Home Education: An Excellent Choice
Convention 2008 - Speakers

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KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Phil Downer 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 HarrisGREGG 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 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 BentleyVICKI BENTLEY
Everyday Homemakingwww.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 BotkinElizabeth BotkinANNA 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 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 BoyerMARILYN 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 BoyerRICK 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 Bunne 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 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 CampbellJANICE 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 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 CraftDIANNE 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 DownerPAUL 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 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.


Economides 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 Escobar 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 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 HendrySHELLEY 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 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.  

Miller FamilyANNE 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 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 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 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 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 SomervilleSCOTT 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 WallaceERIC 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 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.