“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.

“People who love to eat are always the best people.” – Julia Child

Bonnie holds a BS from Wayland Baptist University in Occupational Education with a minor in Business. She holds an AAS in Advanced Culinary Arts from Stratford University where she graduated magna cum laude with a 4.0 GPA. From Arizona, she’s an Air Force veteran and has lived in Germany, Hawaii, Nebraska, Washington DC, New Mexico, and Virginia. Married to Mike, a retired Air Force veteran, they have 3 daughters who have been homeschooled and participated in CHESS classes. Led to homeschooling while in New Mexico, she took up the mantle of teacher in 2005. She will graduate the youngest in 2026.

Strongly feeling that, culturally, the US has several generations of people who don’t know basic cooking skills, she feels led to teach cooking. She will begin with teens here at CHESS. Cooking reinforces basic math skills, teaches culinary French terms and kitchen science.

“The only place you are not replaceable is at home. Choose your priorities wisely!”

Dr. Bowman holds a PhD in Organizational Leadership from Indiana Wesleyan University, a Masters in Information Systems from Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor’s in European Studies from the University of South Carolina. She teaches a variety of courses for multiple universities and is a very happy homeschooling mom. When not teaching, Dr. Bowman volunteers at the Middleburg Humane Foundation and spends time with her family.

“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” ~Pablo Picasso

Amy graduated with a B.A. in Art from Humboldt State University, then continued with a degree in education from California State University, Monterey Bay. Amy’s teaching experience started in Japan where she lived for two years while teaching English to students ranging in age from Pre-K through adult. She also taught in public schools in California and Virginia and then for eight years at her church’s homeschool co-op. Amy and her husband have four children and this is their 19th year homeschooling. Being a military spouse, and even before marriage, Amy has traveled and lived around the world. Her favorite tour was their four years stationed in Seoul, South Korea. During that time, Amy and her husband completed two adoptions from China. Amy loves teaching at CHESS and feels blessed to be serving in the homeschool community.

“I love gardening, crocheting, and doing math puzzles!”

Barbara’s love for teaching mathematics began while working on her AA degree at Tallahassee Community College. It was there that she started tutoring in the Math Lab. After graduation, she transferred to Florida State University, where she earned a BS degree in Mathematics and continued tutoring in the Math Lab at TCC and FSU. She married her college sweetheart, Hugh, and in 2 years they started travelling the world courtesy of the USAF. After a transfer to Idaho, Barbara earned an MS degree in Education with Math Emphasis from Boise State University. She started teaching math classes at BSU and has been loving it ever since, teaching mathematics at schools across the nation. In addition, she has had the opportunity to teach ESOL classes at her church. Barbara and Hugh have lived in 7 different states and Australia. They have been married almost 38 years and have 3 adult children.

“In my homeschooling journey I have stoned a baby rattlesnake and killed a desert scorpion, which I put in the freezer for school lessons. :)”

“Visit many good books, but live in the Bible.” ― Charles Spurgeon (One of my favorite quotes)

Beth graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and then received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1991. She has worked in all aspects of the legal system; however, Beth’s greatest joy is teaching civics and language classes, such as Latin and French.

Beth is passionate about young people learning critical thinking skills to be applied with a Biblical worldview. Beth’s classes at CHESS include logic, Latin, French, criminal justice, Constitutional Literacy, and African-American history.  She is most passionate about students learning truth through research and analysis so they can properly interpret current events with wisdom. She sees learning as a way to glorify God because we operate from the discernment of God’s Word, which applies to all of life. Other courses Beth enjoys teaching are classical studies such as speech and debate, ethics and morality, philosophy, mythology and literature.

Beth and her husband have been married for 28 years, and they have moved 7 times (including 4 cross country moves) They have three daughters who have been homeschooled for over 16 years. Homeschooling has always been an adventure for her family, and she once stoned a baby rattlesnake and killed a desert scorpion, which she put in the freezer for school lessons! All three children have graduated and are pursuing God’s call on their lives.

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!

“Stories are the fabric of life. Everyone has a story worth telling. God’s story of love, redemption, and adoption into His family is my favorite.”

From an early age, Jennifer has always had a passion for Jesus, the law, and theater. Jennifer received a B.S. in Criminal Justice and a minor in Psychology from Pensacola Christian College. She went on to receive her Juris Doctorate from Regent University. She spent some time at the Sacramento District Attorney’s office serving subpoenas and conducting preliminary hearings and a few misdemeanor trials. God’s sense of humor was on display when He called her to join the United States Marine Corps. After going through Officer Candidate School and The Basic School in Quantico, she had specialized training at the Naval Justice School in Newport, Rhode Island. She started her Judge Advocate General (JAG) career as a defense attorney at Camp Pendleton on the coast of Southern California. She met her husband while representing Marines at their employment termination hearings. No, he wasn’t a client; however, he was her adversary in the hearings!
Soon after getting married, Jennifer and her husband rode their tandem bike from Texas to Florida to Maine. Someone once said, “whatever direction your marriage is going, a tandem bike will get you there twice as fast.” The direction was a good one, as they have been married for 22 years. Jennifer has one daughter who will be a Senior in the 2023-2024 school year.
Jennifer was able to concentrate more on her passion for the dramatic and theater once she started homeschooling their daughter. She performed several skits with her daughter before becoming involved with the Homeschool Theater Troupe (HTT). She worked as the Stage Manager on several productions before taking on the role of Director.
Jennifer has enjoyed previous teaching experiences in co-op, Vacation Bible School, and directing HTT. She is looking forward to combining her love of law and the theater in the American Government class.

“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.

A different language is a different vision of life. Federico Fellini (1920-1993, Italian Filmmaker)

We have strong evidence today that studying a foreign language has a ripple effect, helping to improve student performance in other subjects. Richard Riley, former U.S. Secretary of Education

Manuela graduated from the University of Venice with a Master’s Degree in Foreign Languages and Literatures, majoring in German Language and Literature. Born and raised in Vicenza, Italy, in 1996 she met and married a USAF officer, Jon, with whom she moved to the US. She credits coming to live in the US for her transformation from indifferent agnostic to committed Christian thanks to the many wonderful Christians she encountered along the way who were willing to minister to her.
For many years she was kept busy by the family’s many moves (14 in 23 years). Moving was exciting but it also caused significant disruption in their sons’ education, so Jon and Manuela decided to homeschool them. Alex and Matthew were homeschooled starting in third grade until their freshman year of high school, when they chose to return to public school in order to play football. With both her sons now in college (USMA and USAFA) and missing the homeschool community, Manuela reached out to CHESS where her sons took classes a few years ago and where she looks forward to spreading an appreciation of the wonderful German language to many young people.
Manuela has taught Italian, English, and German in a variety of settings, to include a community college in WA State, in her own home, and online. She has also published three historical crime novels in her native Italy under the pen-name Laura Florian.

“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 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.