TeacherBiographies

Teachers

                                                                        Christin Celsor
                                                                        Rebecca Celsor
                                                                        Barbara Dabney
                                                                        Cynthia Fatheree
                                                                        Constanza Fishel
                                                                        Bobby Frazier
                                                                        John A. Garrett
                                                                        Susan Garrett
                                                                        Karen Garza
                                                                        Camille Goldston

Jack Hightower

Sharon Hiley

Cinde Matocha

                                                                        James S. Qualls
                                                                        Leatha Veronie

(Note: We live in an age of spam bots. To minimize spam, email addresses have been disguised. Type all email addresses into your email program. We also live in an age of spamblockers. If you do not receive a reply, contact the teacher by phone.)

Lisa Baldwin has a B.S. in Secondary Education with a Social Science Composite from the University of Texas. She taught American History at the Honors and Advanced Placement level, American Government and Economics at Katy High School for five years before having children. She homeschooled for eight years, taught classes for homeschoolers and presently teaches Bible, Writing and History for 6^th-8^th graders at a Classical Christian School. In addition to teaching, she is developing History curriculum and training other teachers in the Lost Tools of Writing and classical methods. She is currently in her third year of an apprenticeship program led by Andrew Kern, founder and director of the Circe Institute. She has also attended several conferences on Classical Education, including a week long conference hosted by James Daniels, Director of Curriculum and Instruction from Westminster Academy in Memphis, TN, Lisa, her husband Steve, and their four children (ages 18-8) live in the Copperfield area and have been active members at Cypress Bible Church for the past 13 years. Her address is 17230 Sandestine Dr., Houston, TX 77095. sl_baldwin (at) sbcglobal (dot) net, (281) 855-6872, (281) 731-9508 cell.

Tammy Bell was raised as a missionary kid in Quezon City, Philippines. She has a dual major BS degree in Elementary Education and Physical Education with a minor in Math (University of Texas at Arlington), and a dual major MA degree in Education Counseling and Remedial Reading (Houston Baptist University). She has taught in both public and private schools. She served as a missionary in the Philippines for two years with International Teams. She and her husband have been married for 19 years. They have four children - ages 11,13,15, and 17. They have been home schooling for eight years. They attend Tomball Bible Church and are involved in the children’s and missions’ ministries. While home schooling her own children, Tammy has grown in her love for World History and Science. They are her favorite subjects to teach. 18710 Quail Lane, Tomball, TX 77377 Contact: pebtam [at] sbcglobal [dot] net or 281-516-3194.

Robert Brayton, CTM and family have been homeschooling for over 14 years. With their two oldest graduating in 2005 and 2007, they have two more to go. He has taught various subjects in homeschool coops including sound reinforcement and recording, guitar, recorder, computer programming, woodworking, and video production, and is currently an Aerospace Education Officer with the Civil Air Patrol cadet program. He is formerly a producer with the City of Tampa, Florida Cable Television production studios. He owns Heirloom Family Memories www.goheirloom.com , a video production company in the Houston area and is the founder of the Cinenosin Film Academy. He is a contributing moderator on www.reachingtheglobe.net/forumindependent Christian filmmaker's forum. Robert attended Purdue University, LeTourneau University, SAICFA, and was previously involved with Toastmaster's International and Mensa. His goal is to work with homeschoolers to produce blockbuster independent Christian films. Send check and registration to: Robert Brayton, 28118 Sycamore Ct., Magnolia, Texas 77355. Robert can be reached at 713-857-7265 or classes@cinenosin.com

Christin Celsor will graduate from Thomas Edison State College with a double major in History and Pre-Med. Her future plan is to begin Physicians Assistant classes in 2010, where she will complete her MA. For the past 4 summers, Christin has worked at Frontier Camp as a counselor and medical technician. She has traveled to Haiti on two short term mission trips to assist the local believers to start a Christian Youth camp. Christin attends Redeemer Bible Church, and was home schooled up through high school. She loves to work with children, and especially to pass a love for learning on to children. Her favorite subjects to teach are math and science. Make all checks payable to and mail all correspondence to Christin Celsor, 19414 Country Lake Drive, Magnolia, Texas 77355. Contact: 281-635-9772 cell 281-356-3556 home foreverglorify [at] hotmail [dot] com

Rebecca (Becky) Celsor graduated from the University of Texas in Austin with a BS in Elementary Education. Over a seven-year period she taught 1st, 2nd, and 6th grade in the public schools, specializing in language arts. In 1984 Rebecca left the public schools to stay at home and home educate her children from K – 12th grade; all are now in college. Over the years she has home educated a total of eight children. For two years she served as president of Tomball Christian Home Schoolers and then served on the steering committee. She helped found the Tomball Christian Homeschoolers Co-op and taught Creative Writing. She has also lead a Smoothing the Way group, which assists new homeschoolers in their first year. She has created numerous children's programs and is well adept at working with children. For the past 6 years she has developed the curriculum and taught Basic Paragraph and Basic Essay Writing, as well as the new Sentence to Paragraph class for 6th–12th grades with HIS Classes. With a heart for students who do not fit the mold of traditional education, Rebecca enjoys helping students who struggle with writing as well as those who enjoy writing. http://basicstructuredwriting.googlepages.com/ Make all checks payable to and mail all correspondence to Home Education, (in care of Debbie Gott) 9614 Dornoch Drive, Spring, TX 77379 Contact: bcelsor [at] sbcglobal [dot] net 281-356-3556

Barbara Dabney received her bachelor's degree in electrical engineering with a minor in math in 1975 from Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech) in Atlanta, Georgia, her home state. She worked at Commonwealth Edison in Chicago, and left to marry her husband. They are celebrating 31 years of marriage. After moving to Houston, she worked for Houston Lighting and Power for four years, but left when they started their family. They have 3 children and she homeschooled them for a total of nine years. She has also taught private piano lessons, since her children have left home, and led the Tuesday morning children's program for 3 years at Tomball Bible Church. She was also the pianist for Bellaire Episcopal church in Bellaire, TX for several years, and has taught Sunday School and been in the choir at Tomball Bible Church. She is looking forward to serving the Lord and her community in this capacity. For all classes, mail registration form to: 22618 Cardinal Ln., Tomball, TX 77377. Make checks payable to Barbara Dabney. Contact: 281-351-7933 or bdabney22 [at] yahoo [dot] com.

Cynthia Fatheree received her Bachelor of Arts from Texas Tech University, earning a degree in French. She is a homeschool mother of four children, all whom are in college now, and homeschooled her children for 12 years. She left the workplace when she and her husband realized that her time would be better spent at home as they brought each of their four children out of the public school arena. The Fatherees have been married for 27 years. They have a son who is in the Masters Program for Accounting at the University of Houston; a son who is studying to be a Dentist at the University of Texas at San Antonio; a daughter who is studying Nutrition at A & M; and their youngest son is finishing his first semester at Tomball College. She has taught both French and Spanish in the homeschool and private school arenas. She has taught Latin for the past six years and feels it is the best way to equip students to take other foreign languages with a higher rate of success. She teaches Latin 1, 2, and 3 to middle school and high school students. She has a passion for effective communication and believes that Latin is a great asset since it helps train the mind to think with precision, increases vocabulary, and improves the understanding of grammar, not only in English, but in other foreign languages as well. Contact: cfatheree [at] sbcglobal [dot] net (281) 259-5223. 19327 Sapphire Circle Magnolia, TX 77355

Constanza Fishel grew up with Spanish as her first language - She graduated with a BBA from the University of Mary Hardin Baylor. She received her degree in French at Universite Laval while living in Quebec, Canada. Constanza speaks English and Spanish fluently. Besides teaching private Spanish classes for home school co-ops for 5 years, she has tutored public high school students. Some of her students have tutored through the CLEP process for which they received college credit for first year college Spanish. One of her students is currently pursuing a Spanish minor at Sam Houston State University. Constanza's passion is to teach students so they can minister to others in Spanish. Her love for teaching high school students has lead her to teach other subjects like science. For the past year, she's had various students take Exploring Creation with Science and Physical Science. Constanza took several science classes in college before changing her major from nursing to business. She and her husband, Ray, have been married 15 years and have 3 children whom they have home schooled for 10 years and for the past three, God sent two high school student to be part of their home school experience. The Fishel family has attended Houston Northwest Baptist for 10½ years where Mrs. Fishel translates from English to Spanish for the Women's Ministry and for the church's mission trips to Honduras and Guatemala. Payments are to be made out to Constanza Fishel and mailed to Debbie Gott, 9614 Dornoch Drive, Spring, Texas 77379 Constanza Fishel 281-807-7451 whoaitsafish (at) hotmail (dot) com

Bobby Frazier currently pastors a family-integrated church in the Magnolia/Tomball area called Cornerstone Family Fellowship. After completing graduate studies at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, he served churches in Arkansas, Florida, and Texas as a pastor. Behind the Lord and his family, the passion of Mr. Frazier's heart is his desire to communicate truth in such a way that lives are changed into the image of Christ for the glory of God. His dual roles of both pastor and teacher help fulfill this vision for his life. In addition to his pastorate and teaching responsibilities within the homeschool community, Mr. Frazier enjoys spending time with his wonderful family. His wife, Kim, keeps the checkbook for various home-school organizations in addition to helping Mr. Frazier with his classes. Contact information for the Fraziers is 231 Corpus Drive, Magnolia, Tx. 77354; 281-252-4673; frazierb1980 [at] sbcglobal [dot] net Mr. Frazier’s cell phone is 281-685-5430.

John A. Garrett, BA, M.Ed earned his undergraduate degree in speech, theatre, and English from William Carey College in Hattiesburg, MS, and a graduate degree in English education from Auburn University in Alabama. A 36-year veteran teacher, Mr. Garrett retired in 2005 from teaching public school at Westfield High School in Spring ISD. He has taught all levels of English, below-level to advanced placement (AP), in grades eight through twelve, college-level concurrent credit courses at Westfield articulated with North Harris County College, and college speech communication and English as an adjunct instructor at Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College and with his alma mater, William Carey College. In addition to English, he taught speech and theatre courses at both the middle school and high school levels before being promoted to K-12 Language Arts Coordinator for the Pascagoula (MS) Municipal School District, a position he held for eight years. Trained as a writing instructor with the New Jersey Writing Project in Texas, Mr. Garrett taught an AP Rhetoric and Composition course designed to hone the writing skills of gifted and talented students for eight years before his retirement in December 2005. In 1991 Mr. Garrett was selected as the Westfield High School Teacher of the Year, Spring ISD Secondary Teacher of the Year, and Spring ISD K-12 Teacher of the Year, and was nominated for the Texas Region IV Teacher of the Year. He was named to “Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers” for three consecutive years, an honor he cherishes because each time he was nominated by former students who, themselves, had been chosen as a Who’s Who Among America’s High School Students honoree. He was also recognized in 2005 as a Spring ISD “Distinguished Educator,” an honor bestowed upon him by a former student who, as a graduate in the top 5% of his class, selected Mr. Garrett as the teacher who had the most influence on him during his K-12 educational experience. Teaching writing is Mr. Garrett’s passion. His students have won numerous writing awards over the years, notably gold and silver keys in the Houston-area and National Scholastic Writing Competition. In fact, two of his students in 2006 won gold awards in this most prestigious competition. Mr. Garrett and his family attend Cornerstone Family Fellowship where they are charter members. www.GarrettEdServices.com Address: 26384 North Reids Prairie Road, Waller, TX 77484; Email: johngarrett [at] GarrettEdServices [dot] com; Home Phone: (936) 372-3761.

Susan Garrett received her Bachelor’s of Music Education from Delta State University. She taught public school music to grades 1-6 for four years. She then earned her Masters of Education degree from the University of Southern Mississippi with a major in special education/learning disabilities; she taught in that field for ten years and served as district special education teacher consultant for two years. Susan loves to teach! The joy of watching students become excited about information that they might previously have found uninteresting is exhilarating to her. Since resigning from public school teaching, she has homeschooled her own children and helped others with their homeschooling. In addition to forming multiple children and youth church choirs, she has taught music classes at homeschool co-ops for eight years, taught private piano and voice lessons, and tutored students who were experiencing academic problems, particularly those students with learning disabilities or dyslexia. Contact: Noteablelessons [at] hotmail [dot] com (281) 844-1667

Karen Garza is a follower of Jesus Christ. God gave her a passion for science and the pursuit of learning coupled with a gift for teaching. Her beginning foundation in education was graduating valedictorian of her high school in 1977. At 19, she was certified as a paramedic and an American Red Cross certified teacher of CPR and first aid. When her path led her and her husband, Joey, to Houston she began pursuing a medical degree. She completed 60 hours, including honors biology and honors chemistry at U of H. In the fall of 1989, God instructed Karen to quit work and school and thus began her career as a full time mom and home school teacher. This is her 17^th year in home school education. Her 3 girls that were her first and most important students are Penny, Jennifer, and Esther. Penny graduated in 2004, then received her Associates Degree in 2006, and continues her college education today. In 2008, Jennifer’s high school graduation included 18 hours of dual college credit hours. Esther will be finishing high school in 2011. The Garzas were a founding family of the SHARE co-op in Spring and Karen was responsible for teaching science to the multiple grade levels for six years. She also taught junior high science with a lab utilizing a curriculum she put together to multiple students in her home for two years. From 1991 to 2004, she has been responsible for teaching God’s Word at church from toddlers to high schoolers in Sunday school, Children’s Church, and Wednesday night Youth Groups. Her most recent endeavor, Revelation Science Classes, http://geocities.com/revelationscience/, has focused on teaching science in a classroom set up with lab equipment instructing high school students in biology and chemistry utilizing the Apologia curriculum and Micro Chem lab enhancement. Her ministry to further science awareness has also included joining her husband as the administrators of the Texas Regional Science Fair beginning in 1997, www.texasregionalsciencefair.com. Karen has a vision of science being a tool to use to reveal the intricacies of God to students who in turn can use their knowledge to share the wonders and proofs of God that exist in our universe and are revealed through science. Teaching and instructing others is a ministry and an honor to her and she lives to be used by God to bring Him honor and glory. FYI – Joey and Karen celebrated their 26^th year of wedded bliss November 2007. The family attends Gateway Christian Fellowship in Hockley where Joey is the Worship Leader and their daughters, Jennifer and Esther, are members of the worship team with their dad, while Penny serves on the worship team in her church in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Contact Karen: revelationscience (at) sbcglobal (dot) net 281-370-6222 home, 832-483-9643 cell, and 7327 Root Road, Spring, TX 77389

Camille Goldston, a native Alabamian, is mother to six children and two children-in-law so far, and is grandmother to two grandsons. A twenty-year homeschooling veteran, Camille has also taught History classes (from Ancient to Modern) for the past nine years. She also teaches Economics, Government, and Logic. (Camille has studied Economics at Vanderbilt University, Government from the inimitable U of H Professor, the late Ross Lence, classical literature with Wes Callihan (www.schola-tutorial.com), and Christian Classical Education with Andrew Kern of the CiRCE Institute (www.circeinstitute.org). She currently works in CiRCE's classical rhetoric apprenticeship program using The Lost Tools of Writing (TM). Her knowledge and understanding she attributes to her teachers, but her mistakes are all her own. Camille has also helped write curricula for teaching History and for teaching Composition. She teaches classes with the purpose of cultivating wisdom and virtue in her students, and she has no greater joy than to hear that they walk in truth. www.whetstone.bz Contact: chg [at] whetstone [dot] bz or 832-646-5073.

Jack Hightower Teacher, principal and administrator for some 25 years in several private Christian schools in the Houston area, Jack Hightower majored in teaching in the Language Arts area, concentrating on Rhetoric, Composition, Essays and Literature for the past 25 years on the 7-12 grade levels. He has written and taught his own curriculum to students in Language Arts, middle school and high school; Social Studies, middle school and high school; and Bible, middle school and high school. He has also taught Latin I & II, with an introduction to Greek on 7-12 grade levels. While administrator of Sweetwater Christian School Jack developed and implemented an “umbrella” program for homeschool children to be able to take academic courses and participate in competition sports on the S.C.S. campus. He has attended several Summer Institutes at Rice and U of H for the purpose of becoming more proficient in teaching A.P. English Literature and Composition. He has been a presenter at several A.C.S.I. conventions over the years. Jack contributed to the framework of standards adopted by the I.C.A.A. (International Christian Accreditation Association) division of O.R.U.E.F. (Oral Roberts University Educational Fellowship) located in Tulsa, OK. Last and most important, Jack has mentored and tutored young people for the last 25 years in Biblical Life Skills and discipleship training for the ministry. Jack and his wife, Barbara, have two grown daughters and seven grandchildren. The Hightowers attend Freedom Fellowship in Magnolia. Mail all correspondence and checks to Debbie Gott, 9614 Dornoch Dr, Spring, TX 77379 Contact: jack_hghtwr [at] yahoo [dot] com or 713-377-0521

Sharon Hiley received her Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from the School of Business at Louisiana State University and worked as a Texas CPA for 10 years. Currently she is homeschooling three of her children and has two older children in college. The family is a member of St. David’s Church in Hockley, Texas. She desires to provide financial education to students to use in their personal lives and future businesses or as preparation for a business or accounting degree. Send registrations and check to Sharon Hiley, 12502 Ravensway Drive, Cypress, TX 77429. Contact Sharon sharonhiley [at] sbcglobal [dot] net 281-970-4065.

Cinde Matocha graduated from Southwest Texas State University in 1984 with a BS in Home Economics. She sold fine art in Austin, TX where she met and married her husband Gary. She studied art under Lee Hammond in Kansas City. Mrs. Hammond is best known for her art book series as well as being the official NASCAR artist. Cinde has taught art classes for home-schooled students ranging from grades k-12, summer classes, and camps. She currently teaches at Covenant Academy of Houston. She served as leader of the Harvest Christian School Home-school group for two years. She and her husband began home-schooling their two children in 2000. Daniel, 18, will graduate high school this May. Laina, 15, is finishing her freshman year at Klein Oak High School, where she is taking a stand for Christ. The family now attends church at Creeks End. Contact: 713-703-1254 or cmatocha [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

James S Qualls graduated from Texas A&M University with a bachelors degree in Industrial Distribution. He worked as a tutor and teaching assistant for several levels of math and science while in high school. He was a volunteer teacher at St David's Coop in 2007, where he taught Biology, Chemistry, Algebra I, Algebra II, and Advanced Math. He attends Tomball Bible Church, where he has worked with the junior high youth group. He is currently working for Digital Interactive Video Education, on the D.I.V.E math and science CDs. Mailing Address: 41910 N Mill Dr, Magnolia TX 77354. Contact: jsqualls [at] gmail [dot] com or 281-386-8656

Leatha Veronie graduated with honors from McNeese State University with a BS degree in Business and Home Economics. With this degree, which was designed for teaching adult education, she went on to work in an Abeka preschool and has sort of worked her way up from there. Leatha has been involved in different capacities with children’s ministries for 20 years. She has home educated her four daughters for 14 years, using lots of literature and creativity. While home educating, Leatha has continuously been involved as a teacher with different co-ops. She serves as a leader for the Northwest Homeschoolers Serving Christ organization, which plans social and service events for local homeschool youths. Her true joy, as well as her philosophy of education, has been to be able to teach children to love to learn and to know how to learn on their own. Leatha and Bill Veronie have been married for 23 years and attend Magnolia Bible Church. Mail all correspondence and checks to Debbie Gott at 9614 Dornoch Drive, Spring, TX 77379. Contact: billyveronie (at) comcast (dot) net 281.357.4580

(Note: We live in an age of spam bots. To minimize spam, email addresses have been disguised. Type all email addresses into your email program. We also live in an age of spamblockers. If you do not receive a reply, contact the teacher by phone.)