HOMESCHOOL CONVENTION

Olu and Deanna are both passionate about reaching children with the gospel. Olu has been serving with Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®) for 10 years and is the Local Director for the CEF Ventura County Chapter. Olu also serves as the Associate Pastor of Children and Youth at a local church in Simi Valley. Deanna has been serving with CEF for 12 years. Her passion for reaching children with the Gospel was sparked by the excellent training and hands-on ministry experience she received from CEF. She works at the CEF SoCal State Office, which oversees the ministry in Southern California.

Crissi is the Founder and Director of an 18-year educational homeschool co-op, HEART Academy in San Jose, California. She finds great joy in helping parents capture the hearts of their children, finding their God-given passions early in life, creating heart-felt community, and partnering with hundreds of families. In 2020, Crissi wrote a chapter in the book, Why I Love Homeschooling, which became an Amazon Bestseller. Crissi and her husband homeschooled both their children through high school. Her greatest loves include her hubby, her two children, and her grandson!

Dr. Dunne is a lifelong homeschooler, author, and president of Chula Vista Christian University. As a GenZ expert, she helps pastors launch homeschool support centers to rescue their congregations from public schools. She is the author of The Multigenerational Marketplace, The Science of Social Influence, Relating through the Lifespan and Outsourced: Why America’s Kids Need an Education Revolution. Her podcast is The Communication Architect, and her radio show MindsetMatters airs weekly on KPraise Radio. She has been married 30 years and has two exemplary homeschool grads who are her true résumé. Learn more about her work at CVCU.us.

A California native, Brian Eliason is a veteran homeschool dad who has encouraged hundreds of parents and educators throughout his speaking and leadership career. Holding a graduate degree in Physics, with a specialty in Applied Optics, Brian has brought this knowledge, not only to his work for corporations like McDonnell Douglas Aerospace, but also into his ministry. Currently serving as the Western Area Coordinator for the Institute for Cultural Communicators (ICC), he helps lead families, classrooms, and community groups to equip next-generation Christian leaders with the vital skills they need for success in education and in life.

Teresa Foltin has a B.A. in English Literature and an M.S. in Student Affairs in Higher Education. Previously the Director of Student Activities at an American University in Germany, she is now a mom of five and has been homeschooling since 2004. She is interested in adoption, travel, horses, gardening, and reading.

Rochelle Giordano is a mother of three who has homeschooled her two oldest from kindergarten through high school and is still homeschooling her youngest. She has been a leader and teacher in various homeschool co-ops over the past 15 years. She also enjoys being the Master of Ceremonies for local groups with which she is involved. Her speaking credits include guest speaker at Cal State Fullerton, various women’s groups, and CHEA’s Keys to Homeschooling in 2021. An entrepreneurial speaker and teacher at heart, Rochelle runs an online piano studio and teaches at a local PSP.

Scott has been serving as a pastor since 1992, first at a church plant in the Seattle area. In 2000, Scott and his family moved to minister in the Southern California area, and he has been a Sr. Pastor since 2003. Scott is blessed to be involved in ministry through the local church at West Hills since 2017 and as State Director of Child Evangelism Fellowship®. He and his wife Jenny have been blessed with three adult children they homeschooled through high school. They all love and serve the Lord. Scott earned his Doctor of Ministry from The Master’s Seminary.

Rebecca Kocsis and her husband homeschooled all five of their children, graduating their youngest in 2006 from their homeschool. They are now the proud grandparents of an ever-growing tribe of energetic boys and girls (12 to date) who are their greatest delight. Rebecca served for 15 years as a private school satellite program administrator and for several years on CHEA’s Regional Advisory Board. Today, she is still passionate about private home education and helping families homeschool. In addition to serving on CHEA’s board of directors she has also serves as General Manager. She is the author of the devotional booklet “Let Not Your Feathers Be Ruffled.”

John is an attorney with his own litigation practice in Los Angeles and is also an allied attorney with Alliance Defending Freedom, a leading national legal organization advocating for the right of people to freely live out their faith. He and his wife, Juleene, have two boys who have been schooled in the home since birth. John is especially passionate about CHEA’s mission to protect the God-given right of parents to direct the education and training of their children.

Zsanae and her husband have been married for twenty-four years and have three beautiful children. They enjoy encouraging their children as they mature in Christ – fulfilling their individual callings and purposes for His glory. Zsanae has been homeschooling for fourteen years (the oldest two have graduated) and is devoted to helping other homeschoolers along their unique journey. She has been involved with co-hosting Homeschooling With Purpose, spoken at homeschool events, and been a guest on homeschool Youtube channels. Zsanae is also passionate about encouraging women to live out their callings, as they look to Jesus to find their identity.

God has been faithful to David and Shirley for 50 years of married life. Their passion is to equip the next generation to “stand firm” in Christ. Together they created Cornerstone Curriculum to assist parents in the discipleship of their children. David has his Masters degree in curriculum and instruction design and Shirley is an early education specialist. The Lord has given them the reward of nine wonderful children and fifteen grandchildren. They enjoy reading on road trips, making pizza rolls for their kids, and experimenting to develop the ‘best’ Texas smoked brisket

Michaela is a homeschool graduate, and has been homeschooling her own children for the past 14 years. Nine years ago, Michaela and her husband Brad founded a nonprofit homeschool organization called Grace and Glory Academy in Southern California, and together they serve as CHEA’s Inland Empire Representatives. When their family is not out adventuring, Michaela enjoys sharing at conferences, teaching workshops, filming YouTube videos, and is in the process of writing homeschool eCourses.

Mike Schutt is the Executive Director of Worldview Academy, and he has served students as a faculty member since 2002. He was a professor at Trinity Law School and Director of the Institute for Christian Legal Studies, a cooperative ministry of Trinity Law and Christian Legal Society, where he directed CLS’ Law School Ministries. He also taught on the faculty of Regent Law School for 20 years. He lives in Mount Pleasant, Texas, with his wife, Lisa. Before entering academia, Mike practiced law in Fort Worth, Texas. He is an honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Law.

“Miss Cara” has been teaching language development and literature courses for over twenty years, ever since she realized that teaching literature is nearly as much fun as reading it! She has taught composition and literature classes, and is the co-ringmaster of that wild three-ring circus known as the Shelton Family. A homeschooling mom for 23 years, now “graduated,” Cara purposes to equip parents as they home educate their children. Both Cara and her husband Steve desire to plant seeds of encouragement in the lives of parents as they seek to be the spiritual leaders of their homes.

Christa was married young and always dreamed of having many children who she would school at home. Fast forward to the present, here she is! Their five children range in age from 1 to 12 years old. Christa is a second-generation homeschooler. She continued her education with undergraduate and graduate degrees in elementary education and loved being a classroom teacher before beginning life with a new mission of motherhood. Seek Wholly Living is Christa’s podcast for moms where she has weekly conversations with other expert moms who choose to pursue motherhood with hope, joy, and purpose!

Iris, homeschool mom and part-time college professor, has always been in love with foreign languages. Raised by immigrant parents, her first language was German. She studied Spanish and German in school and college, and attained fluency in Portuguese while living with relatives in Brazil. Her fascination with history has also propelled her into learning classical languages (Latin, Biblical Greek and Hebrew) and French with her homeschooled son, Samuel. Iris sees language and culture as being linked, and revels in the richness which language study brings both to her homeschool and personal life.

Jenny is a certified financial coach and has been helping people achieve their financial goals for more than 10 years. Jenny is married to Andrew (CHEA Board Member) who is her ideal Amazing Race partner and main cheerleader as she teaches their girls to write five-paragraph essays, divide fractions, and locate Paraguay on a map.

Julie Walker, the Chief Marketing Officer for the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW), was a schoolteacher and homeschool leader for many years. She and her husband of thirty-eight years provided a home education for their three sons. After their youngest son graduated, she went back to school herself, completing her MBA at Biola University. This spring she will celebrate fifteen years working with IEW. She most recently produced, directed, and helped to write the Structure and Style® for Students video courses. She currently hosts the popular Arts of Language podcast with Andrew Pudewa.

Roger Wheelock is President of Greater Than I Ministries, a non-profit corporation established for the purpose of providing creative Biblical Worldview teaching materials for Christian individuals, churches, families, and home-schools in America. Roger is an ordained pastor, worship leader and songwriter with over 30 years of intimate experience in Christian leadership. His burning passion is to help light a fire in Christians to once again lead our culture by applying the brilliance of the Word of God in every vocation and location of life … to know what we believe and to make a difference in this decaying world around us!

Barbara is a follower of Jesus, a wife, mother, home educator, published author, speaker, YouTuber and featured speaker on radio broadcasts and podcasts. She earned B.A. and D.E.U.G. degrees and, along with her husband, has educated their two sons for over 20 years. She is passionate about raising children with godly character who love and serve the Lord. Her workshops are fun and practical, filled with hands-on activities and information that will have a lasting impact on your family.