|
|
OUR SPONSORS
Convention 2008 - Speakers
View workshops.
NEW! View speaker handouts.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
PHIL DOWNER
DNA Ministries
(Discipleship Network of America)
Phil is president of Discipleship Network of America
(DNA). A former machine gunner who served in Viet Nam with the United States
Marine Corps, he holds a B.A. from Southern Methodist University and a J.D.
from Emory University. Phil was a successful lawyer before being led to Christ
and discipled by fellow professionals. He and his wife Susy homeschooled five
children from K-12—their sixth child is in eighth grade. They speak with
transparency about their weaknesses and how they found biblical solutions as
the Lord worked in their lives. They never forget their constant dependence
upon God. Their passion is to pass on what He has taught them. Phil is the
author of Eternal Impact: Investing in the Lives of Others; A
Father's Reward-Raising Your Children to Walk in the Truth; Optimize Your Marriage; and Brave,
Strong, and Tender. He
and Susy are coauthors, with David and Theresa Ferguson, of Unlimited
Partnership: Building Intimacy & Teamwork Into Your Marriage. Phil is
also the editor and coauthor of Effective Men's Ministry, published by
Zondervan.
GREGG HARRIS
Noble Institute
Gregg is a Christian husband and father of seven children.
In addition to his training at Centerville Bible College, the University of
Dayton, and Wright State University, he brings to each presentation 27 years
experience in homeschooling. Gregg is an internationally recognized author and
conference speaker whose work helped to start the homeschooling movements in
the U.S., Canada, Australia, and Mexico. Beginning in 1981, Gregg's Home
Schooling Workshop, Family Business Seminar, and Seasons of Life Seminar helped
to launch more than 180,000 families into teaching their children at home. His
sons include Josh Harris, best-selling author, Joel Harris, director of
Northwest Academy of Worship, and Alex and Brett Harris, 18-year-old twin
co-hosts of www.TheRebelution.com and co-authors
of the new book, Do Hard Things.
Gregg currently serves on the board of directors of Home School Foundation and
as the founding pastor and teaching elder of Household of Faith Community
Church, an age-integrated local church of more than 1,100 members. Gregg lives
with his wife Sono and their five younger children in Gresham, Oregon.
FEATURED AND WORKSHOP SPEAKERS
ADAM ANDREWS
Center for Literary Education
Adam is the director of the Center for Literary Education and a
homeschooling father of six. Since 2003, he has traveled throughout the United
States and Canada, presenting an innovative and accessible method for teaching
the crucial skills of literary analysis and interpretation. Adam's enthusiastic
style and dynamic seminar presentations have enabled many students to
understand and enjoy great literature as never before, while his practical
experience and fresh insights have inspired parents and teachers with new
vision for their task as educators. Adam
received his B.A. from Hillsdale College and his M.A. from the University of
Washington, where he is currently a Ph.D candidate. He and his wife Missy, a
Hillsdale graduate and accomplished educator in her own right, currently teach
all six of their children at home in Rice, Washington.
VICKI BENTLEY
Everyday Homemaking, www.HomeEducation101.com
Vicki is the mother of eight daughters, foster mom of more
than 50 since 1985, and grandma to 14 wonderful grandbabies (so far). She homeschooled
17 children over a period of 15 years, with the strong undergirding of her
husband Jim. She led a local support group of more than 250 families for 14
years. She has served on the executive board of the Home Educators Association
of Virginia and helps to coordinate their annual convention. Vicki has
addressed state and national conventions, university teacher organizations, and
many mothers' groups. She is the author of My
Homeschool Planner; Everyday Cooking;
The Everyday Family Chore System; Home Education 101: A Mentoring Program for
New Homeschoolers; High School 101:
Blueprint for Success, and other homeschool and homemaking helps. Vicki has
a heart for moms and offers them strong practical wisdom and encouraging words.
ANNA SOFIA AND ELIZABETH BOTKIN
Western Conservatory of the Arts
and Sciences
These sisters were 17 and 15 when they started writing
the American bestseller, So Much More, a book which is reintroducing
concepts of multi-generational family fruitfulness and the ways daughters can
become cultural leaders by becoming dynamic assets of family and church. In
2007, they produced the controversial documentary, "The Return of the
Daughters," which has stimulated healthy debate in the church on numerous
issues including femininity, feminism, marriage, courtship, higher education,
and the father-daughter relationship. They are currently assisting their father
in the creation of a documentary series on the Great Commission and how it has
created the great cultural capital of Western Civilization.
GEOFFREY BOTKIN
Western Conservatory of the Arts
and Sciences
Geoffrey is an author, international business leader, and
former pastor. He has been an articulate advocate of home education since 1981,
when he produced America's first national television special on the subject,
and is considered an expert on education issues faced by western nations. He
has lectured on philosophy and history at Hillsdale College, on politics at the
Heritage Foundation, on music and art at the San Antonio Independent Christian
Film Festival, and on theology at worldview conferences in the U.S. and New
Zealand. His fascinating career includes ten years as a high-level political
consultant in Washington. He and his wife Victoria have five sons and two
daughters, all of whom have been trained to be leaders in today's culture wars,
media wars, and church-growth controversies. The family home is Seven Arrows
Ranch in New Zealand. They are presently in the United States speaking about
issues related to dynastic family discipleship and national reformation. Their
children range in age from 12-26.
MARILYN BOYER
The Learning Parent
Marilyn is a blessed mom of 14 and grandma of
four, who has taught her children at home since 1980. Her passion is training
her family to reach their potential for serving God and encouraging other moms
to do the same. She has authored several books on home education and Christian
parenthood and is a nationally known homeschool speaker. She and her husband,
Rick, operate The Learning Parent, a ministry that equips and encourages parents in their
exciting mission of training future generations.
RICK BOYER
The Learning Parent
Rick is one of the early trailblazers of the
home-education movement. He and his wife, Marilyn, have taught their 14
children at home, kindergarten through high school, since 1980. Rick has spoken
at homeschooling conventions across the U.S. as well as overseas, and has
authored several books on Christian parenthood and home education. He and
Marilyn operate The Learning Parent, a ministry to home-teaching families.
Rick's folksy, humorous speaking style has led him to be called "The Will
Rogers of the home education movement."
YVONNE BUNN
Home Educators Association of Virginia
Yvonne is HEAV's director of homeschool support and
director of government affairs. She works with HEAV's legislative team to
protect and improve Virginia's homeschool laws. She initiated Governor George
Allen's proclamation of Virginia Home Education Week and continues to
coordinate HEAV's annual Day at the Capitol. She spearheaded HEAV's efforts in
the General Assembly to pass the first homeschool license plate in the nation,
with the logo "Education Begins at Home." Yvonne works with a network
of local support groups to provide accurate, up-to-date information to
homeschoolers. She developed the Homeschool Success seminar series and has
spoken at many homeschooling conferences throughout Virginia. She has also
participated in a week-long series on the nationally-syndicated
"Homeschool Heartbeat." In 1992 Yvonne received Home School Legal
Defense Association's "Outstanding Service" award. Yvonne and her
husband George have five children and seven grandchildren. She has a degree in
elementary education and taught high school prior to homeschooling for 18
years.
JANE BULLIVANT
www.thehomeschoolmagazine.com
Jane is an international
author, columnist, and broadcaster based in England. She works with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine to encourage
and inspire parents in the adventure of educating and raising their children to
be the people God created them to be. Jane's dynamic presentations
are bursting at the seams with warmth, humor, and practical advice for parents
wishing to take their homeschool to the next level. Jane and her husband Darren
homeschool three turbo-charged children (11, 10, and 6) and their escapee
hamsters. Jane's books are available world wide and have been translated into
several languages. Her latest book is titled Skydiving for Parents: Raising amazing kids without going into freefall,
and was recently named as an iParenting media award "greatest product"
winner of 2007-2008.
JANICE CAMPBELL
Everyday Education, www.NAIWE.com
Janice is the author of Get a Jump Start on College!, Transcripts Made Easy, and a
forthcoming high school literature series. She has been writing and speaking since
the late 1980s. She homeschooled her four sons from kindergarten into college
using the principles she now shares in her books, workshops, blog, and free
e-newsletter. Janice graduated cum laude from Mary Baldwin College with a B.A. in English. She is director
of the National Association of Independent Writing Evaluators and creator of
the Beat-the-Clock Essay WorkshopTM, an innovative one-day SAT-essay
preparation seminar.
TOM CLARK
VideoText Interactive
Tom is a life-long teacher of mathematics and science
with 35 years of experience at all levels. His experience has convinced him
that everyone has the ability to understand mathematics. In the last seven
years, he has focused on the development of multimedia programs that challenge
traditional methods of instruction and has sought to help homeschooling parents
become more effective instructors. He is now vice-president in charge of product
development for VideoText Interactive.
The company's first major program, Algebra:
A Complete Course, has received enthusiastic response from reviewers and
users in the United States and abroad for ten years.
DIANNE CRAFT
Child Diagnostics/Dianne Craft
A former homeschool mom with 25 years' experience teaching
children who struggle with learning, Dianne received both her bachelor's and
master's degrees in special education. She is also a Certified Natural Health
Professional and works with children who are experiencing struggles such as
ADD/ADHD, learning disabilities, dyslexia, sensory integration issues, autism,
Asperger's Syndrome, Down Syndrome, and Turner Syndrome. She approaches these
problems in a unique way...looking for the "solutions" along with the common
compensations for the problem. Discovering the reason for children's struggles
with learning and behavior has long been a passion of Dianne's. In 1988, she created
the Brain Integration Therapy for Children workshop for parents, educators,
psychologists, speech therapists, and occupational therapists. Since 1997, she
has worked as an educational diagnostician and homeschool consultant in her
private practice, Child Diagnostics, Inc., in Denver, Colorado. Dianne has also
authored a manual on brain therapy and a phonics reading book and has produced
an audio and video series. She is one of HSLDA's special needs coordinators. Dianne
lives in Denver with her husband Ron, a CPA.
PAUL DOWNER
DNA Ministries
(Discipleship Network of America)
Paul is the director of operations for DNA Ministries and managing
director of Eternal Impact Publishing. He travels the country with his father,
Phil Downer, speaking at one to two conferences per month, and appears with
Phil on their daily one-minute broadcast, A
Discipleship Moment, which airs on more than 120 radio stations in America. Homeschooled from kindergarten through
grade 12, Paul attended Bryan College as a Presidential Scholar. Paul came to
Christ at five years old, yet he was in a crisis of anger and dishonesty by the
age of 12. His life began to fracture as he was conquered by lying, a fiery
temper, stealing, and a deep-seated anger toward his father, Phil. God moved
onto the scene and transformed not only their lives but also their
relationship. Paul graduated magna cum
laude from Bryan College in 2005 with a B.A. in Bible and a B.S. in business
administration, and is currently pursuing an M.A. in Christian studies from
Regent College in Vancouver, Canada. He has been discipling guys one-on-one for
eight years and speaking with Phil for ten years. Paul conveys a powerful
message for young people on fighting their life-defining battles and imparts
Godly principles for living the Christian life in godliness, purity, and
purpose to both children and parents.
TAMMY DUBY
Tobins Lab
Tammy is a homeschool mom of 18 years, mother of two, and
a borrower of other people's children. She holds degrees in elementary and
early childhood education. Her teaching takes a hands-on approach, while
emphasizing literature. Her workshops offer a blessing, a good laugh, and
practical ideas parents can implement right away. She is the co-author of The Ultimate Lap BookTM Handbook. She and
her husband Mike own Tobin's Lab: Hands-On Science. They live in Culpeper,
Virginia, with Megan and Tobin.
STEVE AND ANNETTE ECONOMIDES
America's Cheapest Family
Steve and Annette and their five children are living the
American Dream in a very un-American way—without debt. With patience,
creativity, and some divine intervention they have accomplished what many
people believe to be impossible:
- Paid cash for all of their cars
- Fed their family of seven for just $350 each month
- Taken fabulous vacations without any debt
- Lived well without credit cards
- Taught their kids to earn and spend money responsibly
- Paid off their first home in nine years on an average income of $35,000
Steve and Annette have been homeschooling parents for 21 years and are founding
board members of Arizona Families for Home Education.
Their message of living better while spending less has resonated with families across the country and overseas. They have appeared as guests on ABC's Good Morning America, 20/20, NPR, and BBC Radio, as well as in Good Housekeeping, Budget Living, and Real Simple magazines. Their book, America's Cheapest Family Gets You Right On The Money, hit The New York Times best-seller list just three weeks after being released.
GEORGE D. ESCOBAR
Advent Film Group
George was a former
producing fellow from the American Film Institute's Center for Advanced Film
and Television Studies (AFI). He has worked as a freelance story analyst for
Disney, Paramount, and New World Pictures. He was assistant to the director on
Love Boat, Dynasty, Hotel, and several other television pilots. George has
written seven screenplays, including a musical, and he produced and directed Soli Deo Gloria, a documentary about the
NCFCA Speech and Debate National Championship. Most recently, George produced
and directed the upcoming feature film, Come
What May, for Advent Film Group in association with Patrick Henry College
(PHC). Mike Farris, founder and chancellor of PHC, plays the moot court coach
in the movie. Come What May was made
by and stars homeschooled students. George acknowledges, "When I was in
Hollywood I was a marginal Christian. I knew Christ, but I did not live for
Him. Now, as a more mature Christian, I can clearly see and appreciate why the
Lord literally pulled me away from Hollywood. I might have grown to become a
successful filmmaker, but I would have been an ineffective ambassador for
Christ. The Lord first had to mold and remake me as a homeschool dad of three
sons and a devoted husband to my wife, Claire, for 20 years. More importantly,
I needed to learn that the Lord comes first in everything I do. That includes
my family, church, education, world view, my craft as a filmmaker, the people I
work with, and the organizations I support."
BARRY HARDY
Dave Ramsey (The Lampo Group)
Barry is the team leader of the Customer Care Center
for the Dave Ramsey organization, also known as The Lampo Group. Prior to
working for the Lampo Group, Barry taught elementary school and high school for
14 years. He is very active at church and has been on six mission trips to
Novosibirsk, Siberia...during the winter! Barry was born and raised in Maine,
then moved to Tennessee where he attended Lipscomb University and received a
bachelor's degree in education, theater, and psychology. He completed his
master's degree in education at Indiana University. He and his wife, Debbie,
have coordinated Financial Peace University classes for more than nine years.
They live in LaVergne, Tennessee, with two of their three sons. Barry's
speaking engagements include motivational and ministerial speaking throughout
the United States at churches, schools, and business organizations. He also
speaks at conventions and workshops, talking to families about how to better
prepare themselves and their children when it comes to money matters.
SHELLEY HENDRY
His Image Ministries
As a full-time wife, mother of six children, and home educator
of 16 years, Shelley desires to inspire and encourage others by helping them to
love the Lord and love others, touching their lives for eternity. She and her
children enjoy coordinating living history tours, serving in their local
church, and supporting the triplet's gospel chalk-talk ministry. As time
permits, she enjoys speaking, writing, sharing resources, and performing
first-person monologues of Christians of history. Shelley's main desire is that
her life will serve as a call to worship and draw others to a closer walk with
God by providing times of encouragement, inspiration, and
affirmation. Shelley lives and works in the shadow of the beautiful Blue
Ridge Mountains, a reminder of "from whence cometh our help."
TRACIE AND DAVE HOLLIS
Central Virginia Homeschool Athletic Association
Dave and Tracie are New Kent residents who have
homeschooled for 13 years. Dave works for Ditech Inc., where he sells cutting
dies to box companies. Tracie has been a homemaker for 25 years. They both
share a passion for the Lord, children, and sports. A coach for 30 years, Dave
has coached youth league and public school football and baseball. Together they
started the first homeschool football team. It truly is more than just a game
to them. It is a ministry, and they endeavor to do all to the glory of God.
ANNE MILLER (MILLER FAMILY)
Home Educators Association of Virginia
Anne and her husband
Jeff, a designer and builder of homes, have always homeschooled their eight
children (six boys and two girls, ages 11 to 26). By August, four of the Miller
children will have graduated college with master's degrees. Two are married,
one is expecting in July, three are engineers, and four are still being
schooled at home. From having babies at home to navigating her children through
college and courtship, Anne shares practical and godly insights on family life.
Having served homeschool families through HEAV for almost 19 years, she is in
her 12th year serving as president and is also director of publications. Anne
is a speaker, writer, editor, and graphic and interior designer who loves
gardening and working with her husband in his construction business.
KERIN MORGAN
Kerin, a native Texan, has lived in Richmond for 18
years. She has been married 28 years and has 11 children and two grandchildren.
Kerin began homeschooling in 1985 and is still homeschooling her last six
children, ages 9-16. Kerin is a frequent speaker at local church, neighborhood,
homeschool, and MOPS groups in the Richmond area. She has also spoken at
national conferences on various aspects of parenting, as well as facilitated a
conference in parenting principles for future leaders of the church in Albania.
For the last 13 years, Kerin and her family have run Morgan Swim School and
teach approximately 2,000 children to swim each summer. Kerin's greatest passion
aside from ministry to her family is to encourage others with the hope and
grace she has received, in the ups and downs of marriage, life, and raising
children to the glory of God.
GREG REHMKE
Economic Thinking
Greg has written more than one hundred articles on public
policy topics, as well as published resource books, study guides, and
newsletters focused on the economic aspects of more than twenty years of high
school and homeschool debate topics. These topics have included immigration,
agriculture, medical malpractice, protectorates, and NATO. A graduate of the
University of Washington with a degree in economics, Greg has directed
educational programs at numerous foundations over the course of his career,
including the Reason Foundation, the Center for the American Idea, and the
Foundation for Economic Education. He currently serves as program director for
an organization called Economic Thinking, and has organized workshops for
homeschool speech-and-debate students across the country for the past seven
years. More than 2,000 homeschool students have attended Economic Thinking and
Foundation for Economic Education workshops. These workshops, along with Greg's
articles and webpages, have introduced economic concepts and helped students
apply them to the national homeschool debate topic. In addition, Greg frequently
presents on a variety of economic topics at teacher-training workshops for
numerous organizations. He is also a writer and editor for the forthcoming Complete Idiot's Guide to Global Economics.
MIKE SNAVELY
Mission Imperative
Mike was reared in South Africa, the son of missionary
parents. His father was a bush pilot for a rural mission hospital among the
Zulu people. Throughout his life he has been fascinated with wildlife. Growing
up in an area that teemed with remarkable and diverse creatures, he had a wide
variety of "pets" and fascinating experiences, which helped to mold his future.
After graduating from Oak Hills College in Minnesota in 1979, he returned to
South Africa to work for the National Parks Service in the world-famous Kruger
National Park, and later began a career as an African wildlife artist. In 1986,
he and his wife, Carrie, returned to South Africa with TEAM (The Evangelical
Alliance Mission) and served by teaching at Durban Bible College. Since
returning to the U.S., they have developed a ministry of teaching creation (vs.
evolution) through a series of seminars, using nature and wildlife as a basis. They
established Mission: Imperative in 1995 as a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit
corporation. The ministry necessitates much travel, both in this country and
abroad. Mike and Carrie have homeschooled their three children since 1991. Mike is the author of Creation of Evolution: A Home-Study
Curriculum and has produced seven DVDs on a wide range of topics related to
creation issues.
MARCIA SOMERVILLE
Tapestry of Grace/Lampstand Press
Marcia has homeschooled her six children "from the
beginning." She was ready to quit homeschooling when her oldest entered high
school and her youngest started kindergarten: trying to teach five subjects to
six children Monday through Friday looked impossible. What made it harder for
Marcia was that she had received an excellent education herself at Kent School
and Dartmouth College. She knew what a good education looked like and was not
satisfied with racing from child to child and subject to subject day after day.
She wanted her children to grow up to be wise young men and women who
understood the times and knew what they should do. Marcia reached the end of
her own ability, but God met her there. After weeks of tears and prayer, she
came up with a different way to teach. She had been a history major in college
and recognized that everything one needs to learn happened or was discovered at
some moment in history. By cycling through the history of the world every four
years, she could cover everything her children needed to learn. By repeating
that cycle as the children grew up, the whole family could be learning the same
content at their individual levels. The Tapestry
of Grace curriculum was born! Today, Marcia
leads the continuing development of Tapestry of Grace as she travels
with her husband to speak to homeschooling parents.
SCOTT SOMERVILLE
Tapestry of Grace/Lampstand Press
As a father of five children, Scott went to Harvard
Law School in 1989 and graduated with honors (and a sixth child) in 1992. Scott
was a homeschool activist before he was a lawyer—as the first president of
Christian Home Educators of New Hampshire, Scott battled the New Hampshire
rules revision subcommittee to a standstill in their effort to triple the
regulations on homeschoolers. That brush with the law was enough to induce him to
quit his day job as a programmer, put the house on the market, and move the
whole family down to Cambridge, Massachusetts. Scott went straight from liberal
Harvard to the Home School Legal Defense Association and spent 14 years
fighting for homeschoolers' freedoms. In October, Scott left HSLDA (with their
blessing and full support) to join Lampstand Press in a full-time capacity to
encourage fathers as the heads of their homeschools. A highly acclaimed
national speaker, he is now General Counsel for Lampstand Press, as well as the
creator of the successful Pop Quiz
audio CDs. Scott has written and spoken extensively on subjects ranging from
parental rights to the privacy of the home, but his central concern has always
been for the homeschool family—especially the homeschool dad. Scott combines
his personal experience of more than 20 years of homeschooling with his
professional expertise. After assisting thousands of individual homeschoolers
across the nation, he knows much about the perils and promises of
homeschooling.
ERIC WALLACE
Institute for Uniting Church and Home
Eric is the husband of Leslee and the father of six very
active children. He is the founder and president of the Institute for Uniting
Church and Home, whose mission is to encourage, inspire, and train church
leaders and families to unite the efforts of the church and the home in
fulfilling the Great Commission through household relationships. Eric has a
passion for Jesus Christ and His gospel of grace as the bedrock that unites the
church and the home. His book, Uniting
Church and Home, has been God's tool of reformation in the hearts of
approximately 20,000 families and church leaders in the U.S., Korea, and New
Zealand. The Institute's Church Leader Network has been a crucial encouragement
tool to church leaders seeking to implement UCH principles. He preaches and
teaches at churches, denominational meetings, retreats, conventions, seminars,
and pretty much anywhere free coffee is offered. He loves sushi, "catching"
(rather than just "fishing"), reading and writing at Borders stores, taking his
kids on Institute trips, and taking his wife on dates to their favorite
Vietnamese Pho shop. Eric is currently writing his second book due out in 2008.
JAY WILE
Apologia
Dr. Wile holds an earned Ph.D. from the University of
Rochester in nuclear chemistry and a B.S. in chemistry from the same
institution. He has taught at both the university and high school levels and
has won several awards for excellence in teaching. He has also published more
than 30 articles in nationally recognized journals and has nine books to his
credit including Reasonable Faith: The Scientific Case For Christianity.
Currently, Dr. Wile owns Apologia Educational Ministries, a company dedicated
to giving people scientific reasons to believe in Christ. The company's
specialty is science curricula for home-educated students.
Contact Us | Volunteer | FAQs | Site Map | Link to Us!
Privacy Policy | Hyperlink Disclaimer
Home Educators Association of Virginia, 2248 G Dabney Road, Richmond, Virginia, 23230
PHONE 804-278-9200, FAX 804-278-9202
Committed to helping parents fulfill their God-given right and responsibility to educate their own children
This page last edited: 15 May 2008
Copyright © 1998-2008. Home Educators Association of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia U.S.A. All rights reserved under both international and Pan-American copyright conventions. No reproduction of any part of this material may be made without the prior written consent of the copyright holder.