KEYNOTE TEAM

Mike Smith is the President of Home School Legal Defense Association, an organization that he helped found in 1983. Established to protect the right of parents to teach their children at home, HSLDA now represents over 80,000 member families. Mike and his wife Elizabeth began homeschooling their children in 1981. He has been defending families for 24 years. Mike has been speaking to homeschool audiences for 23 years. His columns on home education appear regularly in the Washington Times, and he has been a guest on numerous television and radio programs, including Focus on the Family with Jim Dobson and Hannity and Colmes on Fox News. He believes that there is a revival taking place in America through the homeschool movement and that, through the second and third generation of homeschoolers, there is great potential to return America to its moral and religious foundation.


Elizabeth Smith, a veteran home schooling mother of four, taught her children at home for nearly fifteen years, and has seen them successfully graduate from college.  She is the wife of Michael Smith, President of Home School Legal Defense Association.  Elizabeth writes and speaks at home school conferences, symposiums, and women’s retreats throughout the United States and Canada.  Michael and Elizabeth have appeared several times on Focus on the Family radio program.

Elizabeth has lobbied on pro family issues in her state capitol and in Washington D.C. for the National Center for Home Education since 1993. She is on the Board of Directors of Breakthrough Intercessory Prayer Ministry and serves on the Virginia State cabinet of the Gideon International Auxiliary Ministry. She also serves as a Women’s Bible study teacher in her local church. Elizabeth is Director of Development at the Home School Foundation, the charitable arm of Home School Legal Defense Association.

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ADDITIONAL SPEAKERS


Leigh Bortins is a nationally acclaimed educator, perhaps best known for her ability to demystify the fundamental tools of learning. As a teacher, author and commentator, Leigh is credited with helping to launch the “home-centered learning” education movement. After earning a degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Michigan, Leigh worked in the aerospace industry before beginning her work as an educator. In teaching study skills for almost 20 years to children and adults, she has written several books including The Foundations Program: A Classical Curriculum (a teaching guide) and The Essentials Guide (a teaching guide for language arts from the classical perspective). She has authored complete k-12 curriculum guides for program directors, teachers and tutors all across the country.  Leigh is the founder and CEO of Classical Conversations Inc., an organization that models the home-centered learning approach to empower learners of all ages.

Leigh is currently working on developing The Home-Centered Education Institute where anyone interested in combining the classical model with technological advances in delivering education can be trained in effective methods. She believes that individualized methods and new technologies will continue to make the modern approach to classroom education obsolete, and is excited about preparing the next generation of teachers to help students learn from home, the office, the field, or wherever life might take them. She is presently enrolled in the Doctoral program in Global Education at the Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary near Boston, where she is further developing her thinking and writing on this subject. Leigh’s emphasis on the time-tested enjoyment of learning and the fundamentals of education and critical thinking skills grew out of her own experiences in home schooling her four boys with her husband Robert. They live in Pinehurst, North Carolina.

 
Yvonne Bunn, HEAV's director of homeschool support and director of government affairs, 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 also spearheaded HEAV's efforts in the General Assembly to pass the first homeschool license plate in the nation. 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 homeschool conferences throughout Virginia. She has also participated in a weeklong 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.



Tom Clark is a life-long teacher of Mathematics and Science with more than 30 years of classroom and tutoring experience at all levels.  He began his career with 12 years of classroom teaching, including a full year of graduate study. He then served for 5 years as the State Mathematics Supervisor for the Indiana Department of Education where he was responsible for curriculum development, textbook adoption and consultation for all public and private schools in the state.  He then became the Indianapolis Public Schools Supervisor of Mathematics – K-12, overseeing staff development efforts and supervising the implementation of curriculum.  Seven years later, Mr. Clark was promoted to the position of Director of Curriculum Development for all areas, fully utilizing his rich background in mathematics, science, art, music, language and athletics. In subsequent years, he was commissioned to author several mathematical resources for Houghton-Mifflin Publishing Co. and the Addison Wesley Publishing Co.  His has won the IUPUI Chancellor’s Award and the Purdue School of Science Faculty Teaching Award. During the last 13 years, he has focused on the development of multimedia programs that challenge traditional instruction methods and which help both individual and group learning.  Seven years ago he founded VideoText Interactive, a company that specializes in bringing the textbook to life through technology
 

Tammy Duby is a homeschool mom of 19 years, a 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 and history. Her workshops offer a blessing, a good laugh, and practical ideas parents can implement right away. Tammy is the co-author of the Ultimate Lap Book™ Handbook, Add Two Cups of Laughter, and Pillars of the Hebrew Nation. She and her husband Mike own Tobin’s Lab: Hands-On Science. While equipping families to teach science at home, their special joy is ministering to parents at conferences and at support group workshops. They live in Culpeper, Virginia with Megan, age 16 and Tobin, age 24. Tobin is an Eagle Scout, National Merit Scholar, graduate of Patrick Henry College, now working for a homeschool publishing company as their video guy.





William Eckenwiler earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Elementary Education from Bowling Green State University. He then moved to Richmond, Virginia where he taught fourth and sixth grade.After ten years of public school experience, Bill enrolled at Reformed Theological Seminary in Jackson, Mississippi where he earned a Masters degree in School Administration, and a second Masters degree in Christian Education. Upon graduation, twelve years were spent teaching at the seminary and university level while earning his doctorate in Reading Education from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Eckenwiler chose to explore homeschooling as the topic for his dissertation. He is currently teaching reading, language arts, children’s literature, and educational psychology at the collegiate level in North Carolina. He is the author of the book, A+ Education, Choosing the Best School Option for your Child. Dr. Eckenwiler and his wife, Kristen (who has her Masters degree in Reading Education) homeschool their two boys, and also serve as co-president of their local homeschool association. The Eckenwiler’s are passionate about homeschooling and have sought to share their experise in reading with fellow parents. What began as a casual offer to help local friends has grown into The Struggling Reader, which now helps parents all over the country. You can learn more about the work of The Struggling Reader by visiting the website at: www.TheStrugglingReader.com


Dale Gamache has 30 years experience teaching the Spanish language. He has taught elementary, middle and high school students in the Volusia County, FL school system. Señor Gamache and his family established their own private Spanish language after-school program where they teach public, private, and home school children in the Daytona Beach, Florida area. They have taught hundreds of elementary and middle school students in these after-school programs.  They developed the LA CLASE DIVERTIDA DVD curriculum while teaching these classes. He and his wife Robin have also recently developed a survival Spanish computer program in conjunction with the Florida Baptist Children’s Homes with a focus on missions for adults and church congregations. Sr. Gamache instructs high school students from all over the country live thru internet classrooms for high school Spanish I and II credit. Sr. Gamache has been a featured speaker on Foreign Language Acquisition at both homeschool and public school conventions throughout the country.  Dale and Robin live in the Daytona Beach area and have a daughter Erin who attends Polk State College after 13 years of homeschooling

 

Traci Heaton is a dedicated mom, speaker, and author. She is the co-author and developer of the Accountable Kids parenting program which is helping parents promote accountability, responsibility, and character development in their children. This unique program is based on the principle of the “Law of the Harvest”; you reap what you sow. The Accountable Kids program was created, not because Traci and her husband had all the answers but, because they had many of the same questions as other parents. The Heatons are now working closely with pediatricians, social workers, educators, counselors, and psychologists, and their efforts have been helpful for children with ADD, Autism, Aspergers, and behavioral problems. What started out as a way to create a more harmonious family life in their home has grown into a thriving business and traveling ministry. Traci’s presentations combine humor, practicality, and hands-on solutions to help families learn to balance choices and consequences in a fun, productive manner. Her ideas help children develop confidence and self-worth and experience the joy of being a vital, contributing member of the family.



Maggie Hogan lives in Dover, DE, where she and her husband Bob began homeschooling their two (now grown) sons in 1991. She is a regular contributor to homeschooling internet sites as well as print magazines like The Old Schoolhouse. She's a nationally known speaker and co-author of The Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide, Gifted Children at Home, Young Scholar's Guide to Classical Composers and other resource books. Bob and Maggie are also owners of Bright Ideas Press, publishers of the all new Illuminations curriculum as well as award winning: The Mystery of History series, Christian Kids Explore series and All American History series. When not reading or writing, Maggie can be found drooling over travel brochures.


Dari Mullins, co-author of Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country, is the mother of three teenagers. She began researching homeschooling in 1995.  She and her husband, Allen, have taught their children at home since the oldest started kindergarten in 1997. They live in Asheville, NC where Dari teaches co-op classes and stays active with the local homeschool community. She serves on the board of the Western Carolina Athletic Association which provides junior and senior high homeschooled students with organized team sports.  Dari specializes in learning styles and provides extensive learning style assessments and curriculum consulting for homeschoolers. She is currently working for Bright Ideas Press, publishers of Mystery of History and other great titles, as the project manager for their new all-inclusive curriculum, Illuminations. She stays busy speaking for various homeschool support groups and conventions throughout the United States.



Sue Patrick has been married 23 years to her husband, Dale, and they have two teenage children. They have homeschooled their children since birth.  Her oldest child was diagnosed with autism before the age of 2.  Over the next 10 years, she pursued her son’s improvement, balance in my life, and an understanding of homeschooling a special-needs child.  It was during this time that she developed Sue Patrick’s Workbox System--a structured and visual system for homeschooling.

She had such great success with his progress, that she began showing other families with children with developmental disabilities what she had learned, and what was working so very well for her son.  Over time, with trial and error, always seeking to understand and improve a system she was developing, she was able to share with more and more families. Her son, who was never considered high functioning, began to function at a high a high level—even though he has a language disability that seems insurmountable. She has written a book on her Workbox System in an effort to reach even more families working to achieve the highest academic and cognitive potential they can in their own children. Her system works very well with all homeschools and all children ranging from “typical” to disabled. She now travels and speaks to groups, not only on her Workbox System, but how to alter curriculum to make it meaningful and successful and well as how to add so many fun and interesting materials for your homeschool curriculum.



Charlotte Seewald is a recruiter for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Independent Study High School and works to share information about the educational opportunities Nebraska’s High School offers. Her close ties with University of Nebraska Admissions, experience teaching in Lincoln Public Schools, and role as mother of a soon-to-be college freshman give her unique insights into the college-planning process.

Scott Woodruff, a follower of Christ since his conversion in 1971, earned his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia in 1980. After working for John Ashcroft, and subsequently a major regional insurance company, Scott came to work for HSLDA in 1998. He is a member of the bar of the Supreme Court of the United States, and licensed in Virginia and Missouri. He has assisted thousands of home educating families in dealings with social workers, police officers, truant officers, principals, superintendents, and prosecuting attorneys. He has represented HSLDA members in court, and appeared before many state legislatures to fight against repressive homeschool legislation. Scott is a frequent speaker at homeschool conferences and on radio programs across the country. Scott currently handles legal issues for HSLDA members in Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maine, Missouri, Iowa, South Dakota and Kansas. He also has extensive previous experience dealing with members' legal issues in Oklahoma, Indiana, Illinois, Colorado, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, and Michigan. Scott and his wife, Jane, have homeschooled their three children. Sarah continues to be taught at home. Their daughter Betsy, a national merit finalist, will attend Hillsdale College on an academic scholarship this fall. Their son, Christopher, a national merit finalist, attends Baylor University on an academic scholarship. 



Michele Zavatsky, the Family Travel Mom who "Vacations for a Living", has become a kid-testing expert after traveling for 12 years, writing 14 books, and visiting 5,000 places in 1,000 cities to find the best sites that kids love to visit! This adventure of writing and publishing family travel guidebooks has taken Michele and her home-schooled family on a journey of experiences they could have never imagined. The Zavatsky family have been blessed to be called the "family that vacations for a living" by over 300 radio and television programs. Michele has spoken to hundreds of groups throughout the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and the South encouraging "family-friendly", close-to-home travel. The parent company, KidsLoveTravel.com, is a popular exhibitor at over a dozen curriculum fairs and conventions each year. Michele occasionally conducts Field Trip workshops to a room packed with interested folks. 

Gus Solis has been married to his wife Shirley since 1993. They have five children and are based in Homestead, Florida. Each year, they travel the country for six months, with their family business Lifetime Books and Gifts, catering to the needs of homeschooling families as they share their hearts on life and educational issuesHis main goal is to encourage husbands and fathers to be involved with their families by leading and ministering to their needs.




Shirley Solis, a dynamic and encouraging speaker, has touched the hearts of many around the country. With her delightful, upbeat personality and her convicting message, she shares her life experiences while inspiring and encouraging the Body of Christ to fulfill their God-given purpose. Gus and Shirley Solis have been married since 1993. They have five children and are based in Homestead, Florida. Each year, they travel the country for six months, with their family business Lifetime Books and Gifts, catering to the needs of homeschooling families as they share their hearts on life and educational issues.





Bob Taylor is the president and co-founder of Educational Materials Associates Inc [EMA] o Charlottesville, Virginia. Bob is a U.S. Army Veteran and holds degrees from the University of Virginia and University of Delaware. He has over 40 years experience in teaching, writing and speaking about American history, including 15 years as an award-winning teacher, coach and administrator. He has also been a guest lecturer at Millersville University and the University of Delaware. Bob is an authority on social studies education for grades 4-12 and he is the author of over 50 history and geography games in use in thousands of public, private and homeschool in all 50 states. Bob is happily married to Lorraine for 30 years.They have two grown daughters, one of which is a homeschooling mom, and six wonderful grandchilden.





Jim Weiss has been a storyteller for over 25 years. In June, 1989, Jim decided to do something more with the craft that he had formerly practiced solely for pleasure. He and his wife, Randy, formed a production company, Greathall Productions, and have thus far produced forty-two storytelling recordings with enticing titles from classical literature, such as Greek Myths, King Arthur and Sherlock Holmes. Jim's Greathall line is the recipient of more than 80 major national awards from The American Library Association, Parents' Choice Foundation, NAPPA, the Parents' Council, The Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, The Film Advisory Board, Parents' Guide to Children's Media Award and more. Weiss' newest releases are "A Collection of Just So Stories" and "A Tale of Two Cities." Jim travels extensively throughout The United States, giving live performances at stores, libraries, schools and community events. He has hosted and starred in a PBS television pilot that won a Northern California Emmy for "Best Children's Show," and has even performed at The White House Annual Easter Event. As a storyteller, Jim's performances have been described as exciting and enchanting. His connection to his audience is magnetic and interactive, proof positive that storytelling today rejuvenates one of the first and most personal forms of entertainment. Adults and children alike leave the performance feeling that they have really met characters from a wide range of classic literature and folk tales. Jim's presentations garner heightened respect for the art of storytelling and the literature itself. June 2009 marked the 20th Anniversary of Greathall Productions.