Mason TUTORS
Earth Science, Pre-Algebra
Jennifer has a degree in Accounting Technology from Miami University. She has worked with middle and high school students in math and science tutoring as well as ACT prep for six years. She also works part time with Bricks 4 Kidz as an after school enrichment teacher at local elementary schools. She and her husband, Michael, have been married since 2012.
American History, Ancient History, Latin
Michael Brad was homeschooled for most of his life. He is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Biblical Studies through Boyce College. He works as a full time guitar instructor and aspires to be a church planter one day. He and his wife, Jenn, were married in 2012.
Spanish I
Lydia Brashear has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish & Education (University Scholar, magna cum laude) and a Master of Education degree, with a concentration in Spanish, from Xavier University. Before becoming a mom, she taught Spanish II and III at Marlborough High School and K-5 Spanish at Cincinnati Country Day School. She and her husband Jim have been homeschooling their two daughters for nine years. The Brashears have been members of Kingdom Builders Homeschool Co-op since 2012 where Lydia has taught Beginning Spanish, Informal Logic, Spanish I, and Spanish II.
Starting Points
Marc Champagne currently pastors Redeemer Church in Mason, a church plant launched in the fall of 2012. He was previously on staff with North Cincinnati Community Church for eleven years. Marc loves to travel and has spent seven years of his life overseas. He has undergraduate degrees in Business Administration and Christian Ministries from Grove City College and a Master of Divinity degree from Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi. Marc is married to Jill and has four children: Noelle, Micah, Sophia and Noah.
Composition & American Literature, Rhetoric I & II
Heather Clark has a B.A. in Education (Communications Comprehensive) from Malone University and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction from Kent State University. She taught public speaking at Jackson Memorial Middle School in Massillon, Ohio for five years and 10th and 11th grade English at Glen Oak High School in Canton, Ohio for two years. Heather, along with her husband Brandon and their twin daughters, Madeline and Mallory, moved to Mason in 2012. When not teaching at PEP, Heather co-directs the Grace Kids and Sports & Art Camp ministries at Grace Baptist Church as well as acts as secretary of the church AWANA program.
Old Testament Survey, New Testament Survey
Teresa Coffindaffer has a BS in Mechanical Engineering Technology from Purdue University. Most of her Bible training has been through Precept Bible Studies. She attends Precept Bible programs in Chattanooga, TN regularly. Along with tutoring at PEP, she has co-led a Precept ladies Bible study for more than 15 years. All of her three children were home schooled. She has two grandchildren and has been married to her husband, Tim for over 30 years.
Composition & World Literature - Core B
Jennifer, her husband JT, and their daughter Alyssa Contreras are proud Mason residents. Jennifer is a United States Air Force Veteran. As a senior Airman, she served active duty in the Security Forces/Military Police career field. She earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from Cincinnati Christian University where she graduated with high honors. In addition to management classes, she studied biblical history and organizational leadership. She also graduated Summa Cud Laude from the University of New Haven with a Master of Science in Investigations with a concentration in Criminal Investigations. Here, in addition to investigations, she studied criminal justice and forensic Science. It was in Grad School while homeschooling her daughter that she truly identified her passion for academia. She has an intense love of learning and a desire to help others achieve their true potential. She and her family have been active members of Tri County Assembly of God church in Fairfield for six years where they serve in multiple children ministries. You are likely to see Jennifer with a book in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. She finds the most satisfaction spending time with her family and being outdoors in nature.
Medieval thru Early Modern History (Core E), Modern History (Core F)
Jenna graduated from the Honors College at Indiana Wesleyan University with degrees in history and philosophy. Her passion for people and their stories began when she was a student at PEP. When not teaching, Jenna loves reading and traveling with her husband, Andrew.
Composition & Ancient Literature (Core D)
Lisa received her BS in Education from the University of Cincinnati. Upon graduating, she spend the next 20 years working with Campus Crusade for Christ, beginning with high school ministry, and moving to college and international ministry after meeting her husband Clayton. Together raising four children, Lisa has home schooled classically for 12 years. The two oldest are thriving at PEP. With a heart for discipleship and a passion to equip students to reason and communicate truth out of an overflowing love for Christ, Lisa is honored to invest in the students of PEP.
Advanced Physics
Kate Gray received her BS in education from the University of Akron, after almost finishing a Mechanical Engineering degree from Case Western University. Kate is also trained to teach Precept Bible Studies. She is an adoptive/birth mother to seven children. Kate has been teaching math and science at PEP Mason since its beginning. She took a couple of years off, living and working for non-profits in the Dominican Republic. She and her husband Dave married in 1994 and they homeschool their seven children, while hosting kids in their home through Safe Families.
Apologetics
Carl's passion is to proclaim the authority and accuracy of the Bible and to engage the minds and hearts of believers and unbelievers so that they may experience the realities of the Word of God. As a founding Board Member of Answers in Genesis, Carl served there for more than 15 years before co-founding the apologetics ministry, Reasons for Hope (rforh). He has had many roles in his life, son of a professional wrestler, air traffic controller at O-Hare International Airport, founding board member and speaker for Answers in Genesis, but his most cherished roles are as a husband to his wife, Masami, a father to his children, Alisa and Carl, Jr., and a grandfather to Trey, Naomi, Mari, James and J.T.
Personal Finance
Eric Lange has an MBA and works for Anaplan Company as a Domain Principal - Supply Chain Solutions. He and his wife Becky have 4 sons, all of whom they have homeschooled thru high school with PEP. One of Eric's passions in life is teaching principles of personal financial planning and budgeting. He has facilitated Financial Peace University several times to over 300 people and enjoys encouraging others in the area of personal finance in light of God's plan for our lives.
US Constitution (Gov't)
Jim and his wife Roxanna are long time West Chester residents. Jim is a United States Marine Corps veteran and he still holds to his oath to support and defend the U.S. Constitution. He is the Chairman of Building Blocks For Liberty (BBFL). Building Blocks for Liberty is 501c3 non-profit educational organization dedicated to the preservation of the U.S. Constitution by teaching others the importance of this historical document that governs our nation. To date, BBFL has taught over 50 one day Constitution Boot Camps in southern Ohio, including Columbus, Xenia, Dayton, SE Indiana, Northern Kentucky and Texas.
Western Thought I, Logic, Study Skills & Strategies
Elizabeth Marinkovic received a BA in Writing and Philosophy from Geneva College. She taught 9th grade English for two years at Petersburg High School in Virginia and is now in her 9th year of teaching at PEP. Elizabeth authored a fantasy novel (available on Amazon) called Shatter: The Children of Man and a sequal Render, and is currently working on a YA fiction series. She has a passion for the Lord and brings a wealth of Biblical Worldview knowledge to share with her students.
Geography, World History
Lisa McAfee has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Miami University and has taught for many years, including 8 years at PEP, 4 years at Cincinnati Christian Schools, and many homeschool co-ops. Married to her college sweetheart, Lisa homeschooled her children from kindergarten through senior high. Her love for the Lord and junior high students makes her classes come alive.
Anatomy & Physiology
Deb graduated from Iowa State University with a BBA in Management Information Systems. She has been married to her husband Mark since 1991. They met while she was working as a Systems Analyst for Procter & Gamble. After 5 years with P&G, she decided to return to school to pursue her original dream of becoming a physical therapist and earned her Masters in Physical Therapy in 1998 from Andrews University. She worked primarily in acute care and post-op rehab in both Cincinnati and Fayetteville, Arkansas for several years. She and Mark attend Faith Bible Church and have homeschooled their 4 children, Emily, Eric, Lucas, and Rasika since 2002 when their journey into home education began. Deb has found great joy in tutoring homeschoolers in the sciences since 2013.
Chemistry, Conceptual Physics, Organic Chemistry
Emily has had a lifelong appreciation for science, teaching, and research. She graduated summa cum laude from California State University, Fresno with a BS degree in molecular biology and a minor in cognitive psychology. As an undergraduate, she conducted summer research in immunology, microbiology, behavioral and cognitive psychology, scanning tunneling microscopy and genetics; she also published research in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, and co-authored a chapter on scanning tunneling microscopy. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in instructional design and technology at University of Cincinnati. Emily has had the joy of teaching high school chemistry, physics, anatomy & physiology, and pre-engineering classes to homeschool students over the last ten years and is thrilled to tutor chemistry and conceptual physics during her third year at PEP. As a former Darwinian evolutionist, Emily loves to state the scientific case for a Creator in her classes, considering the arguments posited by the intelligent design movement as much more credible and in fact, better science.
Western Thought II & III
Cal Puckett is the Pastor of Redeemer Community Church in Loveland, OH. RCC is a new church plant out of Grace Baptist Church. He graduated from Baptist Bible College in 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Youth Ministry and received his Master's Degree from Liberty University in 2009. He and his wife Tiffani have been married since 2000 and have three children.
Computer | Application & Design
Tiffani is a wife and a homeschooling mom of three. She has a Bible Degree from Baptist Bible College and an Associates Degree in Business and Marketing from Ozark Technical College. Tiffani is currently a part-time secretary for Grace Baptist Church and Redeemer Community Church and works in graphic and web design. She’s been married to Cal Puckett since 2000.
Drawing, General Art
Myra Roller has taught drawing and general art classes in the homeschool community since 1996. She graduated from Miami University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts. She then worked for Gibson and American Greeting Cards as an illustrator for seven years. Myra began teaching art while homeschooling her own two children and currently teaches at several homeschool co-ops within the Cincinnati area.
Geometry
Erica graduated with her Bachelor of Science, summa cum laude, in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. After graduation, she worked as Project Manager for Procter & Gamble until she left to stay home with her children. Erica and her husband Doug have two children and they have homeschooled them for the past 6 years. Her son is excited to start at PEP this fall. Erica is actively involved in her church teaching in an elementary classroom. She has taught high school mathematics at a local co-op for 6 years. She loves teaching math and helping students, whether it’s their most or least favorite subject, and is excited to be teaching Geometry at PEP!
Algebra I
Carol Stearns has enjoyed tutoring at PEP since 2008. She completed a BS in Mathematics at MIT and, more recently, a variety of postgraduate courses in Education at Cedarville University. Following the classical model, Carol homeschooled her three children for 14 years in grades K – 12. Her diverse interests and love of teaching also led to involvement in the Dayton Gospel Mission’s teaching ministry (Nehemiah University) and the Whiz Kids reading program at her local church for several years. She is excited to share both her enthusiasm for math and her life-long appreciation and passion for literature.
Algebra II, Pre Calculus, Calculus
Ing Wan Steiner was born and raised in Malaysia and came to the United States after high school to attend Bowling Green State University, where she received her BS in Computer Science and a Master in Applied Statistics and Mathematics. She and her husband moved to Cincinnati to help plant a church and also homeschooled their three children for 12 years. She teaches high school math at co-ops, offers private tutoring, and runs summer math camps.
Composition & Lit. - Core A, Composition & Lit. - Core D
Jenni Schmeichel holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Literature from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She and her husband Dave have three daughters and have been happily married since 2001. Jenni has held corporate jobs, including positions in both Technical Editing and in Marketing, but has always felt called to be involved in the schools. After years of volunteer work through Mason Public Schools, God called her to PEP in 2017.
Spanish II and III/IV
Cynthia Tann has a three year certificate in Theology and Christian Education from Faith School of Theology in Charleston, Maine as well as a B.A. in Spanish from Miami University. She has been teaching all levels of high school Spanish for the Mason Co-op for the last five years. Her passion and desire is to see students learn Spanish so that they can share Christ with the growing population of Spanish speaking people who live around us and who don’t know Christ. She has also been home educating her children for 9 years.
Life Science, Biology
Martha has a Bachelor of Arts in Middle Childhood Education from Cedarville University, with an emphasis in math and science. She taught 5th grade before she and her husband Phil had their first child. Martha then left teaching to stay home with her, now three, children. She enjoys working alongside her husband as he serves as the youth pastor at Grace Baptist Church.