Meet the team

Christy  met her husband, Steven, at Bryan College, where she earned a B.S. in Elementary Education and played collegiate soccer. They have served together in ministry their entire married life, from international missions to local churches. Along with leading Aretē as the Executive Director, Christy homeschools her four children, volunteers at church, and coaches soccer. Her greatest joy in life is spending time with her family and investing in other people's lives, especially the next generation. She also enjoys hosting people in her home, cheering her kids on at sports games, reading, traveling, and, her newest hobby, drinking coffee.

Missy is a graduate of Truett McConnell College with a BA in Church Music and became a Board Certified Music Therapist after graduation with a Masters of Music in Music Therapy from Florida State University. Missy holds dear the power that music can have to influence our learning, emotions, worship and even our physical being. She cares deeply to use music as a tool to first worship the Lord personally and second to help draw others to Him with all of the other functions following. Whether it's writing songs to memorize Scripture, singing harmony with the worship band or teaching students to sing to their best ability, Missy is typically immersed in something musical! 

Missy has been married to Jonathan for 14 years and they have 3 precious children, 2 poodles, 1 turtle, 1 rabbit and several fish. She enjoys caring for her home, baking bread as of late, and performing the duties needed to continue developing Aretē!

Kelly  is the mother of six children. She spends most of her time in Christian home education and enabling others to do so. She met and married her husband while in college at Virginia Tech, where she double majored in International Studies (concentrating in Business) and German. She and her husband were both cadets in the Virginia Tech Corps of Cadets. Her husband commissioned in the US Air Force in 2001 and she commissioned in the US Army in 2003. She served on active duty for four years as a military intelligence officer and an additional six years in the US Army Reserve. The Army taught and shaped her significantly, both through the classroom, large scale exercises, and real-world operations. She deployed, had great experiences, and worked with brilliant operators, but once the children started coming along, she requested her military status be changed to the inactive ready reserve. Her interests include linguistics, art and music appreciation, logic, speech and debate, and interdisciplinary education.

June moved around a lot as an "Army brat", but Fayette County always held a special place in her heart. After many years in other parts of the country and world, she returned to the area with her family in 2018. She and her husband Carson have three small children and a wild goldendoodle. She has taught and tutored a variety of subjects to students from Pre-K to the university level over the last 20 years. She earned BAs in Visual Arts and Spanish from the University of North Georgia and an MA in Art History from the University of Oregon. Before she began homeschooling, she was a curator, first at the University of Oregon’s art museum and later at the Boise Art Museum. She is passionate about helping families discover beauty, goodness, and truth through art, art history, and nature study. When she is not teaching, you can usually find her snuggled up with a book or out for a run. One of her greatest joys is sharing the sport of running with the students at Aretē as a Kilometer Kids coach.

Lauren is a Fayetteville native and mother of four. Prior to homeschooling, Lauren spent seven years in NPO management and operations, leading to her career in Georgia's Solar Industry, both as Executive Director of Georgia Solar and later as Corporate Account Specialist at Ag Solar Solutions. In 2020, Lauren felt the Lord calling her to leave her corporate position to homeschool her children. She is passionate about getting kids outside and teaching them self-sufficiency. In her free time she enjoys hiking, fishing, and being the in-house photographer and hype person for her kids at sports games and skateparks.

Raque is a wife, mom of four girls, and grandma of two boys and two girls. Originally from Colombia, she has been living in the United States for more than ten years. Although she initially felt intimidated by the idea of teaching in a language other than Spanish, she began homeschooling her youngest daughter, and they are now in their sixth year of homeschooling.

She has been teaching Spanish at Aretē since it began.

Emily  is a happily homeschooling mama to 5 boys! She has a bachelor’s in fine arts with a focus in painting, printmaking, and drawing. She is a professional photographer with a decade and a half of experience teaching kids of all ages inside and outside the formal classroom. Her approach to teaching the arts is to instruct on the technical aspects and to allow the individual students’ artistic instincts take over. She firmly believes that every child is born an artist–the tricky part is remaining one as they grow. She is thrilled to bring her love of and enthusiasm for the arts to the growing little minds at Aretē!

Chelsea lives in Fayetteville with her husband, Josh, and their three children. Prior to homeschooling, Chelsea worked for almost 10 years at Chick-fil-A, Inc. in several different roles. Her most recent role was as a Throughput Consultant, which gave her the opportunity to travel weekly all around the USA to help Chick-fil-A Operators learn to be more efficient in their businesses. In addition to homeschooling, Chelsea currently owns and runs her own social media marketing business. Chelsea graduated with a degree in Business Management from the University of Georgia, Terry College. In her free time she enjoys traveling, being outside and exploring nature, and reading. She is passionate about igniting a love for learning, especially entrepreneurship and physical fitness, in all of her students.

Megan has surrounded herself with babies and kids for as long as she can remember and LOVES helping train up little ones to love Jesus! She tries to embrace each day with a sense of adventure and seeks to find the beauty in everything around her. Megan and her husband Robert have six kids! They originally lived in Minneapolis, Minnesota, then ventured to Mukilteo, Washington for one and a half years, before finding themselves in Fayetteville, where they have settled for the last three years. Alongside homeschooling, Megan works 30 hours per week for U.S. Bank in Risk Management. She appreciates the ways this professional outlet helps her thrive as a mother.

Jennifer  graduated from Abilene Christian University in 2005 with a BA in Communications. She is a mom of two and has been homeschooling for four years. She has volunteered and substituted in various public schools and Sunday school classes for the last 15 years. She has a passion for books and teaching and looks forward to helping students of all ages build, develop, and hone their writing and public speaking skills.

Lisa  is a homeschooling mom of three sons and one daughter. They have been homeschooling the past four years. She loves God and seeks to humbly follow Jesus. Lisa grew up as a homeschooler herself, and she loved kids and teaching from an early age. She taught horseback riding at Woodward Academy, in addition to being a private riding instructor. Later, she earned her BS in Nursing and taught Anatomy and Physiology as a TA at GA State University. She then worked as an RN at the Shepherd Center, a brain and spinal cord injury hospital, for 13 years. Lisa enjoys being outside, running, baking, health and nutrition, and being with kids. In her teaching, she focuses on making learning fun through hands-on creativity and sparking curiosity, as well as helping children develop confidence and a love for learning.

Adam is a husband, father of four, entrepreneur, small business owner, and self-taught artist. Adam's career began in 2002 with the invention of a towing device for water sports that he sold through his startup company, Distortion Boarding. The "Grinch Winch" grew in popularity and even crossed industries where it was used in mining, tv/film, and as a tool for ministry in overseas missions. In 2013, God called Adam to close the doors at Distortion Boarding and begin using his gifts in welding/fabrication to create his second venture, Hart Customs. Through Hart Customs, Adam has had the opportunity to create one-of-a-kind sculptures and movie props as well as offer design/build services for property development. Adam is known in his creative circles to be the one to call when no one else can build it. He gives God all glory and praise for his talent and ability. With 30 years experience in welding, woodworking, and CAD, Adam looks forward to sharing his passion with the students of Aretē.

Matt is from South Carolina. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Christian Ministry from Anderson University in South Carolina, with a minor in music.  He also has a Master of Divinity in Worship from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He is married to Kari, and they have two sons and one daughter. He has served as a Pastor for Worship, Senior Adults, and Global Missions at Woolsey Baptist Church since 2012. He began playing guitar as a senior in high school, and has taught group and private guitar lessons. He enjoys music, songwriting, and helping others glorify God through song. He also enjoys fishing, reading, traveling, and sports.

Jackie is a wife and mom. She and her family moved to Fayetteville in late 2018. She loves science–and she loves teaching science! She earned an MS in Chemistry from Michigan State University and has more than 20 years of teaching experience. She has worked with students in the GA Pre-K program, high school, and college. Before moving to Fayetteville, she taught at Kennesaw State University for 18 years. The pandemic led her to find teaching opportunities closer to home. She likes spending time with her nine-year-old son, riding her bicycle, and running in her free time.

Sadonna  is a mom of three wonderful children–two sons in college and a daughter who is a high school freshman. She has been homeschooling for 11 years. Before becoming a mother, she received her Bachelor's of Education from Atlanta Christian College and taught in the public school system for five years. She has also led a small homeschool co-op and worked as her church's Children's Minister for four years. She finds great joy in working with children and encouraging them to be curious about the world around them.

Sarah  is the mother of three young men, and the wife of Luke Pass. She grew up as a pastor's daughter and was homeschooled until ninth grade, when she attended a twice weekly private school. There she played basketball and ran track. After graduating, she attended Georgia State University, receiving her degree in Early Childhood Education with a specialty in ESOL. She then took a full time teaching position in Henry County, got married, and moved to Fayetteville. She was an assistant teacher at Whitefield Academy in Smyrna until she lost her firstborn through a late miscarriage. She served as a substitute teacher at various schools in Fayette County until she had her second son and became a stay-at-home mom! She enjoys writing, reading, cooking, and sourdough making.

Katie has been playing the piano for 16 years and has been teaching students ranging from ages 4-80 for about nine years. She studied music with Dr. Michiko Otaki at Clayton State University. While there, she had a lot of really exciting opportunities, such as getting to perform a duet on Spivey Hall's Steinway piano! When she's not teaching or playing piano, she enjoys helping at the Fayette Pregnancy Resource Center, serving at her church, sitting in coffee shops, reading, baking, or hanging out with her three cats, two dogs, and horse.

Alex is wife to Russell and mama to two little girls, ages five and two. This is her first year homeschooling. She has taught music classes in a variety of settings. Before working at Aretē, she worked as a Choral Director of a middle school choir, and as an Elementary Music Teacher at a private school. She graduated from Georgia State University with her Bachelor’s in Music Education. In her time outside of schooling, she loves to sing in her church choir and read, and she is learning how to make gluten-free snacks and play the ukulele!

Ashley grew up in Fayetteville and graduated from the University of Georgia in 2009 with her B.S. Ed. in English Education. She taught high school English for five years (with some of those years also teaching Drama and coaching cheer) before starting a family with her husband, Lance. When she’s not spending time at home with Lance, their three kiddos, and their old lady dog, she can be found reading, photographing friends and family, and trying to replicate recipes from baking shows (with very little success).

Kimberly grew up in Monroeville, Alabama. She and her husband RJ have three boys, a dog, and some rowdy chickens. Kimberly graduated from Auburn University with her B.S. in Secondary Mathematics Education. She later completed her M.A.T in Mathematics at University of West Alabama. She has taught (or tutored) everything from 7th grade Pre-Algebra to 11th grade Algebra II, but decided to step away from teaching after having kids. Currently, she is every boy's room mom and is the Coordinator for Fayette County Youth Soccer League. When she isn't hanging out with all of her boys at home, she enjoys trying new recipes, playing board or card games, puzzling, exercising, craft shows, and watching/loudly encouraging her kids while they play sports.

Lindsay grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. She dual-enrolled at St. Petersburg College as a homeschooled highschooler and later graduated with an A.S. in Dental Hygiene in 2009. In 2011, she married David and the next year she left her beloved dental crew to stay home with their firstborn, Kate. The Air Force moved them to Wichita, Kansas for three years, where their son Eli was born. Next, to the Mojave desert of Southern California for two and a half years, where Alec was born. Moving back to the east coast in 2020, they settled down in Middle Georgia, until they moved to Senoia in August of 2023. She hopes to stay for a while! Lindsay enjoys decorating, attempts at gardening, traveling, and playing pickleball. (And she’s looking for fellow local pickleball players!) Alongside her husband, she homeschools their three kids who love attending Aretē!

Stephanie  is a homeschooling mom to four littles. She and her husband met at the University of Pittsburgh, where she graduated with a B.S. in electrical engineering. They moved to Georgia to continue their education at Georgia Tech, however, Stephanie stopped taking classes to stay home with their baby. She treasures her time with the littles and is so grateful to have the opportunity to spend her time at Aretē in service in the nursery. She also loves being able to share her interest in engineering with the older students.

Breanna is the mother to five sweet girls, and works at Piedmont Fayette Hospital part time as an RN. She taught LPN at Southern Crescent Technical College and loved clinical, where students could learn hands-on. She loves teaching the next generation, and believes that learning should be fun and life long. She enjoys cooking, painting, hiking, reading, and teaching. She also loves being home with her children and making memories with them.

Dawn has been married for 23 years. She is the homeschool mom of five children, her oldest attending the United States Military Academy at West Point (Army). She has an active role in the Charlotte Mason homeschool community, where she acquired her love for literature. She has led the Charlotte Mason Educational Retreat in Colorado since 2016 and speaks on various topics at the Living Education Retreat and the Weekend of Living Ideas. Dawn has a B.S. in Physics from the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) and a Master’s of Physics from the University of New Mexico. She served as a physicist in the Air Force for five and a half years and taught physics at USAFA for two and a half years. Dawn is in her second year of teaching Physical Science at the Konos Academy. By the grace of God, she desires to foster the love of learning through being a guide, philosopher, and friend.

Eric is a man of many hats. He is a husband, father of six, Delta pilot, Air Force Lieutenant Colonel, Academic Program Assistant instructor at the Air War College, and deacon at Woolsey Baptist Church. He earned his Aerospace Engineering degree from Virginia Tech and later obtained his Master’s degree in Military History. In his free time, he enjoys getting his hands dirty in all sorts of construction and mechanical projects.

Kaitlin Parsons is a wife to a Marine and mom to one boy. She has a Bachelor's in Biology and worked on a Doctorate in Chiropractic before deciding she would rather be a teacher. She recently completed a Master's of Arts in Educational Studies at Western Governor's University. She has been teaching at a prominent Christian school, but recently the Lord put it on her heart to make a move to homeschooling in order to spend more time with her family. She loves to bake, craft, spend time with family, and share her passion for teaching with others.