“Spanish Teacher 1. Like a regular teacher only mucho mas chido. #HasFunInSpanish #ILoveMyStudents #IAlwaysWantedToBeAMeme”

Christina Bacca holds a Master’s degree from The George Washington University and a B.A. in both Spanish and French.  She has studied in Spain, France and Mexico. She has had a love for teaching since she was a child, when she played school with her brother. Christina taught in Fairfax County Public Schools and had the privilege of teaching other educators Spanish at UVA and George Mason University. She is married to a native Spanish speaker, homeschooled her two daughters, has tutored for 18 years and is amazed at how God has given her so many opportunities to use Spanish. Currently, Christina is passionate about developing a homeschool curriculum using Comprehensible Input, a method that allows students to understand a second language from Day 1 and acquire a high degree of proficiency in the language and the confidence to use it.

“I love the quote: ‘If you can’t explain your physics to a barmaid it is probably not very good physics.’ – Ernest Rutherford”

Cyndy received her BS in engineering from the University of Rochester (Rochester, NY) and her ADN RN degree in 2009 from Lord Fairfax Community College. She worked as a labor and deliver nurse for over 12 years before returning to homeschooling full time. Cyndy and her husband have 7 children which they have homeschooled since the oldest was in 1st grade (32 years homeschooling) They have graduated 6 children who all went on to college, and one is currently homeschooled. When Cyndy had her first child, she wondered why God would have directed her to a science/math degree if she was going to stay home with her children. And then she embarked on the amazing journey of homeschooling and found her niche teaching high school math and science. God is so Good!

“The most important thing in mathematics is not speed, it’s the ability to slow down and ask the right questions. It’s okay to make mistakes. Actually, mistakes are so wonderful because you make a mistake, you learn from it and that’s the most important thing” –Eddie Woo

Delynn loves geometry; it’s her favorite thing to teach!

She graduated from Liberty University with a B.S. in chemistry and went on to complete a minor in math as well as Master’s degree in education. She taught geometry at Prince William County schools for six years before staying home when her daughter was born. Recently, Delynn taught geometry for three years at a private Christian school, and she has enjoyed her previous experiences teaching Algebra, Math for ESL students, ASL, various subjects at homeschool co-ops, and ESL classes at her church. Delynn and her husband have one daughter who is in high school and whom they have always homeschooled. Being a part of the homeschool community has been a great blessing to their family.

Delynn has a deep desire to see students understand mathematics and enjoy its beauty. She knows how it feels to struggle and then succeed in math, so she can relate to and help those who struggle as well as challenge those to whom it comes more naturally. And while she thinks geometry is great fun (“What’s not to like?!”), she’ll still be your friend if you disagree and don’t see the appeal.

Delynn is a nationally certified sign language interpreter and has worked as a community interpreter, an interpreter in educational settings from middle school through college, and an interpreter at her church. She also once made dirt for a living. Working as a lab technician in the R&D lab of a carpet-cleaning-machine manufacturer, she prepared a specific mixture of soil to use in testing the effectiveness of new machines. She wouldn’t trade her time in the test lab, but she is so grateful that God led her out of the dirt and into the classroom.

“My favorite quote is: What we learn with pleasure we never forget. ~Alfred Mercier”

Betsy has over 30 years’ experience working as a professional illustrator and copywriter. Her fashion illustration and humorous inspirational articles have been published in newspapers, magazines, and anthologies. She also illustrated two children’s picture books. For over 20 years after she homeschooled her son, she taught art, creative and essay writing, and public speaking in private Christian schools and tutoring centers. She is a former Guideposts magazine workshop winner and was nominated for a Disney Teacher Award honoring creativity in teaching.

Some of my favorite ways to relax — Reading books, nature walks, collecting nature specimens, exploring creeks, and… sorting LEGO!

Jennifer earned a BA in Economics from Sweet Briar College. After several years of working in marketing and product management, she began a new adventure – parenting! Jennifer and her husband, Steve, have three children, all of whom were homeschooled K-12 and took a variety of classes through CHESS during their middle school and high school years. Her two oldest graduated from Christopher Newport University, one went on to law school recently graduating from William and Mary, and both are now working in their fields of study. And her youngest is studying Graphic Arts at Longwood University.

Since childhood, Jennifer has had a love of Lego building. Later, while homeschooling, she was delighted to discover a curriculum that uses Lego as a platform to teach Simple Machines and Motorized Mechanisms. She has used that curriculum to teach classes in a variety of homeschool co-op settings. In addition, Jennifer taught Sunday School, ages 2-3, for 11 years, has led and spoken at several church retreats and events, and has served in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) in a variety of leadership positions for over 10 years.

She is excited to continue teaching Applied STEM (with Lego) at CHESS!

“I like to crochet and find it very relaxing.”

Sandy has a Master of Science degree in Chemistry from the University of Colorado and a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Geneva College. She has taught chemistry at the college level and has taught chemistry to home school high school students for over fifteen years, both in co-ops and in private homes. She also does private tutoring in chemistry for students in all types of schools. She and her husband homeschooled their now 35-year-old son, who has two degrees from George Mason University and is working for a large information technology services company.

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.’ – from Forrest Gump, my favorite movie/quote and chocolate is my favorite food!”

Dijana Trkulja was born in former Yugoslavia and studied Social Studies at the Banja Luka School for Natural Science and Mathematics. Her family has moved four times over 15 years, to include living abroad. Dijana has been active in different churches domestically and internationally, leading women’s ministries and children’s programs in military communities. She worked as a financial advisor and a background investigator prior to homeschooling her daughters and has served the homeschool community since 2012 as a teacher and a co-op board leader in Virginia and New Jersey. Dijana has taught high school World History, US History, Bible, World Geography, Psychology, US Government and Economics. She thanks her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ for the opportunity to teach and instruct young minds in His way.

“I love goats, and even went goat cuddling. It was so much fun having a baby goat fall asleep in my arms!”

Heidi earned her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Social Work and her Master’s degree in Human Services Program Management from Western Maryland College. (now McDaniel College) She spent 17 years working for The Arc of Frederick County (Maryland) providing service coordination to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. She has been married to her husband, Bennett, for almost 35 years. She homeschooled their two daughters from kindergarten through high school graduation. For eight years she taught first grade at Oak Hill Christian School. Heidi also works with Prince William County’s Adult Education Program. An avid reader, Heidi strives to encourage the love of books in her students, helping them to identify and appreciate good literature. It’s her hope that she can show her students how culture is reflected in literature and how to evaluate literature from a Christian worldview. Whenever possible, Heidi enjoys spending time with her four grandsons, reading and scrapbooking.