Laurie Capen
Laurie Capen has a Bachelors of Science from the US Naval Academy where she majored in history and political science. Laurie discovered her personal relationship with Christ as a midshipman at USNA. She is married to her Academy classmate and they have three children, ages 16, 14 and 12. She has been homeschooling for 12 years. Laurie has taught math and science in both co-ops and private tutoring. Her professional career included being the Director and counselor at a drug and alcohol outpatient rehab center, Director of Student Affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School, Director of Religious Education at Naval Station Mayport and Director of Publications for Naval Services FamilyLine in Washington DC. She is also a coach and judge for both high school and Junior Olympic level gymnastics.

Karen Dellinger
Karen Dellinger developed a passion for teaching during her teen years while working in children’s Sunday school classes and Vacation Bible School programs. She began learning Spanish at that time as well, and later chose to continue her study of the language in college. She received her bachelor’s degree in Spanish from Mary Washington College and taught Spanish at Potomac High School in Woodbridge, Virginia, for three years. She left public school teaching to become a full-time wife and mother, and she began homeschooling her four children in 1992. For the past seven years, she and her two youngest children have enjoyed being part of the CHESS community; she has taught Spanish and her children have participated in a variety of classes. Her desire is to help her students excel by blending the strengths of homeschooling with a supportive classroom experience.

Betsy Dill
Betsy Dill is a former Guideposts Writers' Workshop winner. Her inspirational articles have appeared in magazines and published anthologies. Betsy's humor articles have appeared in newspapers and anthologies including Hallmark's Laughing Out Loud. She teaches art at Northern Virginia Christian Academy and is co-founder and director of Capital Christian Writers, a professional writers' organization in the DC metro area (www.ccwriters.org). See samples of her humor articles and art at www.betsydill.com.

Bonnie Fite
Bonnie Fite has a B.A. in high school English & Elementary Ed. and an M.A. in Special Ed. from Santa Clara University. She taught several years in Christian Schools in San Francisco and Silicon Valley before staying home to raise her four children (who are all teens now.) She will begin her 5th year of homeschooling this fall. She enjoys creating a vibrant learning environment where students are eager to learn and discover new insights. She is the author of Effective Discipline: A Delicate Balance, The Twelve New Days of Christmas, a musical by the same name and several Bible studies, a workbook for parents and a devotional. She has been a featured guest on many national radio shows like Focus on the Family’s Renewing the Heart and Janet Parshall’s America.

Mary Harvard
Mary Harvard has taught at Ambleside Christian School in Herndon, as well as at St. Paul’s Church in Darien, CT. She has served as the Director of School Programs for a large community farm in Massachusetts which involved developing a summer Science Camp, and staffing and coordinating field trip programs at the farm based on life science and New England history. Mary has also taught adult education at Truro Church. She has thirteen years of experience as a Copyright/Trademark Paralegal. She graduated from State University of New York with a B.A. in English.

John Jenkins
John Jenkins is an award-winning author for Focus on the Family’s Breakaway magazine for teen boys. John's love for history, his passion for critical thinking and effective communication, and his commitment to student excellence have found expression in five books, nine short stories for Focus on the Family, speaking at homeschool conferences, speech and debate judging, and thirteen years of teaching homeschool students across Northern Virginia.

Linn Kezer
Mrs. Kezer began her music career as a flute/piccolo player in the U.S. Army Band program. She attended the U.S. Army Element School of Music at the U.S. Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, VA. After her military duty, she studied voice at Armstrong State College in Savannah, GA. She has studied flute and performed in several master classes. She performed in a concert tours in the British Isles, Florida, and Chile, as well as performing at the White House and the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She is the founding director of the WyndSong Flute Quartet, a member of Las Canarias Flute and Guitar Duo, and a member of six different music associations. Mrs. Kezer sings in two church choirs and directs a wind ensemble at her church. She has been teaching private music lessons for over 40 years.

Dee Dee Kintzing
Dee Dee Kintzing has an education degree from Georgia State University, and has taught in public high school before having children and becoming a home school mom. She has 15 years of home school experience, many of which have included teaching large classes through enrichment programs and cooperatives. Dee Dee has been involved in speech and debate with the National Christian Forensics Communication Association (NCFCA) for the past 3 years. Her daughter is nationally ranked in both speech and debate. Dee Dee will be serving as a board member and co-founder of Vector VA Speech and Debate Club which will serve the Dulles corridor location.

Kathy Kuhl
Kathy Kuhl earned a teaching certificate in secondary mathematics while completing a B.A. in English at William and Mary. She enjoys teaching all ages: math and English to homeschooled and to public school teens, homeschooling help to parents, and Sunday School to two-year-olds. She has been a programmer analyst, editor, and tutor. She began teaching at CHESS in 2003. After four years at CHESS, her son graduated from homeschool in 2006, but she enjoys folks at CHESS so much she kept on and also serves as co-administrator. Although CHESS classes are not designed for students with learning disabilities, Kathy also writes about and speaks at conventions and support groups on homeschooling children who learn differently. She is the author of the book, Homeschooling Your Struggling Learner, and the Learn Differently e-newsletter.

Jody Lyon
Jody Lyon has homeschooled for twenty years. She has a B.A. degree in American History, a B.A. in Studio Art from Virginia Tech., as well as a Masters Degree in Education from George Mason University. She has taught preschoolers to adults and says has learned from every one of them. She believes that homeschooling provides unique opportunities for children to explore their own learning styles, follow their interests, and evaluate their success that may not be available in other settings. Jody has taught with the CHESS program since its inception in 2001.

Carol McFarland
Carol McFarland, a homeschool mother of 8, has a BS in Industrial Arts Education, specializing in Graphic Arts. She has had 30 years’ experience in the graphic arts field: she taught graphic arts and photography for three years in addition to fulfilling all the printing needs for the school system, has worked in all aspects of the work flow for several print shops as everything from typesetter to assistant manager, and uses desktop publishing and photo editing software for her own photography, digital scrapbooking and calligraphy businesses.

Mary O'Donnell
Mary O’Donnell is a 20-year veteran homeschooling mom and teacher with a B.A. in Education who has finished homeschooling three wonderful boys, and has only her precious daughter left. In addition to teaching her own children, and various homeschool co-op classes when needed, her passion for the last seven years has been in teaching and developing additional curricula for Christian-centered high school level French I – IV classes in a homeschool co-op. Mary is a relatively native speaker of French as she grew up in Belgium, went to French speaking schools, and visits family there as often as possible. She inspires her students to succeed by not only breaking down the material into manageable pieces, but also by her enthusiasm for them and their progress. It is by God’s grace that her third year French students have typically tested out of two full years of college level French.

Theresa Powell
A graduate of James Madison University, Theresa Powell has taught in both public and private school settings in California and Virginia. She and her husband homeschooled their two children, now college graduates. Theresa has taught a range of subjects over the past thirty years, with a focus on English. She has taught pre-school through high school, and has taught learners with disabilities as well as the gifted and talented. She is a veteran CHESS teacher returning after a refreshing sabbatical.

Ron Reese
Dr. Ron Reese is a member of Centreville Baptist Church (CBC). Ron surrendered his life to Christ at age 22, within a year after graduating from the U.S. Naval Academy. When Ron came to Christ, a stumbling block was evolution, but he accepted Christ despite these doubts, with the assurance that Jesus would make the issue clear to him in time. He did. Ron served in the Navy for twenty years. Following sea duty, the Navy sent him to M.I.T., where God allowed him to receive three graduate degrees, culminating in a Ph.D. in Ocean Engineering. Ron has worked as a Navy Engineering Duty Officer and as an advisor to the Office of the Secretary of Defense on Live Fire Testing of ships. Ron has taught a course on creation vs. evolution to youth, and adults, first at his former church and in 1991 at CBC. He has also taught on Genesis three times in the past seven years at CBC. Ron was local committee co-chairman for the first Washington, DC area-wide Answers in Genesis Conference in 1997 and chairman for a second conference in 2007. Over the years he has taught Sunday School to all ages, including youth. Ron and his wife Ann have been married for 48 years and have two grown children and five grandchildren.

Camilla Rivera
Camilla Rivera has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from Colorado State University. She has taught, maintained, and written computer programs for the business world. She has home schooled for over thirteen years and says children are much more fun to teach than adults, as they love learning and don’t need breaks every half hour. At CHESS, Camilla has taught Sciences, Algebra I, and has managed to substitute for almost every class at least once.

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