft. Sue Ellen resides with her husband and one very grumpy cat in Northeast Ohio, and attends St. Elia the Prophet Orthodox Church. She enjoys reading, cooking, international travel, and all things Russian and Slavic in general.

Natalia Wooten earned her B.A. with honors in Secondary English Education from Oral Roberts University in 2002 and married her husband, David, shortly thereafter. Upon graduation from college, she began teaching middle school in Fort Worth, Texas. She then began work on her Master’s Degree in Library Science at Texas Woman’s University, which she earned in 2007. 

In 2009, the Wooten family (which at that point included two young daughters) transplanted to Crestwood, NY for seminary. Her husband, David, was ordained to the Orthodox priesthood in 2012 and since that time, Natalia has found jobs teaching in the various cities where her husband has served, including at Miami Dade College, Paideia Classical Academy, and several online providers.  She has homeschooled their four wonderful children and currently resides in San Antonio, Texas where she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family (at least 3 seasons of the year) and eating lots of Tex-Mex food!

Jaimie Althage received her B.A. in Classical Studies from Hillsdale College in 2011 (magna cum laude). After graduating, she taught for Great Hearts Academies in Arizona for four years, and then served as a founding faculty member for another Great Hearts Academy campus in Irving, Texas, before taking a hiatus from teaching to stay home with her children. She loves teaching and classical education, and has taught History, Latin, and Greek at various grade levels. She currently lives with her husband and three children in the Dallas area. When not teaching, she loves to read, cook, and knit.

Wes Callihan grew up on a farm in Idaho and graduated in History from the University of Idaho in 1983. He has taught for thirty-five years–at two private schools, a college which he helped found, the University of Idaho, and his own online classes for the past twenty-two years. His online Great Books lectures have been filmed and produced by Roman Roads Media as a video curriculum for homeschoolers called Old Western Culture. He has spoken frequently on education and church history at Classical education conferences for home educators and private schools, and has taught summer intensive Latin and other summer courses. He has written columns and short fiction for journals and contributed to publications on classical Education and home schooling. He runs live residence programs at Hill Abbey (summer courses on the Early Church Fathers and a year-long “gap year” program), geared toward high school graduates.
Wes and his wife Dani have six married children and fourteen grandchildren. Wes and Dani live in the beautiful countryside of northern Idaho near Wes’s parents and most of the kids and grandkids, where six generations of the family have lived on the same family farm. They use the cold winters as an excuse to read, and the hot summers as another excuse to read. Wes also likes hiking and hunting, barbecuing, listening to the blues, gardening, movies, and travel (he has organized many tours for his students and their families to Greece and Turkey). But like the Venerable Bede he loves teaching, reading, and writing best of all.

Julia Connors has been involved in classical education for most of her life. After attending Heritage Study Center where she studied Great Books with Sue Ellen Turscak, she earned her Bachelor of Arts in English Literature at Grove City College, along with a minor in Classical Christian Education. She went on to teach at Holy Trinity Classical Christian School in Beaufort, South Carolina for four years, where she taught a variety of courses from English to Latin to classical literature.
 
Julia now lives in northeast Ohio with her cat, Ember. She is completing a Master of Library and Information Science Degree at Kent State University and enjoys reading, knitting, and spending time outdoors.

Amy Gillispie and her husband, Father Robert, began homeschooling their nine children in 1999.   Amy was graduated from The Ohio State University with a B.S.  in Architecture, did her Master’s work in Liturgical Architecture, played the organ for her church at twelve years old, danced in a ballet/jazz company, worked as a photographer/developer, directs musicals, is a COPE certified health coach, a registered IEW teacher and a licensed Simply Music Piano Instructor.  She wrote her own architecture curriculum and began teaching architecture courses to students from around the world when she created her business, Building Brilliant Minds, in 2009.  “Architecture” and “Music/Piano” continue to hold her heart because the possibilities are intertwined and infinite.    Mrs. G’s Architecture and Piano courses may be taken online during the arranged Zoom classes or privately.   For more information,  email Mrs. G.  at  musicarch.clrc@icloud.com , or visit her website at www.buildingbrilliantmindsonline.com .

Brittany Scott graduated on theater scholarship from Concordia University Irvine with a B.S. in Humanities: Creative Writing. She worked professionally as a production coordinator and videographer in the Orange County/Los Angeles area before marrying the love of her life and starting a family. As an Orange County School of the Arts alumni, she was excited to teach Theater and Film conservatory classes at OCSA’s sister school, The California School of the Arts. And now as she transitions into homeschooling her own two children, she’s thrilled to join the CLRC team!

Allison Gray earned her B.A. at Trinity International University in Chicago, IL, studying intercultural studies, counseling, and social services, and participating in the honors program.  For her senior thesis she examined a theology of beauty, and the relationship between Christianity and the arts, particularly literature.  Allison spent three years at Great Hearts Classical Academies, where she served as a teaching assistant and taught reading interventions to low-tiered students. She has written literature curriculum for Great Hearts, and homeschool curriculum for the Christian Character Formation Project.

Allison lives with her family in southern Arizona, where she still misses the colorful seasons of the Midwest.  She loves sharing her love for books and nature with her toddler son, hiking and reading Lord of the Rings with her husband, crocheting, burying herself in classical literature, and baking bread.

Christine Jennings was homeschooled by her mother and began taking interest in drawing and art through Charlotte Mason-inspired nature journaling. In high school she continued her education through an independent study program with the local high school, where she attended her first course in fine art.  In college she continued her education as an art major, received a 4.0, and joined  the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society. She received several first-place awards for life drawings and fine art, and her art was published in the college arts journal.

She has a variety of skills and experience in painting public murals, mounting canvas icons in churches, training in the art of iconography, and commissioned art works such as portrait work. She has also exhibited her art in local Fresno Art Galleries.

Christine developed a classical curriculum to teach students the elements and principles of art and design through drawing and painting. Uniquely, she teaches her students how to make their own materials such as artists vine charcoal, and ancient gall ink.

Christine enjoys living with her family in the beautiful Sierra foothills of Fresno county, CA. Her husband Matthew is a carpenter, and small business owner. He is currently an apprentice training to become an electrician. They have five lively children whom Christine homeschools through a local charter school. Christine loves to make time for following her many other interests. If she’s not cooking a big meal, she can be found exploring the creeks and hills, gardening, making ink, singing, researching ecology, foraging for mushrooms, and general shenanigans, all with her children in tow!

Marcella Kerrigan received her B.A. from Hillsdale College, graduating from the Honors Program with a double major in Spanish and English. While at college, she was part of the Spanish Department’s tutoring program. Following graduation, she spent a year teaching English Literature at a bilingual school in Mexico and then worked at an elementary school as a reading aide for struggling students. After her daughter was born she took a break from formal employment but was able to spend a year living in Spain when her husband received a Fulbright Grant to do research in Madrid.

She currently lives in Wayne, Nebraska, where she homeschools her two children and volunteers with a program that provides instruction for community members who are learning English. In her free time, she enjoys cooking, baking sourdough bread, reading about theology and novels in Spanish and English.

Christina McNamara graduated summa cum laude from the University of Dallas with a B.A. in History and a minor in French. She started learning French in elementary school at the age of 8 and Latin in high school at the age of 15 and has never lost her love of languages. She has attended spoken Latin conferences led by Dr. Terence Tunberg at the University of Kentucky where she enjoyed conversing in and reading Latin. Christina attributes the beginnings of her love of history to both her seventh-grade and ninth-grade history teachers who truly brought history to life and inspired her with their dedication and creativity – she will never forget her seventh-grade teacher dressing up like a 13th-century monk, transforming her classroom into a monastery, and forcing her students to sing their textbook aloud in Gregorian chant!

Christina has taught Latin and History to middle school and elementary students at classical charter schools in Texas and Colorado for three years and is looking forward to teaching for CLRC. She loves to see her students come alive to the joy of learning.

She currently resides in Colorado with her husband Connor and enjoys hiking in the Rockies, mountain biking, cooking new recipes, teaching violin lessons, and reading historical fiction. Christina and her husband are excitedly awaiting the birth of their first child in November.

Aaron Mitchell grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. He was a member of the first graduating class of St. Peter’s Classical School. He then went on to receive his BA in Classical Studies, Philosophy, and Religious Studies from Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, IA. He taught for five years at Anthem Preparatory Academy, a Classical Charter school in Phoenix, AZ. During that time, he taught Latin, History, and Music in predominantly 6^th through 8^th grade. He has since returned to Fort Worth where he teaches Greek and Latin to students from 1^st through 12^th grade at his alma mater, St. Peter’s Classical School. He is also a Subdeacon at St. Peter’s Orthodox Church.

Outside the classroom, Aaron enjoys reading, writing poetry, watching baseball, practicing both Byzantine and Gregorian chant, and spending time with his wife Corrie and their son Aidan.

Jennifer Pack started learning German as a high school student in southern California, and had the opportunity to spend two summers living with a German family, where she fell in love with the people and the history of Germany.  She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis, with a dual major in German and Secondary Education.  She spent a year at the University of Tuebingen in southern Germany, studying German language, history, and theology.  After graduation, Jen began teaching German to middle and high school students in public schools.  

Jen and her husband, Chuck, live near Nashville, with their five children, ages 4-18.  Jen loves to cook exotic foods, spend time with her kids, and raise chickens and Great Danes.

Lee Ann Shaffer received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Kettering University in 1982.  She spent five years working for General Motors, where she was involved in the fabrication of microchips for automotive sound systems and developing and performing tests for electrical automotive components.  She then took a permanent hiatus from her career to stay at home with her children.

Lee Ann and her husband of 38 years, Jerry (also an electrical engineer) have four grown sons, whom they homeschooled from kindergarten through high school.  In addition to teaching her own boys, she also taught science classes for homeschooled students, and conducted many chemistry labs for groups of students around her dining room table!

Lee Ann taught at Heritage Classical Academy in Hudson, Ohio for seven years.  There she taught middle school and high school math, science, and formal logic.  It was during her years at Heritage that Lee Ann discovered her love for classroom teaching.

Outside of the classroom, Lee Ann enjoys reading, experimenting with new recipes, gardening, spending time with her three grandchildren, visiting her sons and their families (which takes her from coast to coast), and taking long walks with her husband.   They currently live in West Farmington, Ohio with their chickens and their cat, Annie.

Clare Sharp received her B.A. in Liberal Arts from Wyoming Catholic College, a small Great Books-based college in the middle of the beautiful Wind River mountains.  This education gave her not only a love for classical learning, but also a love for experiential learning – learning through experience and immersion in the beauty of nature. She taught for four years at Great Hearts Academies in San Antonio, Texas, teaching 2^nd grade, kindergarten, and 6^th grade both as an Assistant Teacher and as a Lead Teacher.  When she is not teaching or learning, she loves spending time with her husband and baby daughter, wrestling with her dogs, playing piano and guitar, reading a good book, and baking yummy food.

Cara Valle earned her B.A. in English from Hillsdale College, where she focused on English Poetry and also studied violin performance, Greek, and history. She then taught Literature and Composition and advanced Poetry at Glendale Preparatory Academy in Phoenix, Arizona. After having children of her own, she switched to online teaching and has been with CLRC since 2015. She now lives in Northern Virginia, where she homeschools her four children and serves on a non-profit board. She enjoys reading, working out, writing poetry, and spending time outdoors.

Seraphim Winslow was dean of students and principal of a classical K-12 academy in San Francisco for over a decade. In addition to homeschooling his son, he has been teaching English, the classical Trivium (Grammar, Logic and Composition), Modern Languages, the Humanities, and Western and World Civilizations and Cultures to students of all ages for more than 30 years. He particularly enjoys working with students in the 4^th through 8^th grades.

Seraphim graduated with a B.A. with highest honors from the University of California, Berkeley. He also holds Associate of Arts degrees in Philosophy, the Humanities, and General Studies. He is currently pursuing a Master of Arts Degree in Philosophy at San Francisco State University. 

Seraphim enjoys the thrill of getting lost in cavernous university libraries and old European bookstores. He also enjoys riding his recumbent tricycle through the pine-laden Sierra foothills, where he lives with his iconographer wife, Lena; his 17-year-old son, Theodore; and their cat, Skipper.

Rima El Chami Zafaran is a Lebanese native speaker, who was born, raised, and educated in Lebanon. She graduated from Balamand University and has taught the  Arabic language to a wide variety of age levels for more than 8 years. Rima moved to the United States in 2005. She and her husband, who is a Syrian Antiochian Orthodox priest, have four beautiful children.

Ryan B. Jawad is a Texas-certified teacher. He has taught in the classroom for 14 years at the middle and high school levels. He was voted ‘Teacher of the Year’ (Student Vote) in 2018. He is also a certified GATE (Gifted And Talented Education) instructor.

Mr. Jawad graduated high school from the Texas Academy of Mathematics and Science at UNT. He studied at the Johns Hopkins University, the Peabody Institute, and the Independent University of Moscow and holds a B. A. from Johns Hopkins in Mathematics. He is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and received the J. J. Sylvester Award for Excellence in Mathematics.

In addition to teaching, Mr. Jawad has active interests in classical and early music. He has worked as music director for young adult and adult choirs and is currently the organist at Saint Peter Orthodox Church in Fort Worth. His recent projects include “The Abelard Hymnal: Medieval Christian Songs Translated Into English” (2020), editor and “Ten Alleluias: For Voice – SATB” (2021), composer.

Esther Phillips began homeschooling her own children over 25 years ago and quickly became a proponent of Charlotte Mason and Classical education. Though from England, her childhood was spent mainly in Kenya and Hong Kong until her family settled in rural Lincolnshire, UK. Esther’s father, himself classically educated and able to read Latin, Greek and Hebrew, inspired in Esther a love of learning and lifelong wonder and discovery. She has spent 15 years setting up, directing, and teaching homeschool co-ops and has served as a consultant to many homeschool families, with a desire to foster in them confidence and joy.

Esther has five children, two are still at home completing their homeschooling journey. She lives in Idaho and enjoys reading (of course) and writing (when she gets a chance).

Emily Wells has been teaching Latin for the past nineteen years. She has taught Latin to junior high and high school both locally in Idaho (where she lives) and online through her own tutorial business, to grades 2-6 at Veritas Academy in Pennsylvania, and to high school students at Veritas Scholars Academy online. She has also tutored local college students in Latin, taught Introduction to Great Books and Hebrew, and loves Greek and Italian. Emily received a classical, Christian education from Schola Classical Tutorials in high school, the intensives Latin-in-a-Week and Greek-in-a-Week, and continued her studies at New Saint Andrews College and the University of Idaho. Emily and her husband, Aaron (also a teacher), are raising their four children in the house where she grew up in North Idaho, next to her parents and grandparents. She enjoys reading, coffee, travel, baseball, and mint chocolate chip ice cream!