I live in Moscow, Idaho, and come from a long line of University of Idaho professors and graduates. Learning to love language was something that started for me in elementary school when my parents took us to live in the tiny desert town of Bobo Dioulasso in what had just become Burkina Faso. My siblings and I, not knowing a word of French, were dropped off at the local French school to sink or swim in a new language, country, and culture. Eventually, I was learning all of my subjects in French—math, grammar, history, music and everything else, and reading voraciously in both languages. I studied French and English at the University of Idaho, technical translation in France on a Rotary scholarship, and returned to the University of Idaho to complete my master’s degree in Teaching English as a Second Language. I went on to teach English in Japan for several years. My three children and I love to read together, cook, sew, learn about electronics, practice karate, and seek to bring everything we do under the banner of Christ. Teaching Philosophy The bedrock of my educational philosophy is Jesus. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). Because He is our Creator, we can count on such things as order and meaning, and we can assume that truth, beauty, and goodness exist, and we can aspire to them. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter” (Proverbs 25:2). What we call an education is simply learning how to search out a matter. Learning is hard but not pointless work, although I don't think students need to see the point of everything they learn right away. We aren’t just teaching them for the final exam or to get a good job. Rather, we’re preparing our students to fulfill their calling as kings. Statement of Faith I grew up in a loving Christian home, which had the most consistent impact on my faith because we had to move every couple of years and find new churches along the way, discovering that the body of Christ is beautiful everywhere and that God is our loving and faithful Father no matter where we are. For the last 15 years or so, I have been an evangelical Reformed Christian. I’m a member of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, holding to the Apostles’ Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Westminster Confession, among other confessions. Weekly communion, Biblical teaching, singing all the Psalms, and a godly, prayerful, hospitable, and Bible-reading community are a few of my favorite things about our church. Video Introduction [object Object]

I received a Christian education all the way through, from grade school at a small K-12 Christian school through my masters degree in Christian and Classical Studies at Knox Theological Seminary. To this day, I consider that education at every level to be one of the most foundational aspects of who I am. The value I placed on that education stuck out to me prior to my attending seminary, when in 2020 we saw many changes throughout the world. I felt better equipped to understand where to turn for truth in that tumultuous time due largely in part to a foundation of understanding the importance of worldview, critical thinking, and an acknowledgement that this is God's world. That is my primary aim as an educator: to teach students that this is God's world and we are responsible for learning how to act and interact in light of that fact, that He's shown us how to do so in His Word, and, in my particular field of interest, to lean into the fact that God does communicate to us through a Book, and that reading well helps us better learn to live to His glory. ###Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy draws from two inspirations. The first is the classical model of education, which I summarize as a "how to think, not what to think" model. Through the stages of grammar, logic, and rhetoric students learn how to understand facts and arguments, engage with those arguments, and formulate their own. The model makes critical thinkers and when coupled with an understanding of the sovereignty of God the Creator and the Lordship of Jesus Christ the Redeemer fuels an intellectually satisfying and spiritually mature understanding of the faith. My second inspiration is the benefit of proper expository preaching. Preaching done well is a model for reading well and it shows how to contextualize the objective nature of a text, read symbolism for what it truly points to in light of the objective, and draw right and true applications. This is the same objectives we need to strive for in a literature and writing course. ###Statement of Faith I believe in the historical Christian tradition which centers on the Creator God sending His Son Jesus Christ, truly God and truly man, to live a perfect life on behalf of sinful men, die the death man's sin warrants, and rise again to defeat death itself. That faith in Christ is the only means of salvation and it leads to a renewed heart and mind in which the Christian both bears the fruits of the Spirit and submits to the order of creation which God commands. More specifically, I hold to the theological distinctives of the Reformed Baptist tradition summed up theologically in the doctrines of total depravity (man's enslavement to sin to the extent that left to his own devices he is incapable of choosing to follow God), unconditional election (in which God, in spite of man's inability and lack of merit, draws some to come to saving faith before they have done either good or bad), limited or definite atonement (that Christ's death actually, effectually saved all who will come to Him and only those who will come to Him), irresistible grace (that the call of God upon unconditional election is not something that man can reject once it calls him in time), and the perseverance or preservation of the saints (that God will keep those He calls in the faith unto eternity). The Reformed tradition is also summed up in reference to the life of a believer in the five solas of the Reformation: Christians are saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone to the glory of God alone and ruled in final authority by the Scriptures alone.

Adam H. Condra is the Dean of Agape at Omnia Classical School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, where he has taught since 2011. A graduate of the Westminster School at Oak Mountain, Adam has been involved in classical education as either a student or a teacher for almost twenty-five years. He received his master classical teacher certification from The Circe Institute in 2024, and blogs at Polytropism, a Substack dedicated to classical education wherever it is found. He specializes in writing and the humanities and thinks that Diomedes is a greater hero than Achilles or Hector.

New England Consortium of Classical Educators was founded by Sarah Abbott, Timothy Knotts, and Heatherly Sylvia in 2022 in partnership with Kepler Education. NECCE exists to point New Englanders to the unifying Truth found in Christ and His creation, the Good of fellowship with like-minded individuals, and the Beauty reflected in great works of literature, science, and art, through teaching, conversation, and conferences. Whether you are affiliated with a classical school, are a classical homeschooler, or are a life-long learner interested in redeeming your education alongside fellow New Englanders, the NECCE will have something to support you.

THE CONSORTIUM OF CLASSICAL EDUCATORS IS AN INITIATIVE OF KEPLER EDUCATION TO PROVIDE RESOURCES AND REGIONAL CONNECTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN FAMILIES, TEACHERS, AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO EXPAND THE REACH OF CLASSICAL EDUCATION AND FOSTER HUMAN FLOURISHING FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

William Daniels is an active pianist and teacher in Orlando, FL. He completed his Bachelor of Music in Music Theory and Composition at Florida State University, and his Master of Arts in Piano Performance at the University of Central Florida. He taught college level Music Theory and Ear Training courses as a Graduate Associate at UCF and as an adjunct instructor at Johnson University. William has taught piano privately for several years, has served on the board of the Central Florida Music Teachers Association, and adjudicated piano competitions. As a collaborative pianist, he is frequently called to perform and rehearse with the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera Orlando, Alterity Chamber Orchestra, and the University of Central Florida. He serves as the organist for St. Paul's Presbyterian Church and choir pianist at The Geneva School, a private Christian Classical school. He is also an experienced jazz pianist with several jazz piano students. William enjoys God's abundant grace living with his wife, playing with and catechizing his four kids, and ending each day in family worship. ###Teaching Philosophy My mission is to illuminate the joy of music and cultivate musical excellence in communities to multiply thanksgiving to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. The student of music ought to recognize the voice of God telling forth His eternal power and divine nature through the patterns of musical experience. Every thought about music that lacks such a recognition or cognizance of God’s self-revelation is erroneous and undermines the process of learning. True learning is only possible when the student is taught alongside and through the Scriptures. The student of music ought to desire the worship of God to be the end that their musical training achieves. This goal will regulate what music-related content they master and will provide a true, incorruptible ground for continual pursuit of such mastery. I encourage students to be passionate about music. Following their passions, I challenge them to clearly understand and articulate their conceptions of what is good, beautiful, and practical in the music. As C. S. Lewis put it, "I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation." ###Statement of Faith As a member of St. Paul's Presbyterian Church (PCA) I subscribe to the Westminster Standards of Faith. I believe they are an accurate and useful summary of Biblical doctrine. I believe that God has glorified Himself in Christ by His death and resurrection, and that Christ will return to save His people and judge His enemies. I believe in the authority, inspiration, profitability, inerrancy, and sufficiency of Scripture as God’s revelation to man. I believe that the sacrifice of Christ on the cross was necessary to propitiate God’s wrath towards sinful man. I believe that, Christ’s sacrifice having accomplished perfectly the redemption of God’s people, there is no other way to avoid God’s just punishment of sin, and all have sinned. I believe that by faith one becomes the proper recipient of God’s grace of forgiveness and an heir of eternal life through the resurrection of Christ. Finally, I know that God, out of His infinite love and incomprehensible mercy, has redeemed me, reconciled myself to Him, and promised eternal life in His presence to me. I know that Christ, my Lord and Lord of all, died for me; He suffered and exhausted all of God's just wrath due to me for all of my transgressions of God’s law, past, present, and future. I praise God each day for the unwavering hope of glory, His sanctifying work in me by His Spirit who conforms me into the image of His Son, Jesus Christ, and seeing Him at work in others, transforming them by His grace. ###Video Introduction <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/583081738?h=7603952f4f&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="William Daniels - Music and Creation"></iframe>

Cheryl Floyd, married since 1990 and homeschooling seven children since 1996, earned a Humanities degree with honors at Faulkner University. She is pursuing an MA in Classical and Liberal Arts Education with Belmont Abbey, and will finish a Latin certification with CiRCE in May 2026. She has tutored, directed, and spoken for Classical Conversations, taught at local co-ops, proposed, prepared, and presented a Homeschooling 101, two day conference, offered Vacation Mom School in the summer, and presented at CiRCE's Gathering Conference, as well as taught with CiRCE's Online Academy. Cheryl obtained her CiRCE Apprenticeship Master Teacher Certificate under the mentorship of Dr. Matthew Bianco in 2021. She often brings up Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter as examples in class. #geekteacher Educational Philosophy: Students are made in the image of God and therefore deserve to be respected, and also to show respect as this dignifies their souls. As far as instruction, every lesson ought to encompass a form of truth, goodness, and/or beauty. Every student is created to know truth, goodness, and beauty. These things want to be known, which means they can be perceived. Because God has made things this way, students can be taught to perceive them. In the midst of this is the ability and art of crafting lessons and assessments that help students to perceive these things of God.

Born and raised in the small midwestern city of Taylorville, I grew up absorbed in my own imagination: reading all the fantasy stories I could get my hands on, watching all of the adventure movies that came through the local theater, and trying my own hand at the craft of storytelling...as evidenced by a bedroom cluttered with spiral notebooks containing dozens of half-finished stories. It was good that my interests lay in the creative sphere, as there was never much else to do in a city surrounded on all sides by undulating vistas of cornfields. My love for Star Wars movies, Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and the Disney animated classics inspired me to become a filmmaker, and I made it all the way to my senior year of high school in possession of some vague notion that I would probably go to film school. A handful of circumstances, however, dissuaded me from that notion. First, I grew frustrated that my amateur attempts at filming were constantly thwarted due to unreliable/unmotivated actors (which, in retrospect, is entirely understandable...after all, the casts consisted entirely of my unpaid circle of friends who had nothing else to do on the weekends). At the same time, my imagination was beginning to be captured not by movies, but by literature. I had always been an avid reader, but I now began to read not just with an eye toward entertainment, but toward emulation. Literature appealed to me over movies in that the creator was limited by nothing except their own imagination...and their grasp of the English language. Actors, props, CGI budgets...what mattered these to a novelist? I began to study how to paint the perfect scene in my readers' minds, how to write smooth-flowing and natural dialogue, how to structure a story so that all the elements came together into a harmonious whole. And the more I wrote, the more I read; these two loves nurtured each other and led me to the determination of seeking a degree in English studies. I attended the University of Illinois in Springfield, which was conveniently only a thirty minute drive or so from home, and for years I was kept pleasurably busy with readings both required by coursework as well as wherever my inclination led. Shakespeare, Dickens, and Victor Hugo became as familiar friends to me as Tolkien and C.S. Lewis had been (and still are). I earned my Bachelor's in English, and then stayed on for my Master's as well. All the while, I continued with my own writing and eventually produced a novel that I believed was at least worth a publisher's passing glance. After a year or so of failing to solicit the attention of either a literary agent or a publisher, I determined to start my own publishing company, CirrusPress. The company is still in existence (as is the novel) although the anticipated release date for the latter is forthcoming...though I can only hope not indefinitely. During this time, I worked as a substitute teacher at all grade levels in the various local school districts, as well as an independent tutor and a graduate assistant. I have also put on puppet shows for kindergarten classrooms, and started a YouTube channel on which I (admittedly infrequently) upload mini-lectures on Shakespeare's plays and other great books. Since then, I have worked as an adjunct English instructor at the University of Illinois, alongside my old professors. My students have been mostly freshman, and my courses include Critical Reading, Rhetoric and College Writing, and College Writing and Civic Engagement. These courses all have a heavy emphasis on rhetoric and composition, as well as research writing. As for hobbies...did I mention that I read a lot? Aside from that, I enjoy cycling on the 15-mile bike trail that cuts through many of those aforementioned cornfields, as well as playing chess and backgammon with friends at the local pizza restaurant where I used to work as a busboy. ###Teaching Philosophy To undertake the task of teaching is no small thing. I believe that it requires someone with a very specific personality and outlook on life. At the risk of sounding grandiose, it is more of a calling than a career, and for those who profess the Christian faith, it is a duty. "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient, In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves" (2 Timothy 2:24-25a). Regardless of the subject, a poor teacher with little patience and no sense of purpose in their own vocation can turn a student away from that subject forever. I begin every class I have taught by encouraging my students to question, "So What?" of any topic we might be covering. It can be a nerve-wracking question sometimes, but it is one that is equally important for both the teacher to be able to answer and for the student to assure themselves of. The teacher must believe that what they are doing has value, has meaning, and the student must be convinced that their time in the classroom is well-spent. My answer to such a question (especially in regard to humanities courses) invariably comes back to the same idea. It's not just about teaching the texts, it's about a type of self-betterment: the growth of the student's worldview and critical thinking skills, as well as a deeper appreciation for the common heritage that they share with the great thinkers and writers of the past. Great literature shows us the heights and the depths of the human soul from enough of a distance to be able to reflect rationally upon what we have witnessed. Composition enables us to crystalize our wayward thoughts and see them laid out in an orderly fashion, as well as to express our desires to others without resorting to brute force; as the critic Wayne Booth says, "The only real alternative to rhetoric is war." I can only hope that, even on bad days, my teaching style reflects the seriousness with which I take the profession. But how is one to instill this sense of importance in the students? It was my high school English teacher who inspired me to want to teach, and to this day my teaching philosophy largely strives to accomplish in my students what his lectures accomplished in me: he made these strange, seemingly inaccessible texts relevant to our daily lives. In his classroom, Beowulf and Macbeth became living personalities in which I and many other students recognized a shocking resemblance to ourselves and our relatively mundane struggles. Reading great works of literature never felt like homework...it was entertaining, and it felt like growth. I also try to emulate his habit of responding to student writing with earnest engagement, so that the students feel that their instructor is taking what they have to say seriously, and that they are making unique contributions to the class' undertaking of whatever text is being discussed. One of my greatest enjoyments of teaching is when a student writes an essay or makes a comment that makes me see a treasured novel or a familiar topic in an entirely new light. It is then that I know that the student thought about the text and made it their own, and also that my understanding of the text has deepened as well. ###Statement of Faith Though I grew up in a nominally Christian household with a belief in God, the resurrection of Christ, heaven, and hell, I do not believe that I became a truly born-again Christian until around the time I was twelve or thirteen years old. And after that, I do not believe that I became serious about my faith until I was twenty-three. The ten-year gap was mostly spent worrying about the things that teenagers tend to worry about, and it was only when I began attending college that I started to earnestly search for the reasons as to why I believed what I professed to believe, which led me to the study of apologetics. At the same time, a better understanding of my own sinful nature (and that I wasn't really the "pretty good person" I had always presupposed myself to be) led me to a deeper understanding of my relationship to God and of why the substitutionary death of Christ was so necessary for me to be accepted of God. Since then, time spent in prayer and reading the Bible has become an integral part of my daily routine. Although I attend a local nondenominational church (Taylorville Christian Church) and consider myself a nondenominational Christian (I have long held concerns that to align oneself with one particular group approximates the "Apollos vs. Paul" controversy of 1 Corinthians) I have found that my personal beliefs most closely resemble those of Baptist denominations. Below is my statement of faith regarding what I would consider to be essential doctrines; 1. I believe that the Eternal God created all things by Jesus Christ (Ephesians 3:9) in the beginning of time (John 1:1-3); that God created mankind in his own image (Genesis 1:26-27) and that through experience of the created world man could come to know God (Romans 1:20-21). However, by the transgression of Adam sin entered into the world (Romans 5:12) and all of mankind are dead in trespasses and sin (Romans 3:10-12). 2. I believe that Jesus Christ came to earth, God manifest in the flesh (1 Timothy 3:16), in order to free mankind from the wages of sin and save us by grace through our faith (Ephesians 2:1-9) in his death, burial, and resurrection (1 Corinthians 15:1-4); that through acceptance of Jesus Christ as one's personal savior and asking for the forgiveness of one's sins (Romans 10:9-10), we can know that we have eternal life (John 3:16). I believe that after salvation, the Christian is eternally secure (Ephesians 1:13 & 4:30) through God's grace, not by any works of righteousness that man can do (Titus 3:5). 3. I believe in the nature of the triune Godhead of God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Ghost (1 John 5:7); that these three are separate, yet equal in power and authority (Colossians 2:9). 4. I believe that the Bible is the divinely inspired, perfectly preserved word of God (Psalm 12:6-7) and is the final authority in all matters of faith and practice for Christians today (2 Timothy 3:15). It is through scripture that we can learn about God and his purpose for us, as well as be assured of our salvation through Jesus Christ (1 John 5:10-13). I'm almost surely leaving something out, so perhaps it would be best to say in summation that I'm confident my beliefs accord with both the Apostles' and the Nicene Creeds, as well as Church thought throughout the centuries. ###Video Introduction <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/582742236?h=befbdeb70d&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="Ryan Griffiths - Monsters as Metaphors"></iframe>

I began my teaching career getting to teach a weekly class to middle school students on art techniques as a 20-year-old volunteer and substitute. It has blossomed into a love for training young people and finding beauty amidst the creation in both literature and visual art. I coached and taught in multiple secular institutes then had the privilege before having my own children to teach using Montessori concepts in the Dominican Republic but as our family grew beyond two, we decided my job was training and nurturing our own. Those sectors of education always felt lacking because they were detached from the Bible. After staying home for many years, God paved His way for me to go back into the classroom part time at the Classical Christian School my children had been attending where I developed and implemented a Pre-K curriculum and instituted an artist of the month curriculum. As the needs of the school grew, I transitioned to the kindergarten teacher and built on the artist of the month curriculum. God has opened the door for us to homeschool our children and the opportunity also presented itself for me pursue a master’s in liberal arts at the University of St. Thomas where I chose a focus in Art History. I enjoy getting to read the classics and discuss the deep literature along with pursuing art, which is a love of mine. In this new adventure of homeschooling, I have also found great enjoyment in learning Latin alongside my younger three, which surprised me. Other enjoyments for me would include adventuring the trails of Arkansas and creating things that range from paper crafts like cards to knitting and sewing. Throughout my life, I can see God’s hand in guiding me to a place to disciple children, so it was no wonder that the secular institutes left a hole. Today, I am grateful for His leading me to this understanding that without the biblical world view there is no right view and in that the importance of not just sharing and scripting out who God is but showing it through the Good, the True, and the Beautiful. ###Teaching Philosophy Classical education is a pedagogy rooted in Christian beliefs. It encompasses a training of the Biblical world view in which all subject matters are interwoven with God and how he sees the world. As a parent and as an educator, I believe discipling the hearts of my children and students to be of the utmost importance. As a Christian educator I desire to push students to do their best to honor the Lord with all their hand finds to do, to open their eyes and explore the wonder of the world around them and to see the many beauties of the world God has created. I find it important to expose students to as many good and beautiful things as possible while encouraging the love of learning through wonder and leisure. I desire to come alongside the parents of students to plant seeds for the future or tend the garden already growing. It is God’s great design to continue growing both ourselves and others. ###Statement of Faith### I grew up in a Church of Christ and then a Christian church. My husband and I attended Baptist churches for a long while before becoming more reformed in our beliefs. While we currently are attending Covenant Presbyterian Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, our membership and hearts still reside with Providence Church of Pensacola. This is where we learned of the CREC theology under the leadership of Dr. Uri Brito. It was there that the beauty of liturgy and tradition became alive in our hearts and enlightened our family.

Danae grew up in Salem, Oregon and attended a local classical Christian school. In 3rd grade she was introduced to Latin, and it quickly became her favorite subject. In high school she had a dynamic Latin teacher who really made Latin come alive and feel like a real language; it was then, at age 15, she knew God was calling her to be a Latin teacher who makes Latin fun and profitable for her students. With that goal in mind, Danae moved to Moscow, Idaho in 2010 and attended New Saint Andrew's College (NSA), where she took every Latin class she could. While in college she taught a few math and science classes at a local homeschool coop, and also worked for NSA tutoring other Latin students. She then spent the next 8 years teaching junior high and high school Latin at Logos School (Moscow, ID), where she spent her days acting out Latin words and scenes, simplifying difficult grammar concepts, and encouraging students to make Latin their own. Jordan Harlow married Danae in 2017, and they now have two children. Danae is thankful to be able to still teach Latin by teaching online for Kepler. Danae's hobbies include teaching horse riding lessons, acting in community theater, and singing in the church choir. Teaching Philosophy To know the facts is not enough - true learning only takes place when a student can use the material in their own way, and understand it on its own terms. This is why Danae's goal in teaching is to get the students to go beyond memorizing paradigms and vocabulary, and to rather understand Latin as a real and living language. Through reading, composing, and speaking, students are taught not only how to learn Latin, but how to learn any language. God created this wonderful world, and to learn another language is to learn a whole new way to understand and discuss his creation. Danae loves to see her students realize that they can, even in a first or second year Latin class, start to see words and ideas in a different way, and that they can read and understand this other language like their own. In a few short years, students would then be able to access first-hand rich classical and Christian texts, and to read them almost like they would read English. Statement of Faith Danae is a Reformed Christian who believes in the lordship of God the Father, the atonement of God the Son, and sanctification of God the Spirit. She grew up in a Christian home, and was baptized as a young believer. She is a member at Emmanuel Reformed Church (a recent plant of Trinity Reformed Church) in Moscow, ID. Video Introduction [object Object] [object Object]

George Harrell grew up in the foothills of northern Idaho, where he immersed himself in the classics, both old and new, as well as the historical worlds that created them. He graduated with an MA in Trinitarian Theology and Letters from New Saint Andrews College in 2013. Since then he has developed and taught online high school courses in the humanities, in addition to writing and public lecturing. Teaching Philosophy One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a lifelong passion for learning. Teachers should exemplify this mindset, emphasizing that learning is a gift that extends beyond formal education. We need to honor the wisdom of our ancestors, striving to understand their beliefs and not take them for granted or reject them out of hand. Our education should always pursue what is true, beautiful, and good, and should seek out the embedded order and design that God has built into creation, while also creatively exploring its complexity and nuance. Statement of Faith I hold to the historic Christian faith taught in scripture and the ecumenical creeds. Christ is the unapproachable and everlasting light that guides our understanding, and it is through the love shared in Him, for one another and all creation that we are able to apprehend His love for us. This continually motivates us to apply that love in our study of ourselves, our world, and our Maker as we seek to be conformed to the image of our God. Parent and Student Feedback "George (Mr. Harrell), Just wanted to thank you, as a homeschool mom, for the way that you teach and pour into your online classes. The boys always enjoy having you. Your excitement is what keeps them engaged and trying hard. The way that you get to personally know them is also greatly appreciated because often the 'personal' is lost in online settings. You try to get to know your students a little better which causes them to enjoy the class and look forward to the meeting time each week. You really want them to have fun learning and I think you pull it off very well. It has been a pleasure to have you teach several of our children. I only wish we had found you sooner. We highly recommend your classes. Thanks for everything! Kelly Rietema" "Thank you so much Mr. Harrell for teaching me this year! This class was wonderful! It both stretched and interested me and I am very thankful to have learned US history from you!" - Grace "Definitely the best history class I have ever taken. I’ve never been so invested in a topic, and also so sad to leave a class." - Dylan Podcast Interviews with George Harrell: Kepler Consortium Podcast: Ep. 53 – George Harrell and Our Classical Inheritance More Christ: Episode 128: George Harrell: Idols of American History, Kepler Education & the George Buchanan Forum Kepler Conversations: Kepler Conversations - George Harrell

Barbara S. Helmkamp has a Ph.D. in physics from Louisiana State University (1995) and an engineering degree in physics from Colorado School of Mines (1986). Between undergraduate and graduate studies she worked in petroleum engineering (petrophysics) for the Shell Companies in New Orleans. This is where she met her husband, Bob. Barbara’s goal in obtaining her doctorate in physics was to teach at the college level, preferably at a Christian school, or to return to Shell Oil Company and work in a research capacity. However, being home with and for her children won out over working full-time, and she has since found much joy in secondary education. In 2007, having been asked to teach “Integrated Physics and Chemistry” at her daughters’ church school (St Mark, Houston), she also completed a course of study in theology through Concordia University Texas including studies in Old Testament, New Testament, Church History, and the Lutheran Confessions. Barbara especially enjoys speaking the gospel of Jesus Christ to students in a teaching context while bringing Scriptures and theology to bear on the subject matter. Now, for various reasons, she prefers teaching at a classical Christian high school or college via distance learning; that is, online. Barbara and Bob are members at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church (LC‒MS) in Elizabeth, Colorado. Now fully retired, Bob had done engineering consulting out of the home, having retired from Shell Oil Company in 2008 when the family moved from Houston to Denver. Their daughters were schooled from home for their secondary grades (8-12+) with their mother teaching them all of their mathematics (geometry through calculus and statistics) and physical sciences (physics and chemistry). Both now grown and flown, the older daughter (married with children) works parttime as an ICU rehab nurse, and the younger daughter (married) is a nuclear engineer. Most importantly, both are faithful Christians in their confession and life. Besides teaching physics/chemistry and mathematics, Barbara’s interests include creation science apologetics, classical and sacred music (as her church pianist/organist), and various sports (tennis, skiing, hiking). Notably, she has presented numerous lectures relating science and Scripture in Sunday Bible classes and other venues ranging from Vacation Bible School to talk-radio. Teaching Philosophy My philosophy of education is that content is of primary importance, being normed by the Scriptures as God’s word, the only infallible words of truth. For example, the books and articles that are read by students, including those used to teach reading, are of greater important than reading for the sake of being able to read. The same idea certainly carries over into the sciences (natural philosophy). Teaching that which is good, beautiful, and true, in all subject areas and at all academic levels (trivium, quadrivium), is unquestionably the goal of a classical Christian education. A faithful, confessing Christian teacher is of co-prime importance, being essential because education necessarily encompasses works (including textbooks) that fall short of these virtues to varying degrees and need norming. In fact, teaching that which is good, beautiful, and true must also include works depicting the opposite characteristics, by way of helping students distinguish good from evil, ugliness from beauty, and lies from truth in this fallen world where Satan, the father of lies, disguises himself as an angel of light (John 8:44; 2 Cor. 11:14), though such studies should generally wait until students are past the grammar stage in the literary sense as well as in age/maturity. Thus, the teacher himself must be normed by God’s word, having a worldview founded on the Triune God as Creator and Redeemer – which necessarily means he understands the Creation and Redemption accounts in Genesis and the Gospels to be truthful (factual, historical) – as he facilitates critical engagement in any given topic. That is, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight.” (Prov. 9:10) Importantly, this science teacher acknowledges the historicity of the Genesis account as does the Lord Himself (Matt. 24: 37-39; Mark 10:6; Luke 3:38, 11:50-1, 17:26-7) and his apostles (Acts 17:24-7; Rom. 1:18-20, 5:12, 8:19-20; I Cor. 15: 21-2; 1 Pet. 3:20; 2 Pet. 2:5, 3:3-6), albeit implicitly. That is, Genesis chapter one is God’s own account (penned by Moses) of His Creation Ex Nihilo in six natural days some 6000 years ago (Gen. 5, 11; Luke 3) and Genesis chapters 6-9 describe a catastrophic global flood that profoundly impacted the earth's geology and in which all land animals and mankind perished save those on the ark. Statement of Faith Barbara and her husband Bob are members at Christ Our Savior Lutheran Church (LC‒MS) in Elizabeth, Colorado (Rev. Geoffrey Wagner). I (Barbara) confess the Faith using the Apostles' Creed and related portions of Luther's Small Catechism, as follows: I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth. What does this mean? I believe that God has made me and all creatures; that He has given me my body and soul, eyes, ears, and all my members, my reason, and all my senses, and still takes care of them, he also gives me clothing and shoes, food and drink, house and home, wife and children, land, animals and all that I have; He richly and daily provides me with all that I need to support this body and life, protects me from all danger, and guards me and defends me from all evil; and all this he does out of fatherly, divine goodness and mercy, without any merit or worthiness in me; for all this it is my duty to thank, praise, serve and obey him. And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord; who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; He descended into hell; the third day He rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead. What does this mean? I believe that Jesus Christ, true God, begotten of the Father from eternity, and also true man, born of the Virgin Mary, is my Lord, who has redeemed me, a lost and condemned creature, purchased and won me from all sins, from death, and from the power of the devil, not with gold or silver, but with His holy, precious blood and with His innocent suffering and death, in order that I may be [wholly] His own, and live under Him in His kingdom, and serve Him in everlasting righteousness, innocence, and blessedness, even as He is risen from the dead, lives and reigns to all eternity. This is most certainly true. I believe in the Holy Ghost; one holy Christian Church, the communion of saints; the forgiveness of sins; the resurrection of the body; and the life everlasting. Amen. What does this mean? I believe that I cannot by my own reason or strength believe in Jesus Christ, my Lord, or come to Him; but the Holy Ghost has called me by the Gospel, enlightened me with His gifts, sanctified and kept me in the true faith; even as He calls, gathers, enlightens, and sanctifies the whole Christian Church on earth, and keeps it with Jesus Christ in the one true faith; in which Christian Church He forgives daily and richly all sins to me and all believers, and at the last day will raise up me and all the dead, and will give to me and to all believers in Christ everlasting life. This is most certainly true.

Junius Johnson is an independent scholar, teacher, musician, and writer. He is currently the executive director of Junius Johnson Academics, through which he offers innovative courses designed to heighten students' sense of the wonder and mystery of the world we inhabit. Junius has scholarly expertise in philosophical and historical theology, especially the Medieval period, and in Classical and Medieval literature. He holds a BA from Oral Roberts University, a Master of Arts in Religion from Yale Divinity School, and an MA, two MPhils, and a PhD from Yale University. He is the author of 5 books, including *The Father of Lights: A Theology of Beauty* and *On Teaching Fairy Stories*. As a teacher, Junius was a Lecturer in Latin and Theology at Yale Divinity School for 7 years and an assistant professor in Great Texts at Baylor University for 6 years. In addition, he has taught both in public school, a homeschool coop, and a small classical school, for which he also served as headmaster. A professional french horn player, Junius has performed on three continents and recorded on 6 albums and the soundtrack for Rian Johnson’s film, *The Brothers Bloom*. He is an honorary member of the United States Army Field Band and the Royal Bermuda Regiment Band, and is the founder and horn emeritus for the quintet *Brass*. ###Teaching Philosophy For me, the goal of teaching is not primarily the transfer of information (which lies so readily available these days), but the sharpening of habits of mind that make the student prompt to see through fallacious reasoning and to find avenues of creative exploration that the student is perhaps uniquely situated to discover. Teaching aims at the creation of another like the teacher. I aim above all to model for my students and to develop in them the combination of a due sense of wonder in the face of mysteries both created and uncreated. But at the same time, I want to model and develop rigor, expressed in precision and concision. Both rigor and wonder are applicable to every area of human endeavor, and they are essential to a healthy intellectual life. Finally, I believe that learning happens best in the context of joy, and so I strive to foster a classroom environment that is fun and playful, without sacrificing depth of engagement. With me, students find room for their voice, find their minds and hearts challenged, and do all of this in a fellowship of like-souled friends. ###Statement of Faith I am deeply committed to the historical Christian faith as expressed in the Apostle's, Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds, in the ecumenical councils, and in the works of the theologians through the ages. As a theologian, I strive to see the mysteries of the faith brought to bear on the way I view the world: that is to say, not just to believe in the Trinity, but to see reality as trinitarian. While my own sensibilities are fairly liturgical and sacramental, I have spent significant time worshiping in every major expression of the Christian faith. I am sacramental in my spirituality, and also Evangelical, with a little bit of Charismatic thrown in, lest I forget that my understanding and the expectations of the modern world set no limit to the range of possibilities for God's far-reaching grace.

I hail from the state of Missouri, where I live 60 minutes from Mark Twain's hometown and 30 minutes from where Winston Churchill delivered his famous "Iron Curtain" speech after World War II. (And my Scottish terrier is named "Winston" to boot!) I grew up in St. Louis and graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a degree in broadcast journalism. I worked as a reporter and news anchor for several years until I had two daughters. I educated them at home from kindergarten through high school. After that, I worked as a teacher for a private Christian school. Later, I enrolled in the Circe Institute's Teaching Apprenticeship program and graduated from there in 2021. I have been working as an online instructor of rhetorical writing and classical literature for the past five years. My loves are my God, my husband, my children, my stepchildren, and my grandbabies. I enjoy history, gardening, drinking black tea, hiking, and traveling. I love all things British and Irish, as well. Teaching Philosophy My philosophy of education focuses on the fact that Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life." (John 14:6) and that "Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made." (John 1:3). To me, one of God's greatest gifts to the world is language, which when formed and influenced well can elevate and bless individual human sould and the entire world. I believe that truth is knowable, and that the best education arises when all learners seek that truth in community and in conversation.My teaching style is a classical, Christian approach using mimetic instruction and Socratic discussion. My goal is to woo my students into seeking truth, goodness, and beauty so that they will desire to plant justice, grace, and goodness wherever life takes them. I pray for my students regularly. Statement of Faith I am an orthodox Christian believer, according to the principles stated in the Nicene creed. My family and I have attended the same non-denominational Christian church for more than 30 years.

Gladys Kober has a master’s degree in Extragalactic Astrophysics from Observatório Nacional, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. She currently works as a data analyst and image processor at GSFC/NASA. Her tasks at NASA include producing color composite images from the Hubble Space Telescope for press release. She also works as adjunct faculty at Montgomery College where she teaches Astronomy 101. She was born in Brazil, lived 3 years in Chile and has been living in the USA since 1999. In 2015, together with other professional astronomers who are believers, she published a high school textbook to teach astronomy and introduce students to the science & faith dialogue. The curriculum includes many interviews with Christian professional astronomers that we hope will inspire the next generation. Teaching Philosophy### Research shows that young adults are leaving the church at alarming rates and confusion between science and faith plays an important role in this unfortunate abandonment of faith. I want to make a difference and contribute to change these statistics. I believe that a classroom should be a safe place to ask difficult questions as we navigate the crossroads of science and faith. I like to encourage students to search for truth in every area. I want them to understand that Christians have nothing to fear concerning recent advances in science but should always be prepared to give a sound answer in defense of their faith. I have a passion for sharing with students about the fingerprints of God in the universe that science unveils. My goal is to equip them to face the secular world with confidence by engaging in thoughtful dialogue. Statement of Faith### I grew up going to church and became a Christian very early in life. During my college years, while pursuing a career in Astronomy I had a deep existential crisis and started to question my faith. Being aware of the amazing wisdom and ingenuity that underlies the laws of physics, I would never choose atheism. I knew there was a Creator, a great Architect for this universe and I knew He was very POWERFUL. However, for 2 long years, I wasn’t sure about the identity of the Designer of the universe. If He was an impersonal deity, force or someone I could have a relationship with. The God of Christianity was everything I would like to exist: a God that forgives, loves, calls you by name and shows amazing grace. But at the time there was a disconnect between these two Gods: One, the Creator of the universe that I knew existed and was extremely powerful. The other, the God of Christianity, that I would like to exist but wasn’t sure. At the time I could not see the power of God in my own life, so I kept searching and asking questions. The church I was attending in Rio at the time had a ministry with the homeless. In this ministry I observed deep life transformations. I saw the power of Jesus to restore and change lives rescuing people from addiction, violence, crime, abandonment. Not only Jesus’ power convinced me, but I also realized the love and forgiveness offered by Jesus was too generous to be a story invented by humans. Even though I have experienced other crisis in life, Jesus keeps showing me His grace when I fail. I’m fascinated by His personality and by His love. He is my reason for hope and joy, and I could not imagine living without Him.

Garrett League obtained his doctorate in biology from Vanderbilt and conducted postdoctoral research at Cornell, where he helped teach and or design a number of courses. His research has focused on entomology (the study of insects) and infectious diseases. He has been a member of the Entomological Society of America, the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, the American Society of Parasitologists, and Sigma Xi. Garrett also earned degrees in biology from Baylor, where he studied developmental genetics, and Texas Christian, where he studied biology, art, and art history. In addition to science and art, Garrett has a lifelong love for the Bible, as well as an admiration for Renaissance men like Johannes Kepler whose deep faith and broad expertise seamlessly bridged the sciences and the humanities. You can find his writings, including his personal newsletter Pen & Spear, at the League of Believers (garrettpleague.substack.com), an online ministry dedicated to repentance and renewal in the American Church. Born and raised in Southern California, he and his wife now homeschool their three young children outside of Fort Worth, Texas. Teaching Philosophy To adapt a famous line attributed to Thomas Edison, "Teaching is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration." Perspiration and inspiration, sweat and Spirit—these are the indispensable marks of teaching that makes a lifelong, and indeed an eternal, difference. I pour my heart, mind, and soul into teaching preparation, immersing myself in the subject matter until I can no longer keep it to myself (Jeremiah 20:9): "Your message burns in my heart and bones, and I cannot keep silent." This work takes up most of my time and energy, and while there is sweat on the brow by the end of it, I count it a blessing, rather than a curse (Genesis 3:17–19). I expect my students to join me in these joyful labors, learning to embrace the plowing, sowing, and watering of learning, namely, the reading, writing, recitation, etc., so that God can give the increase of knowledge—especially the knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 9:10; 1 Corinthians 3:6). In teaching, my goal is to convert this preparatory work into spiritual fuel for setting hearts and minds ablaze with enthusiasm for the manifold witnesses to God in scripture, science, and the other liberal arts (Luke 24:32): "Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked to us on the road, while He opened to us the scriptures?" This is the work of the Spirit in our lives (1 Corinthians 2:14), and it is only this kind of inward soul combustion, fueled by discoveries that steal our breath, widen our eyes, and bring chills to our skin, that can propel us into lives of spirited growth as disciples, that is, "learners," of Christ. Education by the Spirit and for the spirit helps us avoid the stagnation of "ever learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth" (2 Timothy 3:7). Head knowledge is necessary, but insufficient—alone, it merely puffs us up while tearing others down, but coupled with a heart filled with love, it humbles us while building others up (1 Corinthians 8:1). Although moments of true enlightenment and revelation in learning may seem few and far between, they are truly life-changing (Ephesians 1:17, 18), treasures worth digging for like hopeless prospectors, and selling all to obtain once discovered (Matthew 13:44–46). "Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her" (Proverbs 8:10, 11). Transformative instruction of the sort I have been describing, the kind that not only makes us better men and women but new creatures altogether, is epitomized, at least in my mind, by the two great mentors that a young lad named Jack Lewis (later known to his readers as C. S. Lewis) first encountered at age 16. First, the imposing William T. Kirkpatrick, aka, the "Great Knock," whose tutelage was logical and devastating, bold and bracing, inspiring and unsparing. This is the sweat, the bone-stiffening, muscle-building labor that yields the great reward (Proverbs 14:23; 1 Corinthians 3:8; Colossians 3:23, 24). Second, the romantic poet and minister George MacDonald, whom Lewis fittingly describes meeting in heaven in his "imaginative supposal" The Great Divorce: "I tried, trembling, to tell this man all that his writings had done for me. I tried to tell how a certain frosty afternoon at Leatherhead Station when I first bought a copy of Phantastes had been to me what the first sight of Beatrice had been to Dante: Here begins the New Life." I want to be this sort of mentor and guide for my students. I want them to remember where they were, and what the weather was like, on the day when the truths we explore together first landed on them with full force, like the train that struck Lewis’ soul that day at the railway station in Surrey, propelling it upwards into heaven. The science fiction writer Ray Bradbury once said that we must preach, rather than merely teach, science, and indeed we must, for the world that we inhabit is a cathedral designed to draw us up into the worship of its divine Architect and Builder—God (Hebrews 3:3, 11:10). I see my role in teaching students as that of a minister laboring to keep the fire of the knowledge of God burning in my life (1 Thessalonians 5:19) so that I may in turn fan into flame the sparks of learning I see in others (2 Timothy 1:6). This is the legacy of Classical Christian Education, of the old paths and the good way (Jeremiah 6:16). As Thomas More famously stated "tradition is the handing down of the flame and not the worshipping of ashes." I pray my life’s efforts as an educator help to pass this bright and burning torch along, not only to my students, but to all who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). Statement of Faith I believe the Bible is the inspired, infallible, and inerrant word of God—as a biologist, I bow the knee to the truth of scripture and happily conduct all of my science education safely within its spacious, liberating confines (Psalm 18:30; Proverbs 30:5, 6; Galatians 5:1). I believe God created the entire cosmos and all its inhabitants out of nothing in the span of a single work week consisting of six solar days roughly six millennia ago (Genesis 1, 5, etc.; Exodus 20:11; Psalm 33:6–9; Hebrews 11:3). I believe that through man’s sin, the “very good” creation was subjected to futility, decay, and above all, death (Genesis 1–3; Romans 5:12, 8:20–22). I believe the gospel, or “good news,” of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1–8) is the only hope of salvation and renewal for the fallen creation (Acts 4:12; Revelation 21:1–5). My church tradition is broadly evangelical, with an appreciation for, and indebtedness to, the Protestant Reformation. That said, just as Kepler’s approach to Classical Christian Education “strives to glean the best of Western liberal education in every epoch,” so too my approach to the historic Christian faith seeks to honor the best insights of God’s people from every age and orthodox tradition of Church history. Thus, my admiration for the Early Church Fathers and Medieval theologians does not preclude my incorporating the best insights of modern Baptist and Methodist doctrine into my thinking and practice. I have had the privilege of serving, since 2022, a small group of believers that meets as a home church near Fort Worth, Texas. From this gathering was launched in 2023 the League of Believers, an online writing ministry addressing the most pressing issues impacting the American Church and its public witness today. For more on this ministry, for which I serve as writer, editor, and moderator, please visit our website (garrettpleague.substack.com) and subscribe to our free newsletter.

Tracey Leary is a seasoned educator with more than 20 years of experience teaching in public, private, and homeschool settings. She was born and raised in Panama City, FL, and has lived in Alabama for 30 years, where she attended Huntingdon College on a piano scholarship and graduated with a degree in both Music and English before pursuing a Masters degree in Education at the Auburn campus in Montgomery. She taught at a classical school for four years before homeschooling her three boys. For most of her homeschool years, she was heavily involved in a classical co-op which grew to well over 100 moms and kids, in which she taught, served on the board of directors, and wrote and compiled the humanities curriculum for the secondary grades. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and baking, and her family enjoys traveling, cheering on the Auburn Tigers, and debating everything from Dante to Star Wars. Teaching Philosophy To paraphrase Charlotte Mason, I believe that what a student knows is not as important as how much a student cares about what he or she knows. To that end, I believe that a quality education for students consists both of reading works that inspire and challenge them and providing a format for them to discuss those works in a group setting with a teacher who is herself inspired and challenged by them. As an educator, my desire is that no student feel intimidated by the Great Books. Rather, I want to help students to see first and foremost, that the reason these books have endured for centuries and are still being read today is not because they are lofty and worthy of being contemplated by the wisest thinkers of our day, although they are that, but because they are at heart Great Stories, which can be read and enjoyed by people of all ages. I provide reading guides for student support as they tackle their focal weekly assignments to help them identify major points and themes in their reading and to formulate questions and ideas they can bring to class discussion. I also pair each literature selection with a selection from history in order to allow the student to simultaneously hear more than one voice from the time period being studied as well as a “living book” which provides a more recent but still valuable exploration of the periods or themes under discussion, all of which are read simultaneously at a moderate pace over several weeks in order to facilitate the student’s ability to ponder the books and make connections among two or three related streams of thought. I also provide an optional assignment drawn from movies, music, and other media that students are encouraged to complete, and which I will use in class discussion, as we explore how the Great Conversation is still taking place all around us. In class, I incorporate a Book of Centuries for chronological understanding as well as other tactile challenges and activities such as map work which dialectic students enjoy, in addition to the discussion that is the heart of our weekly meetings. Statement of Faith I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, was resurrected and lives at the right hand of God. I believe this was necessary because mankind’s sin in a historical Garden of Eden irreparably separated him from God, and that from that time we have all been born with a sin nature. Only Christ, who is fully human and fully divine, was born sinless and lived a perfect life, which enabled Him to become the satisfactory sacrifice for sin that God’s justice required. I am a member of an Anglican (ACNA) church in Montgomery and teach with an ecumenical perspective in mind. Testimonials >Mrs. Tracy Leary was a wonderful teacher. She was very helpful when we had questions, very kind in her evaluations, and encouraging to my son. He thrived in this class! *- Cassie Minter, Kepler parent*

Dr. Stacy Lung is the Executive Director of Lutheran Island Camp in Henning, MN. Stacy has a Ph.D. in Educational Studies at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, IL. and an M.S. in Environmental Education from Concordia University Wisconsin. Her research is focused on the significance of facilitating experiences of wonder in education, particularly in science education, where wonder can help point us to the Creator. Stacy has taught online courses in both adult learning and K12 contexts since 2013. She educated her children in the forests of northern Wisconsin. Stacy seeks to invoke the inquisitive awe of children in the woods for learners of all ages and in all settings. Teaching Philosophy I believe education is important because it is a feature of God’s design for His image-bearers. We are unique in our ability to not only experience the creation in which God placed us but to reflect upon those experiences, understand the underlying principles that God uses to govern creation, and act in accordance with those principles. The ability to learn and change is part of our image-bearing, and participation in learning facilitates this collective image-bearing. Perhaps most importantly, I can project a genuine wonder about the subjects I teach and invite the students along for an opportunity to discover how God’s world works with the reassurance that they have important contributions to make to the class’ journey. Ultimately a meaningful education will provide students with an eternal perspective to help inform their decisions. Education is not limited to the classroom and the school; it is part of every aspect of life and every experience. It is everything that brings us closer to the one who gives us not only meaningful life but eternal life. Statement of Faith I grew up in a rural community at a small church with my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and distant relatives. Prayer was part of mealtime, bedtime, and the beginning and end of all family events. I watched my grandmother pray through tears when my grandfather died, and I saw parents on their knees whenever there were struggles. My family continuously modeled reliance on a loving, involved Savior. The faith that my parents and grandparents passed on to me through their teaching would be strengthened after several years of marriage as we were told that I would likely not be able to have children. In these worst days, only strength from a God who did not spare His own Son allowed me to move forward. I would see the work God can do in a weak, fragile pot when, despite the words of that doctor, God blessed me with five children and developed in me a personal faith and total reliance on Him. I am still a member of a small church, St. Paul's Lutheran. Video Introduction [object Object] [object Object]

I discovered the beauty and richness of classical education when I began homeschooling my two boys nearly fifteen years ago. When I first learned about classical education I knew that this was the type of education I wanted for my children, (It was the type of education I wish I had had). Being a military family, we moved from place to place with frequency, and homeschooling allowed us stability in the midst of constant change. We were fortunate to be able to put down roots in Panama City, FL in 2015 which prompted me to found a Christian Classical homeschool co-op—Arete Homeschooling Collaborative. I have been the Director of the co-op since our first classes in 2016, and I teach various classes each year—my favorite of which are the Literature and Composition classes. One of life’s greatest joys is to see the light illuminated within my students, to see them begin to think about a story beyond the plot level, to question what a story is telling us about humanity, the world, and the journey of the human soul. A close 2nd to literature, I am also passionate about teaching Spanish. Like literature, learning another language expands a student’s understanding of the world, of creation, of the student’s own language, and introduces a measure of humility. I have had the opportunity to teach Spanish-English dual immersion 1st grade, English as a Second Language, and High School Spanish in public and private schools. I am thrilled to share my passion and experience for the Spanish language with Kepler students. I currently hold a M.Ed. in Bilingual and ESL education from the University of Central Oklahoma and am in the process of completing an M.A. in Humanities with an emphasis in Classical Education from the University of Dallas. In addition to a love of books and discussing books, I enjoy travel, nature, and pickleball. When I’m not curled up on my screened porch reading a book, surrounded by plants, cuddling with my dog and cat I can be found on the nearby pickleball courts or basking in the glory of God’s creation—kayaking down one of Florida’s beautiful natural springs, walking along one of our pristine beaches, hiking, or biking. Although I’ve had the opportunity to live in many different places across the U.S. and around the world (Costa Rica, Honduras, Japan, Nevada, Oklahoma, Missouri), my favorite place to live is always the place where I find myself right now, which at the moment happens to be Northwest Florida. Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy is founded on the truth that students bear the imago Dei and are worthy of dignity, honor, and respect. As image-bearers all students have a capacity for reasoning and understanding. They are not receptacles for information to be fed into; neither are they objects to be molded into shape. Rather, they are humans capable of wonder with God’s law written into their hearts. My duty as a teacher is to work alongside parents in the cultivation of the humanity of my students. With parents, I serve as a guide to my students in the journey towards their telos—the ultimate end of becoming fully human by becoming Christ-like or in a single word: wisdom. My responsibility is to lead my students towards wisdom; therefore, I am as concerned with their souls as I am with their intellect. My goal as a teacher is to fan the flame of wonder within my students and direct their affections towards the higher things through meaningful encounters with truth, goodness, and beauty. Statement of Faith I believe that humans are created in the image of God and that we were created to be in communion with God. However, because of the introduction of sin into the world through the Fall in the Garden of Eden, we are separated from God. It was for this reason that God sent Christ into the world, born of the Virgin Mary and fully human. It is only through Christ's death on the cross and resurrection into Heaven that the broken relationship with God is able to be reconciled. After a recent reversion to Catholicism, I am a practicing Catholic; however, the co-op that I founded is multidenominational with students from Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, etc. backgrounds. I am sympathetic to the specific beliefs of all my students, and as a teacher I focus on what unites us rather than what divides us. I also believe that healthy discussions about our differences can lead to better understanding and strengthened relationships, and I am open to discussing my return to the Catholic Church.

I grew up in Georgia where I was home schooled K-12 and had the privilege to study under Wes Callihan (Schola Classical Tutorials) throughout high school. I have a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of South Carolina (2025) and earned an M.A. in Liberal Arts at St. John’s College, Annapolis (2013). My undergraduate work was done at LaGrange College, in LaGrange, Georgia, where I earned a B.A. in English, a B.A. in Music, and minored in Philosophy (2010). My Philosophy minor was awarded in recognition of my studies at Oxford University, UK, where for a term I studied Ancient Philosophy and Philosophical Hermeneutics (2009). I also teach at Memoria Academy (2013 – present), and taught Literature, Composition, Logic, Rhetoric, Geometry, Physics, and Precalculus for a number of years. Since 2022, I have also been Head of the Math Department. In addition to teaching online, I taught Freshman English for two years at the University of South Carolina (2017-18, 2019-20). My wife, Haley, and I live in a cabin in the woods with our three children. In my free time, I enjoy music (classical guitar, piano, and occasional bouts of accordion), poetry, backpacking, and dabbling in languages. Teaching Philosophy All my teaching is informed by 3 convictions. First, that the main purpose of primary and secondary education is to grow the kingdom of God, and that this is done by equipping and ennobling students through the transmission of our ecclesiastical and cultural heritage and tradition. Second, that classical education provides the ideal form and content for primary and secondary education. Third, that classical education should be understood as an education that 1) respects human nature and purpose, 2) seeks to cultivate a love for goodness, truth, and beauty, 3) is primarily formative rather than informative insofar as it seeks to cultivate habits of mind and soul. Statement of Faith I was raised in a Christian home and came to understand my need for Christ at the age of 4. Since then, Christ has been my only hope in the face of sin and death, notwithstanding certain periods of backsliding & doubt, and my frequent failures in the struggle against sin. I unreservedly confess the Apostles Creed and the Nicene Creed. I also adhere to the Westminster Standards of Faith and am a member in good standing at a PCA church.

Originally from south Arkansas, Cyndi McCallister moved to South Carolina to attend Columbia International University where she earned a BA in Biblical Theology and Education in 1985. After homeschooling her three children, she completed the CiRCE Apprenticeship in 2019 and has served as a literature, writing, and rhetoric instructor with CiRCE Academy Online for five years. In 2022, she was trained as a CiRCE consultant and workshop leader. She is currently a graduate student in the MA in Liberal Arts and Classical Education program at Belmont Abbey College and will complete her studies this fall. Over the past several years, Cyndi has developed a classical Christian teacher apprenticeship in Nigeria, where she serves as the head mentor. She just completed an interview on classical education abroad with FORMA Journal that appeared in the 2025 Winter Issue. Cyndi has been teaching Lost Tools of Writing for over 10 years and is currently writing the LTW Senior Thesis text. Cyndi and her husband Karl have three grown children and five grandchildren and live in South Carolina where her husband is a pastor. Her favorite activities are reading to her grandchildren and hiking. Teaching Philosophy: I began learning about classical Christian education while I was homeschooling our three children. At the beginning of our homeschooling journey, I read For the Children's Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macaulay. These beautiful truths based on Charlotte Mason about the education of children were the gateway and foundation to learning more about classical education. To teach classically involves understanding the nature of truth, the nature of the teacher, and the nature of the student. Truth can be known. Proverbs 25:2 states, "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, and it is the glory of a king to search it out." God delights in revealing the truth of His Word and His world to us. Classical teachers are the humble lead learners who enliven the spirit of inquiry, love what is beautiful, and inspire their students to live the life of virtue. They recognize the extraordinary God-given capacity of their students to know and act on the truth. Education is a life endeavor that encompasses the body and the soul. To teach is more than cultivating a mind, it is nurturing an eternal soul. Statement of Faith As a young child, I made a profession of faith in Christ. I was nurtured in that faith by my loving Christian family and the local church. This nurturing environment surrounded me with Christian mentors and opportunities to exercise my faith in service. I was encouraged to use my gifts in the local church, at Christian camps, and on mission trips. Led by a desire to dedicate my life to vocational Christian ministry, I attended a Christian college where I met my husband, who is a Presbyterian pastor. (PCA) This living and active faith has led me to use my gifts of teaching in Nigeria where I currently serve as head mentor of the KA Classical Teacher Apprenticeship. I joyfully and gratefully hold to the truths as stated in the Apostles Creed, Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. After serving in ministry for more than 40 years, the truth of my daily need to come to Christ and learn from Him as a child rings just as true as the day I first encountered Him.

Jonathan McIntosh is a philosopher, Tolkien scholar, native Idahoan, and Fellow of Humanities at New Saint Andrews College, where he teaches courses on God, ethics, political philosophy, and economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Dallas (2009) and is the author of The Flame Imperishable: Tolkien, St. Thomas, and the Metaphysics of Faërie (Angelico Press, 2017). He, his wife Annie, and their four daughters live in Moscow, Idaho. ###Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy is literally to teach philosophy, the love of wisdom, or the knowledge of the order of things, of how to reason back to first principles, and then to reason back again. ###Statement of Faith I believe in the Lord, the origin or first cause of all existence, who eternally subsists in three persons, Father, Son and Spirit, and who reveals Himself in all that He has made and all that He does, in His holy Scriptures, and above all in His Incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made and then remade in His Death and Resurrection, and who is the sovereign Lord of History that will return at the Last Judgment and the restoration of all things. The human race fell in Adam and is saved in Christ, whose saving grace is apprehended through faith, which is itself a gift of God. All Christians are called to a life of joyful sacrifice and obedience.

Dr. Karla Memmott is a long-time resident of the Sacramento, California area where she lives with her husband, Kyle and dog, Kona. She home-schooled her children. She continues to support homeschooling parents by teaching online and in-person courses which include history, literature, writing, public speaking, and German. Additionally, she and her husband have coached high school mock trial. Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy intentionally focuses on the development of a student’s mind and soul as a human being. My responsibility as a teacher is to interactively guide the student to through literary works which encourage the student toward mature and reasonable thought. Teaching and learning are established based on a relationship mutual respect whereupon the student and I actively work together toward a common goal of student success. I believe that students gain ownership of their respective educational experience by reading participating in interpretive discussions about original source material. Learning becomes a community event within the venue of active Socratic discussion. Statement of Faith I believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, who came to earth to interact with and redeem His creation. This act of redemption was necessary due to the fallen, sinful nature of humanity which is the result of the disobedience of our original parents - Adam and Eve. Through the death, burial and resurrection Jesus demonstrates that God is a just, but loving God who seeks restoration and relationship with His people. The invitation is extended to all people. The Church has the privilege and responsibility of introducing people to Jesus by sharing the Gospel with grace, love, and truth. Whereas the Church has the duty to share the invitation of the Gospel, only the Holy Spirit can convict any person. I believe that the triune nature of God is a beautiful mystery that is not fully comprehensible to humankind but is nonetheless experienced by one who walks with God in truth and wisdom. I believe in the unity but diversity of the Church. The unity is based on the core essentials of the Gospel which transcends culture and race. Subsequently the Church unity provides strong testimony in a very divided modern culture. I believe that humans are called to worship the Lord with body, mind, and soul. When the body, mind and soul actively seek and participate in truth, beauty, and goodness genuine worship takes place. I believe that a challenged and engaged mind is a necessary part of worship. I belong to a local church where I teach and participate in adult Bible study courses. Video Introduction [object Object]

I am a C.S. Lewis Institute Fellow with a Master of Arts degree in Cultural Apologetics from Houston Christian University. My authorship includes contributing and editing for the apologetics quarterly "An Unexpected Journal"; the online magazine "Cultivating" from Cultivating Oaks Press; columnist for Anselm Society; and several poetry anthologies. Facebook site Literary Life Book of the Month feature reviews on classical and recent books with a focus on the enduring beauty and truth found in literature and the arts. After traveling to Oxford for the C.S. Lewis Summer Institute, I was asked to write a monthly travel blog for Clarendon Press. I wrote a historic cookbook for The Mystery of History and Bright Ideas Press, as well as contributed to Wild Things and Castles in the Sky-A Guide to Choosing the Best Books for Children and The Lost Tales of Galahad through Square Halo Press. Teaching Philosophy My academic passion focuses on the significance and reintegration of the arts and humanities with theology and the Christian imagination. We find rich insights in the writings of the church fathers and in ancient and medieval books, and I believe these beautiful texts are an essential element to education at every level. Primary sources are key to understanding our Christian perspective and purpose. I believe that a love of learning is fostered by good literature and shared adventure. The world is embedded with the goodness, beauty, and Truth of God and we are witnesses to it each day if we choose to truly see. Statement of Faith I believe that the Bible is the inerrant word of God. I believe in the eternally existing, holy omniscient, Triune God - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - and in the redemptive work of Christ through his death and resurrection. I affirm the Nicene and the Apostle's Creeds. Meet Annie [object Object]

####Biography I grew up on the south coast of England and read Medicine at Oxford, initially intending to become a doctor. Towards the end of my studies, however, I was recommended for training for ordained ministry in the Church of England. It was at about this time that I met my wife, Brooke. I read Theology at Cambridge and was awarded the Gibson Prize for Distinction in New Testament Greek. After being ordained in 2013, I served in parishes on the south coast, near London, and in the countryside. We moved to Moscow, Idaho in July 2022. I have taught Rhetoric and Philosophy at Logos School and I currently work at New St Andrews College as Director of Student Affairs, providing pastoral care for students and overseeing student leaders, and a Lecturer in Theology. Brooke and I have six children. In my spare time, I enjoy fencing. ####Teaching Philosophy God is restoring all things through his word. As the mediaeval scholastics understood, the liberal arts lead us back to the knowledge of God, especially through the understanding of Holy Scripture. The linguistic arts employed in the study of the Greek of the New Testament serve this end. I have embraced a ‘mixed methodology’ of language teaching which combines instruction in grammar, graded reading, and active use of the language. My goal is what C. S. Lewis achieved with the Great Knock: “I very soon became able to understand a great deal without (even mentally) translating it; I was beginning to think in Greek. This is the great Rubicon to cross in learning any language.” This approach to language-learning also cultivates in students the virtue of risk-taking, and they become better readers and communicators in general. ####Statement of Faith Although I didn’t grow up in a Christian household, I heard the gospel and believed from a young age thanks to the ministry of my local church and the influence of a Christian friend. I came to Reformation Anglican convictions whilst at university. I hold to the Apostles', Nicene, and Athanasian Creeds. I believe that Jesus died on the cross to reconcile us to the Father, that Scripture contains all things necessary to salvation, that we are justified by faith alone and not by works, that God is sovereign in salvation, and that Jesus is the only name by which we may be saved. Since moving to Moscow, Idaho, I have become a member at Christ Church.

Dr. Postma is the president and CEO of Kepler Education. He teaches dual enrollment courses for Kepler in collaboration with Faulkner University and Colorado Christian University. For the past decade, he has lived in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and family. Inspired by the classical and Christian imagination, his passion is to help students obtain a Christian liberal arts education. You can find his writing at scottpostma.net. He formerly served as a minister for 20 years and has served, concurrently, as an educator for nearly 30 years. In the course of his ministry, he helped plant two churches and found two private Christian schools. He earned degrees in the humanities with an emphasis in literature (Ph.D., Faulkner University), classical and Christian studies (M.A.C.C.S., Knox Theological Seminary), religion and English literature (B.S., Liberty University), theology (M.A., B.A., Salt Lake Baptist College), and creative writing (A.A., College of Southern Nevada). Teaching Philosophy I believe the gospel is central to education and the two cannot be separated without compromising human flourishing or diminishing culture. Ultimately, the parents have been given the biblical mandate to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and are, therefore, expected to take primary responsibility for the student’s education. As a teacher, my role is to act as an agent or extension of the home by providing the student with guidance as to the proper resources, a clear set of learning objectives, classroom policies, teacher expectations, timely and effective feedback, and fair and objective assessment of the student’s work. By extension, I am also responsible to provide parents with regular and systematic feedback on their student’s progress. Statement of Faith I am committed to historic Christianity in doctrine and morality and hold firmly to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. I am currently a member in good standing at Palouse Fellowship, a reformed CREC congregation in Moscow, ID.

Vanessa is the wife of a diehard Cowboys fan and the mother of three young men who watch their father's Superbowl dream die each December only to see it rise from the ashes with the coming of fall. While her husband watches football, Vanessa watches classical education webinars, listens to literary podcasts, relishes the feel of a paperback in her hand, or complains about how the movie adaptation of a beloved book falls short. From the beginning, she homeschooled her boys with the intent of guiding them to love the Lord and the many stories that reflect His truth. Each boy has received books to begin his own family library. Her two oldest will have graduated from college, married their fiances, and brought the books to their new homes before the Cowboys return to the field in September. These joyous events, along with the companionship of their high school son, should help her husband's heart heal in time for next season's woes. Fall means football, but it also signals the beginning of a new school year. This has always excited Vanessa. Over the last two decades, she has taught several types of classes in homeschool co-op and tutorial settings. While educating her sons and their peers, she has led two mock trial teams, coached novice Lincoln Douglas debaters, and assisted with coaching students in competitive speech events through a local Stoa Christian Homeschool Speech and Debate club. Two years ago, she expanded her educational offerings to online writing classes for CiRCE and a Christian classical university model academy. She has enjoyed mimetically teaching levels one and two of The Lost Tools of Writing for several years. Presenting examples of the skills she asks her students to emulate, Vanessa walks through the examples and asks questions to aid her class in contemplating how and why to add the new tool to their kit. She then provides an opportunity for students to receive individual feedback on their own attempt to practice the skill during weekly lessons. Portions of the currently assigned story will be read aloud and discussed in class. In this way, she will model attending to detail. Vanessa firmly believes that good readers make good writers and attempts to help students see how the unchanging human nature revealed in myths and fairy tales shows itself in rollicking ancient epics, Shakespearean plays, and the story of a girl whose humanity is awakened by a red-breasted robin, who invites her into a garden. Yes, the beauty of God's truth may be found and relished in all these places. Vanessa is a CiRCE Certified Master Teacher and is pursuing a Master of Arts in the Great Books through Memoria College. She delights in sharing a sense of wonder with her students, encourages questions, and takes pride in the fact that her corgi is descended from fairy warhorses. It’s true! She is most excited to invite students and families to enter the Great Conversation. It is never too late to join! Statement of Faith: I adhere to truths summarized in the Nicene and Apostles' Creeds, believe the Bible is the inspired, inerrant Word of God, and worship Jesus Christ as the risen Son of the triune God. My family and I are members of a local church that is part of the the Presbyterian Church in America. While we agree with the Westminster Shorter Catechism, we submit all teachings to the authority of the Bible. We are grateful to be a small part of the larger body of Christ.

Carter Rendall is a husband, a father, and a teacher at the Sacred Heart Private School in Welland, Canada. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in History from Queens University and will graduate from the CiRCE Master Educator Apprenticeship in May 2025. Carter stumbled upon Christian Classical Education a number of years ago and has been on fire with a passion for educating ever since. He is blessed with the opportunity to live out his vocation to lead his family and to teach the youth. Carter hopes to play a small part in bringing the Christian classical renewal to Canada. Carter loves playing guitar, camping, hiking, reading the Great Books and discussing deep ideas. However, what he loves most is spending undistracted time with his family and watching his daughter grow. Teaching Philosophy Having been trained by the CiRCE Apprenticeship, I look at education through the lens of Nature, Purpose, and Propriety. Some questions I ask are, what is the nature of the student? The content, skill, or idea I am trying to teach? What are their purposes? This helps lead me to finding the proper or appropriate way to teach, assess, and guide my students. The student being an image bearer of God colours my entire teaching philosophy. I teach each lesson following the Mimetic sequence which provides consistent and ample opportunities for students to contemplate, narrate, and apply their skills. As a part of the mimetic lesson, and in literature discussions, I also teach with Narration. Narration helps students solidify knowledge, clarify thoughts, and put content into long-term memory. It also provides for a deeper understanding of the text and therefore a richer discussion. All of this, however wonderful, must be rooted in the firm Tradition that has been handed down to us, and in Christ the incarnate Word. I believe Christ the Logos is the unifying principle of Gods Cosmos and by teaching in the Mimetic way, incarnating the truth of our lesson to the students, we can bring students closer to Christ. Statement of Faith I am a Roman Catholic committed to traditional Christianity affirmed in the Nicene and Apostles Creeds. I believe in both Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, and strive daily to pick up my cross and follow the one true Lord. I am a member of St. Anns parish in Fenwick, Ontario, where I was married and my daughter baptized.

Greetings! I live in the great state of Texas in the rapidly growing city of McKinney. I began homeschooling my two children in 2010, graduating my youngest in May 2024. While homeschooling, I served on the board of our homeschool cooperative and taught various middle school and high school courses. I earned a Bachelor of General Studies from Texas Women’s University in 2011 and graduated from the CiRCE Institute Apprenticeship in 2022. When not teaching, you can usually find me snuggled up on the couch, crochet hook in hand, watching a British Detective show. Teaching Philosophy My philosophy of education is built on the truth Paul declares in Colossians 1:17: "Christ is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Christ is both the source of all knowledge and the one who brings all parts of knowledge into one whole. He is the Logos, the reason for all of creation. Believing this, I see all areas of academic study as a means to know Christ, and as a result, a means to know ourselves rightly. On this foundation, I add the assertion of David Hicks in Norms & Nobility that the supreme task of education is "the cultivation of the human spirit: to teach the young to know what is good, to serve it above self, to reproduce it, and to recognize that in knowledge lies this responsibility." It is not enough to know what is right, one must also do what is right. One must be both wise and virtuous. Statement of Faith I believe in the historic Christian faith as expressed in the Nicene Creed. My family and I attend Frisco Bible Church, a non-denominational community of believers.

I was born and raised in Osaka, Japan. After graduating from college, I studied how to teach Japanese. After becoming a Christian, God gave me opportunities to teach missionaries and, later, many others. I enjoy teaching Japanese and look forward to learning and growing together. I also hope that through experiencing Japanese language and culture, everyone will come to appreciate the words God has given us.

I live in New Hampshire with my husband and children, but I have lived all across the United States and have visited all fifty. I am an Air Force veteran with 10+ years of experience turned homeschool educator with 20+ years of experience; I homeschooled our three children birth through 12th and beyond; we are life-long learners. Growing up as a preacher’s kid, I cut my teeth on the church pews; growing up as a teacher’s kid, I considered my mom’s classroom my second home. If I did not have my nose in a book, I was probably on a local tennis court. After graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1994 with a Bachelor’s of Science in Operations Research, I earned my Master’s Degree in Operational Analysis at the Air Force Institute of Technology, then served as an Air Force Space Systems Analyst in California and Information Warfare officer in Texas. I honorably separated from the Air Force to raise our children in 2000. My husband is a retired Air Force officer, now defense program manager, and we have three children: Our eldest graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 2023 and is now a Black Hawk helicopter pilot in the US Army. Our middle is a soccer referee, completed her Accounting degree from Southern New Hampshire University, is an Auditor and a soccer/futsal referee, and is engaged to be married in March of 2026. Our youngest attends Colorado Christian University, majoring in Engineering Project Management and minoring in Computer Information Systems, and is a senior (Class of 2026). Informally commencing homeschooling in 2001, we started with *Sign with Your Baby*, then moved to KONOS, Sonlight, and My Father’s World. In 2013 we discovered Classical Conversations, and I jumped in as a Director for Foundations and Essentials, then Challenge a year later. My years as a Challenge director in the math seminar and working with my own children tie my background of graduate-level mathematics to my present reality of teaching Algebra, Geometry, Calculus, and sometimes Physics with Kepler Education and Statistics with CCU Academy (Colorado Christian University.) As I learned to "see" math and was trained to have math conversations, I am a self-proclaimed Math Geek-in-training. In addition to homeschooling, learning more about classical education, and especially spending time with my family, I enjoy traveling, coffee, and scrapbooking. Teaching Philosophy The first question in the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of man?” and answers, “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” God’s word directs us how we may glorify and enjoy Him, including the following: seek Him, love Him with all we have, love our neighbor, pursue wisdom, make disciples, and train up a child (Matthew 6:33, 22:37, 39; Proverbs 4:5; Matthew 28:19; Proverbs 22:6) I believe in pursuing wisdom through knowledge and understanding, using the classical tools of grammar, dialectic, and rhetoric viewed through a biblical lens. I believe our study is a form of worship to glorify God; that He reveals Himself as we seek Him in academic subjects. I believe in didactic instruction, dialectic questioning, and deliberate conversations. I believe education is more than utilitarian, that we should pursue truth, goodness, and beauty as we practice skills and tools of learning. I believe in a lifelong pursuit of learning, and God has a plan for the lives of all of us. I believe we are educating for eternity, not only this life’s servant-leaders and world-changers. Statement of Faith I am committed to historic Christianity in doctrine and morality and hold firmly to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. Born and raised in the Reformed tradition, I am currently a member in good standing at Gate City Church in Nashua, New Hampshire, a Word and Spirit Church.

Wesley Santos was born and lives at Aracaju/SE, Brazil. Graduated in Biological Sciences at the Universidade Federal de Sergipe (UFS – Brazil) in 2010. Early in graduation he figured out that God had given him the talent for teaching. In 2010 he debuted as a teacher, teaching for a class of 60 people, in a program called EJA (youngs and adults education). That was a big challenge for the first day, but it became more natural class after class. At the same school, he had the opportunity to teach for high school students, with whom he felt a strong affinity. As soon as he finished the graduation, he started the mater’s degree Biological Oceanography at the Universidade Federal de Rio Grande (FURG – Brazil), one of the most prestigious institutions in oceanography studies on Brazil. After the conclusion, he started teaching in 2014 on the private educational system and in 2019 he was invited to teach in junior high at a confessional institution, the Colégio Americano Batista (Sergipe – Brazil), when he teaches nowadays. Married to Sanny, father of Matias and Ana Clara. He has a love for music and plays the violin at church with other musicists who, like him, like to develop their musical talents, to enjoy the beauty of music, but specially to praise the Lord. ###Teaching Philosophy As a teacher I believe that was entrusted to me the responsibility of being the intermediary between the student and the knowledge, so it is up to me to choose methodologies and materials that may help the student through the path. Different students may have different needs in this process, which brings the necessity of a sensibility to evaluate the individual needs and come up with solutions to each possible case, always working in partnership with the families to have more effectiveness in the learning/teaching process. As a Christian, I know that all truth is a truth of God, including the scientific truth, therefore, all knowledge is subordinate to the Holy Bible and under the major truth that God is the Lord of the universe and rules it according to predetermined laws, and reveals Himself to mankind through the things that have been made, according to Rm.1:20. To raise a fully virtuous human being it is necessary to look at him in a holistic way, it is mandatory that the knowledge has a rational, personal and spiritual value, meaning that when teaching about the winds and the oceans, the student learn about Jesus, who has the power to command the winds and the ocean, when learn about the physiology of breath, the student also learns the everything that breaths, awes praise to the Lord. ###Statement of Faith I believe in God almighty, the one and only, the true and live God. He, that knows me before time, the Father. He that came in flesh and died my death, so I could live His life, Jesus Christ, the Son. He who lives inside me and guides me through the paths of this life, the Holy Spirit. They, that are one, and revealed himself through history, the God of the covenant, that gave us Jesus Christ, whose blood washes away my sin and the evilness of my heart. I believe that I am a foreign in this world, going to a home I never saw, but that by faith I know, has a place for me, besides my God, where I shaw live for the eternity. Amen. I am a calvinist christian and attent to the Igreja Presbiteriana de Aracaju (Sergipe - Brazil). ###Video Introduction <iframe title="vimeo-player" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/437211182" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Dan Shirley is a lifelong learner. He lives in a small town with his lovely wife. He climbs rocks, occasionally wrestles, and cooks regularly.

Dr. Gregory Soderberg and his wife have five children and enjoy hiking, boating, reading, and traveling. He has served in a wide range of church ministries and non-profits, ranging from church planting and prison ministry to foster care and Safe Families for Children. He has spoken at conferences in the US, Germany, and South Korea and has taught at Grace Life College and Seminary in Liberia, with Training Leaders International. He has 20+ years of experience in Christian education, both in brick and mortar schools and online. Besides earning Permanent Teacher Certification in the Association of Classical Christian Schools, he holds a B.A. in Liberal Arts and Culture (New St. Andrews College), an M.A. in Church History (University of Pretoria), and a Ph.D. in Historical Theology (Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam). He also studied theology at Reformed Theological Seminary and Trinity Theological College, in Bristol (UK). He served as the founding Academic Dean of LAMP Seminary RDU in Raleigh, and an Adjunct Instructor at New St. Andrews College. Besides teaching at Kepler, he is a Teaching Fellow for the BibleMesh Institute, and a Mentor-Professor at Redemption Seminary. He has published articles in Intellectual Takeout, Common Good, Touchstone and SALVO magazine. His dissertation on communion frequency in Reformed churches was published in V&R's "Reformed Historical Theology" series. In addition to publishing book reviews in various academic journals he was a contributing author to the Omnibus VI: The Modern World textbook, and the books More Than Luther: The Reformation and the Rise of Pluralism in Europe and Reforming the Catholic Tradition: The Whole Word for the Whole Church. He currently serves on the editorial board of The Consortium: A Journal of Classical Christian Education. A Note About Special Needs: Classical Christian education should be accessible to as many types of students as possible. Families with students who have learning differences/challenges are welcome to contact Dr. Soderberg about whether his classes would be a good fit for their child. Two of Dr. Soderberg's classes (The Greeks: Old Western Culture and The Romans: Old Western Culture) are specifically open to Spellers. “Spellers” are individuals who use a letterboard to communicate. They have apraxia, which limits their ability to speak reliably. Apraxia is common with Autism and Down Syndrome, and various other diagnoses. Frequently, people with apraxia are thought to have cognitive deficits. However, these individuals routinely demonstrate normal and higher than normal cognition once they are fluent on their letterboards. For more, see this FAQs on what this option entails for families, and how this might affect the overall class experience. Teaching Philosophy I love investing in students and leaders of all ages through teaching, writing, and speaking. I aim to help people learn lessons from the past, to inspire them to live wisely in the present. I love teaching because I love learning, and the pursuit of wisdom, in community with other learners. As a teacher, my goal is to help equip and train students to embark on a lifetime of learning. As a Christian, my goal is to help them think about everything in a way grounded in the Scriptures, and informed by the wisdom of the Christian tradition. Statement of Faith I believe in the historic doctrines of the Christian church. I affirm the absolute priority of the Holy Scriptures, and the interpretive authority of documents like the Nicene Creed. I affirm the points of belief and practice that have traditionally been part of Christian teaching (in regards to the sanctity of life, the meaning and practice of marriage, the nature of gender, etc.). Beyond my commitment to “core,” or “mere” Christianity, I love and value the Reformed tradition. By training and inclination, I affirm many of the distinctives of Reformed churches. But, like John Calvin and the other reformers, I also love and value our church fathers, and church mothers. I feel most at home in churches that worship according to the ancient liturgies of the church, but I also realize that God works through all sorts of worship styles and denominational structures, for His own purposes. One of my goals in all of my teaching is to help my students understand and appreciate the wisdom of the past, to equip them to live wisely in the present. Video Introduction [object Object] Testimonials > The Rhetoric class taught by Mr. Soderberg is excellent. Even though...the Phaedrus dialogues are difficult, he presented it in the way that is relatable, which inspired students to be interested in the subject and have lively discussions. The review games and speech assignments that illustrate the learnings kept my student interested and motivated. It is a wonderful opportunity learn rhetoric. *- Peiwen Lu, Kepler parent* > Mr. Soderberg is an excellent teacher. He makes tough material engaging. [My child] was never bored during class, but rather looked forward to the weekly meetings. *- Kimberly Locke*

An attorney-turned-homeschooling mom and rhetoric teacher, I have more than 20 years of experience working with private schools, co-ops, and homeschool families. Not only have I taught many humanities, informal/formal logic, composition, theology, and advanced thesis classes, but I also have been honored to come alongside many students and parents as they plan for high school and college. I ask the hard questions, engage in planning out high school courses, narrow college lists, and help students put together applications and essays that shine. Teaching Philosophy I tend to embrace two maxims, the first from probably too many sources to count and the second from a true friend to classical education, Charlotte Mason. The first? “The enemy of the excellent is the good.” It recalls a principle of Pliny the Younger: multum non multa, meaning “not many, but much.” As a culture we are convinced that more is better, and as a result we tend to invest—with the best intentions—in too many classes, too many activities, too many THINGS to allow our children to dive deep into any one idea or passion, or to breathe and enjoy the process. Given our limited time, we should rather slow down whenever possible, resisting the temptation to add one more class, one more experience, if those good things compete with the things that matter most. The second comes courtesy of Miss Mason, who wisely reminded us that “Children are born persons.” Because each child is an individual—with different interests, abilities, passions, etc.—no one curriculum, no one approach, no one philosophy is necessarily going to work best for all children…even children who have the same blood flowing through their veins. The path our oldest took to college looks a bit different than our second, radically different than our third, and a world away from our fourth. As homeschoolers, we have the opportunity to structure our children’s education to meet individual needs and aspirations while still spreading a gentle and varied feast before them. Statement of Faith I know that I am not my own, but I belong to Christ...and I lay all that I am—my sin, my loves, my dreams, everything—at the foot of His cross, for Him for His glory. Raised in the evangelical church, my husband and I embraced Reformed theology early in our marriage and have served in the PCA and now URC for more than 25 years. We are members of Providence Reformed Church (Meridian, Idaho).

In his magnum opus, The Brothers Karamazov, Fyodor Dostoevsky introduces the reader to several characters whose words and actions represent particular worldviews. Ivan wrestles with atheism, as he cannot fathom that there could be a good God in light of such evil in the world. Dmitri struggles with hedonism as he seeks to bridle his passions. Their younger brother, Alyosha, carefully considers the teachings of his mentor, Father Zosima, and chooses the road less traveled, the road of faith and incarnation. The Alyosha Society is a group of curious bibliophiles who seek to hear the counsel of the many Zosimas of the past. Our goal is to consider what the great minds have pondered through the art of literature and philosophy and discuss how we might be faithful disciples of the true and living God. ##Founder and Teachers## ###Bruce Etter### Born in 1969 in West Virginia, I graduated high school in 1987 and studied Spanish and Bible during my undergraduate years. I graduated from Columbia International University in 1992 and married Julie in 1993. We have five children, adopted and biological. I have enjoyed teaching in Christian schools since 1992 and have served as both teacher and administrator in six different schools. While teaching in the 90's I completed a Master's Degree in Religion at Reformed Theological Seminary. Ever since I found out about classical education (late 1990's) I have been wholeheartedly dedicated to it. We moved to Pennsylvania in 2004 in order to be involved with Veritas Academy. I taught Spanish and Omnibus courses there for four years before embarking upon my journey in online education. I have had the privilege of teaching in both traditional (brick and mortar) settings and online schools. I also enjoyed trekking across Europe, recording self-paced courses, filming lessons on the locations where key events occurred. I currently serve in administration at Veritas Academy, Leola, PA and teach online courses through the organization I started in 2021, The Alyosha Society. I currently serve as an elder at Wheatland Presbyterian Church, P.C.A. and teach in the adult Sunday School. I spend all of my free time with my grandson, Eden. ####Teaching Philosophy#### I am dedicated to the classical model as it is explained in the following books, The Liberal Arts Tradition and Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning. In terms of practical instruction, my favorite work is John Milton Gregory's The Seven Laws of Teaching. ####Statement of Faith#### I currently serve as an elder at Wheatland Presbyterian Church, PCA. I hold to the historic creeds, (Apostle's Creed and Nicene Creed) and the Westminster Confession of Faith.

Felicity graduated from the CIRCE Teacher Apprenticeship in 2021 and will graduate from the Tirocinium Latin Apprenticeship in July 2025. She lives in the beautiful state of Colorado with her husband and four children. She has been teaching and home-schooling for over a decade and is passionate about learning that promotes deep thinking, individual growth, and a sense of place. Felicity graduated from the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Russian and Eastern studies and received a J.D. from the University of Colorado Boulder Law School. She has taught literature, writing, Latin, and various other classes. She enjoys language and stories, travel and learning, hiking, and yoga. Teaching Philosophy Students are Divine Image Bearers, and as we journey together through the course, we will seek to find harmony by identifying the logos, nature, or species in the language, literature, or skill we are practicing. Our meetings will explore the logos of each lesson through Mimetic and Socratic teaching modes. As David Hicks in Norms and Nobility states, "This kind of teaching, and this kind of learning, is intrinsically personal, not analytic or abstract." I aim to know each student and provoke curiosity as we look upon the good, true, and beautiful. Statement of Faith I am a member of the Church of the Advent in Denver, CO, and I believe that the Bible shapes our imagination, worship, values, practices, and common life. I hold to the Reformational Anglican Theology, which recaptures the ancient and biblical truths of the grace and good news of the gospel and is rooted in the rhythms and beauty of worship shaped over the centuries. I believe that liturgy is a form of hospitality, enabling people from all walks of life to participate together in worship, and I am completely dependent on the Holy Spirit’s presence, power, and movement.

Dr. Christy Anne Vaughan holds an Ed.D. from Liberty University in Educational Leadership. Her doctoral dissertation, published in February of 2020 through the Journal of Research on Christian Education, is titled: DIFFERENCES OF MEAN SCORES ON THE PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (PSAT) FOR CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS COMPARED TO NON-CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS. She holds an M.A. Ed. with a concentration in special education from Georgetown College and a B.A. from the University of Baltimore in English, concentration in business and professional writing. She recently completed a 40-hour certificate in Orton-Gillingham method literacy instruction. Dr. Vaughan serves as Secretary and Educational Consultant for Classical Christian Education International, Inc. (www.2CEI.ORG); tutor for students with special needs and private instructor for Schole Academy, Classical Academic Press, and homeschools two of her grandchildren in Ohio. Teaching Philosophy The Classical Christian method encompasses the seven liberal arts of grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music; liberal from the Latin liber meaning “free” meaning the virtuous, wise, and self-controlled man is free toward self- governance. As the Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 5:23, against such there is no law. Our Founding Fathers understood this, as John Jay, First Supreme Court Justice, stated, our system of liberty and self-governance was designed for a Christian nation with elected Christian rulers. Or, as John Adams, the second President of the U.S., stated, our system of liberty and self-governance with the Bible as its basis would be wholly unsuitable for any group other than a virtuous, Christian people. And to that end, a couple of working definitions: The Christian educator believes we are called to teach Truth, Goodness (Godliness), and Beauty. Teaching is a calling to parents first and the church (Ephesians 6:4 and Deuteronomy 6:4-7). Teaching as a profession is a calling (Ephesians 4:11-16). There is Truth, and God’s Word reveals it (John 17:17). Virtue is to be co-taught with knowledge (2 Peter 1:5-8). We are commanded to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). The Classical educator teaches a man to fish by providing the tools of learning and inculcating the joy of learning. The Classical Christian educator accomplishes both--molding the heart toward God and inculcating discernment of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through tried and true methods of teaching. If we are to recover our nation’s moral compass, we must reignite educational excellence through a rediscovery of the centrality of Truth. There is Truth, and we are called to teach it to the next generation (Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6). Statement of Faith I was baptized in public testimony of my accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord of my life in a Southern Baptist Church. I have been discipled by the local church, Koinonia House, and Liberty University Bible studies. My husband and I are missionaries through Ministers of Victory (Port Saint Lucie, Florida) and currently serve through Classical Christian Education International, Inc. We are members of Victory Baptist Church in Ohio, as well as maintaining membership and distance learning/Bible conferences through Kurt Owen Ministries. My medical expense sharing program, which also is a mission to others, is through Samaritan Ministries.

I was raised as a pastor's kid in a small-town New England church community. My first experience of classical languages was when my father taught me Latin and Greek roots in my fifth-grade homeschool, but it wasn't until after I had graduated from Gordon College in 2009, that I discovered the Christian classical renewal and began to dive into Latin in earnest. That initial interest grew into an obsession and eventually a calling. I began teaching Latin in 2012, I became a CiRCE Certified Master Teacher in 2017, and I completed the CiRCE Tirocinium (i.e. the Latin Apprenticeship) in 2022. I had begun studying Latin textbooks on my own, but thanks to Andrew Kern and Buck Holler, I was now equipped to teach it in an active and dynamic way. That was when I started teaching online classes for the CiRCE Institute Online Academy. I am a servant of God, a husband, a father of five, and a classical educator with well over a decade of experience as a full-time classroom teacher. Few things bring me so much enjoyment as reading, studying, and teaching Latin. Teaching Philosophy To paraphrase Andrew Kern, classical education is the cultivation of wisdom and virtue in the soul through training in the Seven Liberal Arts. The first of those arts is Grammar, which has traditionally meant learning Latin or Greek. Latin, like any other language, is best learned per se, that is in through itself, directly, rather than through the medium of English translation. Rather than memorizing vocabulary lists and grammar charts, my students learn Latin words and grammar in context, encountering them in stories and using them in conversation. Repeated exposure to essential vocabulary and grammatical forms through a written narrative and oral instruction are complemented by an active use of the language that develops the student's skills in reading, writing, listening, and speaking.  What does this have to do with wisdom and virtue? The direct method of language instruction cultivates careful listening and attention to detail, thus exercises the soul’s powers of perception. It also trains the mind of the student to draw out a principle from a multiplicity of examples and to test it by further application (inductive reasoning). Expressing oneself in another language inherently expands the possibilities of thought, and when the target language is an ancient one, beginning to think in that language draws us closer to the wisdom and thought patterns of the ancient forefathers of Western civilization, and does this in a way that nothing else can. Statement of Faith I and my family attend St. Mary’s Orthodox Church in Wichita, KS, a parish of the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese of North America. We are under the spiritual care of the Patriarch of Antioch, the ancient Syrian city where the followers of the Way were first called Christians (Acts 11:26). I adhere to all of the teachings of the Orthodox Church, summarized in the Nicene Creed and the Definition of Chalcedon. These include the doctrines of the Trinity, the Incarnation, the virgin birth, the death and resurrection of Christ, and His coming again in glory to judge the living and the dead. All glory to our Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ!

I was born in Rochester, NY but have spent the majority of my adult life in the south. I do love the south as a unique place in God's creation. I have been blessed to serve at a few different institutions of education. In addition to teaching at a few different colleges and universities, I have enjoyed consulting with numerous Classical Christian schools and being the Headmaster for the past twenty years. I am fully committed to “thinking Christianly” about all that is. To use Paul’s words, I feel God’s pleasure when I take “captive every thought for Christ.” I have been blessed for more than twenty years seeking to honor God with the life of the embodied mind. I have long enjoyed the Great Books. We are a family of readers. Among my favorite authors are Homer, Plato, Cicero, Dante, Petrarch, Erasmus, Christina Rossetti, Flannery O’Connor, George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Wendell Berry, and Richard Wilbur. In recent years I have really come to enjoy the novels of Ross MacDonald (detective fiction), Zoran Živković (very unique fiction), and Michael D. O’Brien (contemporary Catholic novelist with the depth and insight of Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky). Passionately committed to what C.S. Lewis described as “mere Christianity.” I acknowledge real differences that really matter. I also quickly affirm the truth of the consensus fidelium (consensus of the faithful) and its value against the onslaught of a divided Christendom and an anti-human humanism. My wife and children love camping and spending time with our families in Georgia and Alabama. At home, in North Carolina, we regularly have a seasonal puzzle underway and while loving our two cats, Lois and Lowry, have to discourage them from helping with the puzzle. ###Teaching Philosophy During my years as a student and continuing on as an institutional leader, I have drawn several conclusions that have shaped my philosophy of education. The teachers, and later professors, who influenced me as it specifically related to my convictions about education and the manner in which I conduct myself as an academic leader, were knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and of sound character. Moreover, those same people treated me as a significant person. As a result, I strongly believe that the best teaching transcends techniques and models and is an extension of excellent character. I am a zealous teacher who thoroughly enjoys life in the academy. During my years of service, I have continued to increase my knowledge and fine-tune my teaching skills. Since I have been conscientious about the importance of the leader as a role model, I have attempted to cultivate various qualities most conducive to my sense of calling as a leader/teacher. It has been my experience that the most respected teachers possess patience, clarity, humility, a keen sense of humor, and kindness. As a teacher, I am guided by the principle to consider the perspectives and feelings of others. ###Statement of Faith It was a summer, Sunday evening and the minister had been preaching from I John. He had been speaking about the Love of God and I felt moved by the Spirit that evening to give my life to Christ. I remember being so touched by the depth and breadth of God’s love and that He wanted me as His child and to be part of His family. I went forward that evening and accepted Christ as my Lord and savior and have, by God’s grace and mercy, been growing in the fruit of the Spirit since that time. Over the years, people have spoken to me of the most prominent spiritual disciplines they see in my walk with the Lord. My brothers and sisters in Christ have encouraged me by describing how they have been blessed by my Christ-like service and spiritual disposition. They often describe me in terms of a “humble, patient, and peaceful servant”. It is my hope that my Lord also describes me in these terms. While I have identified with the Restoration tradition (Disciples of Christ/Christian Church/Church of Christ) I am passionately committed to what C.S. Lewis described as “mere Christianity.” I acknowledge real differences that really matter among sincere believers. I also quickly affirm the truth of the consensus fidelium (consensus of the faithful) and its value against the onslaught of a divided Christendom and an anti-human humanism. I readily call all my brothers and sisters who affirm the Apostle's and Nicene Creed within Christendom. Thomas Oden's Systematic Theology has profoundly shaped my theological convictions. ###Video Introduction <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/572326468?h=1e652b2658&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="Robert Woods - The Archetypal Student"></iframe>