Board of Directors

Misty Foxley  Chairman

Dana Wood  Director

Michelle Carbee Director

Laney Fuquay Director

Julie Finlayson Director

John Reeder Treasurer

Executive Board

Katie Wilson President

Melissa Orton Vice President

Secretary

Jennifer Georgia Conference Chair

Sherry Veach Youth Conference Chair

 

Conference Committee

Youth Conference Committee

Nate Handy Youth Co-Chair	Clarissa Veach Youth Co-Chair	Fernando Forero	Amelia Jones	Hunter Muse
Zach Powell	Kailey Simmons	Heather Roberson	Kate Watson

Youth Conference Assistants

Theresa Handy Youth Conference Assistant

Jennie Jones Youth Conference Assistant

Web Team

Richard Finlayson Professional Consultant	Melanie Couture Design and Graphics	Leah Davis Data Input	Alison LaRue Data Input
Marie Russell Data Input	Heidi McFarland Writer	Melissa Coombs Editor

Youth Web Team

Audrey Finlayson Data Entry

Clarissa Foxley Youth Facebook Specialist

Katie Tyner Web Photographer

Board of Directors

Misty Foxley - Chairman

Misty has been serving in this organization since 2004. She has a continuing admiration for the many dedicated parents who work to provide for their children inspired, home-based education. Her vision is to help support and inspire the growing number of LDS homeschoolers throughout the nation through this organization. She and her husband, Derek, have been homeschooling since 1994 and have never looked back.  They consider their decision to homeschool as one of the greatest decisions they ever made for their family.  They currently live in Virginia, have six children, one daughter-in-law and one ("adorable") grandbaby.  

DANA WOOD - Director

Dana and her husband, Spencer, have been homeschooling their 10 children since 1987. As a military family, they have lived all over the country, including nine years in Alaska. Besides homeschooling, Dana enjoys reading, sewing, gardening, knitting and quilting. Through her service as LDSEHE Vice President, Dana was primarily responsible for the extraordinary success of our youth education conference in recent years. She is also becoming an oft-requested and trusted speaker. She and her family recently relocated to Idaho.

 

MICHELLE CARBEE - director

Michelle and her husband Todd have been homeschooling their two boys, Chase (17) and Bryce (15) since they were born. This year they have added homeschooling their niece, Brooke, age 11, to their routine as she came to live with them in September. Michelle has been active in homeschooling by organizing and running group activities and classes for over eight years. She has taught classes for LDSEHE’s annual conference in the past. This is her second year of working with the Conference Committee.

Laney fuquay - director

Laney has been homeschooling her two children (currently 11 and 7 years old) since 2007. She was widowed in 2004, so for over two of those years, she was a single mom also working to support her family; but she knew home school was what her children needed, so she persevered. She is now married to a wonderful man and they are expecting another child in the summer of 2011. Laney has a Master of Public Affairs (MPA) degree from Indiana University and feels strongly about the work nonprofit organizations can do to make life better for the people they serve. As one of the newest members of the board, she is excited to join this organization and help to provide resources to families all over the globe as they strive to prepare their children for the future. Laney and her family currently reside in southern Utah where they are undertaking the new adventure of raising goats and chickens and learning how to garden.

julie finlayson - director

As a high school student, Julie daydreamed of moving to a big city and opening an art gallery.  As a college student at BYU, she met and married her soulmate and daydreamed of a future with a tidy house, immaculately-dressed children, and school buses.  As a homeschool mom with five children, she STILL daydreams of a tidy house and immaculately-dressed children, but she only waves to the school bus as it passes by her little blue house in the country.  As for her children's clothes, the Mt. Never-rest laundry pile may be wrinkly but at least it's clean.  The tidy house can wait until the history projects are finished and the science experiments have stopped growing.   And the art gallery?  It's been open since 1996 (when their first child was born) and is constantly receiving and displaying new artwork (on scrap paper and sometimes walls) by renowned artists from all over the country (their seven-acre "farm" in North Carolina).

In the past, Julie has been a volunteer with LDSEHE and was instrumental in building and maintaining their website with the help of her techie-genius husband, Rick.  After a three-year break she has returned to LDSEHE to continue this work.  When she's not working on the LDSEHE website or homeschooling her kids, she can be found reading, crocheting, sewing, watching movies, making organizational charts on the computer, decorating cakes, and daydreaming.

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john reeder - treasurer

John and his beautiful wife, Christena, began their homeschooling journey at the beginning of the 2006 school year. As newcomers to this fast-paced and exciting world, they were glad to find an organization dedicated to helping those with similar values. They were so impressed with what they gleaned from their first homeschooling conference they felt they wanted to lend their assistance in whatever way they could to help this association grow. They have three wonderful children who are/will benefit from the conferences -- their oldest thoroughly enjoyed her first Youth Education Conference last year and is looking forward to another at the beach.

 

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Executive Board

Katie Wilson - president

Katie Wilson and her husband, Dave, are the parents of four children, three boys (ages 16, 14, and 10) and one girl (age 7). They live in Virginia and have been homeschooling for 11 years. Katie has a B.S. in psychology from BYU, and a M.A. in school psychology from George Mason University. She began homeschooling her oldest son when he was in the first grade. Since then, her children have each followed their own education path. Her youngest two children have only been homeschooled, while her oldest two have benefited from a mix of homeschooling and public school classes. She started attending LDSEHE home education conferences in 2002 and has worked on the LDSEHE Executive Board since 2007. The Wilsons love to take road trips, spend time with family, and read! Their favorite part of the day is dog-piling on the couch while Mom reads aloud.

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Melissa Orton - vice president

Melissa grew up in a small town in Idaho—growing potatoes and moving water lines. She is the oldest of six children, and the only girl. Her parents started homeschooling when she was a junior in high school. By taking home study courses from BYU, she was able to graduate from high school early and begin college. This helped her realize how much time is really wasted in public school, and convinced her that she wanted to homeschool her own children some day! Melissa and Matt have three daughters, ages 14, 11, and 7, which they have homeschooled from the start. Melissa has been serving in the LDSEHE organization since 2008. She has learned a lot from the other homeschool moms she has had the privilege to serve with.

 

 

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Conference Committee

Wendy cyrier

Wendy has been married to her sweetheart, Rob, for twenty-two years and has four wonderful children:  two attending college and two in high school. She began homeschooling in 2002. After much prayer and courage, she decided her children's education and self-esteem would flourish in a homeschool environment. She is involved with the local community theatre, supporting her children's interests and talents while sharing her own.  Wendy loves working with youth of all ages, in the community as well as the Church.  She is currently a Counselor in the Stake Young Women's Presidency.  Wendy is passionate about health and nutrition and spends time teaching classes in an effort to educate others in the importance of proper diet and exercise.  Wendy's leisure is spent either reading or with her family, boating, camping, hiking, cooking, and game/movie nights.

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tina nokes

Tina Nokes, a mother of four boys, has homeschooled for nine years.  She began homeschooling her oldest son shortly after he entered 9th grade.  The others came out of the public school system within the next two years and the whole family began to ride the “great white-knuckler” of homeschooling together.  Beginning with the only thing she knew, public school at home, Tina knew there must be a better way.  So she began researching curriculums, methodologies, and philosophies to find the best fit for her family.  Nine years later she feels that she has a handle on it, but continues to keep up on the latest trends and practices.  The Nokes live in Vienna, Virginia. 

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Juventa vezzani

Juventa Vezzani and her husband, Dave, are the parents of six children. They often joke that they are the "Brady Bunch" and feel lucky to have such wonderful children. Juventa graduated from Brigham Young University with a BA in Latin American Studies and speaks Spanish and a little Portuguese. She started homeschooling when her oldest son was in 2nd grade and has been homeschooling ever since. She is the author of "The Milk Allergy Companion and Cookbook" and enjoys helping families with food allergies learn how to create and adapt recipes to meet their dietary needs. In her spare time, Juventa enjoys music composition, scrapbooking, gardening, and photography. She also loves the opportunities that she has to serve others and to teach her children.

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Heidi McFarland

Heidi and her husband, Brian, have been dedicated homeschoolers since the first of their three beautiful children was born. They attended their first LDSEHE conference while living on Long Island during Brian’s grad school years, and were amazed and inspired by the experience. Their family is now happily settled in Birmingham, AL, where opportunities to associate with other homeschoolers (and non-homeschoolers) are plentiful. Heidi is a passionate student of many subjects and has devoted particular attention in recent years to American History and the Constitution. As the first Latter-day Saint and first homeschooler in her family, Heidi is laying a new foundation for the spiritual and scholarly development of generations to come, and she greatly appreciates the opportunity to be involved with LDSEHE.

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Emily orton

Emily Orton is a former middle school teacher turned New York City SAHM and writer.  When she's not reading or writing, Emily enjoys walking all over Manhattan, coastal sailing, and editing her apartment.  She and her husband, Erik, have five children.

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Youth Conference Committee

nate handy - youth co-chair

Nate is 17 and has been homeschooled his whole life. He was born in the middle of Oregon's great winter of 1994. He spent several years of his life on a farm and half of his life in the state of Oregon. As he likes to say to his friends, “I'm organic.” Due to his father’s job, his family was moved to North Carolina in 2003. Some of his talents include rock climbing, tubing, and story-telling. He also considers himself a quite unaccomplished writer, although he is an Olympic-class reader. His hobbies include reading, attempting writing, acting, and caring for his adorable beagle named Susie.

 

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clarissa veach - youth co-chair

Clarissa Veach is 17 and a senior in high school. She has been homeschooling for eight years and loves the freedom to study at her own pace. She loves math, physics, reading, swimming, and sewing. She has attended the LDSEHE youth conference for the last three years and is excited to be on the youth conference committee this year. She plans on finishing high school and would like to attend BYU where she wants to major in physics. She is the second of four children and the only girl in her family.

 

 

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fernando forero

Fernando Forero is a senior in high school and the first of eight children.  He has been attending LDSEHE for five years and has been homeschooled for seven.  Fernando has moved all around northern Virginia; for now he lives in Winchester.  He is currently taking classes at Lord Fairfax Community College but is still learning and teaching at home.  He plans on going to BYU-Provo for a dual major in Computer and Electrical Engineering.  Fernando is always ready to learn something new.  He runs his local library's blog, is a member of 4-H, has worked at a Scout camp, and pulled a handcart for miles (but really, who hasn't?).  He loves Scouting and is working towards his Eagle rank.  Some of his interests are animation, guitar, and finding more things to put on his college application!

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amelia jones

Amelia Jones is the third child out of six. She is a sophomore attending John A. Widstoe Academy. Her favorite subjects in school are history and English. She loves to dance, swim and be with her friends. She enjoys being involved in Smiles and Frowns Playhouse, and loved being in the annual The Promised Land pageant in Bath, North Carolina. She is grateful to be part of the Youth Conference Committee this year and is looking forward to her third year of LDSEHE!

 

 

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hunter muse

This is Hunter’s third year of attending LDSEHE. It’s always the best time of his year and he’s excited to be a part of the committee this year! Hunter is 16 years old, and the second of five (almost six!) children. He has been homeschooled his whole life and loves it. Hunter is from Burlington, Kentucky. He is passionate about music of all different kinds. He aspires to be a concert pianist one day and be the conductor of an orchestra. Other passions he has are reading classic books, writing, and interacting and communicating with people. Hunter’s favorite book is Les Miserables, and he is an avid exerciser. He loves basketball (even though he’s no good at it) and loves jokes.

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Zach Powell

Zach Powell is a 15-year-old homeschooler who lives in Salem, Virginia.  He has been homeschooled all of his high school life. He loves to study anything that has to do with business. He owned a professional landscaping business for three years. He plans on having an associate's degree in business before finishing high school. He has three animals: a dog, a cat, and a horse. He has an 18-year-old brother named Taylor. He enjoys doing anything outdoors. His life goal is to someday own a corporation.

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kailey simmons

Kailey Simmons is a vivacious senior who has loved being homeschooled  for her entire education. When she's not studying political science or scuba diving in Belize, she loves to sing and dance... a lot. Kailey hopes to find a career path that would allow her to become the first "Madame President," as well as homeschool her kids. :) She is very excited to be studying at Southern Virginia University in the fall!! (Hopefully she gets in!) Kailey has thoroughly enjoyed coming to the LDSEHE Youth Conferences over the past few years and especially loves working on the Youth Committee.

 

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Heather Roberson

Heather Roberson is 17 years old, and has been homeschooled her whole life.  She loves to read, write, spend time with family and friends, read some more, and play the piano.  She is a junior, and the oldest of seven.  Her favorite scripture heroes are Captain Moroni, Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus), and both Almas.  Heather has moved about nine times between Utah, Arizona, and Virginia, due to her dad being in the military. She is looking forward to going to college and, hopefully, serving a mission. This will be Heather’s third time attending this wonderful conference, and her second being on the committee.

 

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Kate watson

Kate Watson is a cheerful junior who thoroughly enjoys all the adventures life offers. She has attended LDSEHE for two years now, and is excited for her third. In her spare time she reads, plays piano, and spends time with her family and friends - all the little things that make life beautiful. Kate is very spontaneous and loves traveling across the country, climbing trees, and dancing in the rain. She is currently learning American Sign Language, and hopes to use it in a career someday. She eagerly looks forward to whatever life has in store for her next.

 

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Youth Conference & Graduation Assistants

theresa handy

Influenced by Reed Benson at BYU, Theresa and her husband David decided to homeschool even before any of their children were born. Feeling a need for a local LDS support group, in 1998 they formed the first statewide LDS homeschooling organization in Oregon and held annual conferences. They relocated to North Carolina in 2003 and have continued their homeschooling adventures. Their household now consists of Theresa, David, their four children ages 17 through 8, Theresa's parents, and various pets. Theresa has served on the LDSEHE board for several years and is now working as a Youth Conference assistant. Theresa graduated from BYU with a bachelor's degree in Recreational Therapy. She also served a Spanish-speaking mission to the Dominican Republic and California Ventura. LDSEHE is grateful for Theresa’s knowledge, experience and willingness to serve.

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Jennie jones

bio coming soon...

 

 

 

 

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Web Team

richard finlayson - professional consultant

bio coming soon...

 

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melanie couture - design and graphics

bio coming soon...

 

 

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leah davis - data input

bio coming soon...

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alison larue - data input

bio coming soon...

 

 

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marie russell - data input

Marie and her husband Ryan married while both were still in the US Navy over 15 years ago when Marie swept Ryan off his feet!  They have three children:  Sara (12), Megan (9), and Spencer (8).  As a family, they decided to home school a little over 2 years ago.  This has been, by far, one of the best decisions ever.  Marie has a BS in Paralegal Studies from Kaplan University and hopes to get a Master’s degree in the next few years.  She is currently a Family History consultant and an Amateur (HAM) Radio Operator.  Marie’s hobbies include hunting down lost ancestors and awesome deals, computers, baking special occasion cakes, and traveling the country.  Marie’s family calls her the “Internet Queen".   Marie and her family currently reside in Georgia. 

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Heidi mcfarland - writer

Heidi and her husband, Brian, have been dedicated homeschoolers since the first of their three beautiful children was born. They attended their first LDSEHE conference while living on Long Island during Brian’s grad school years, and were amazed and inspired by the experience. Their family is now happily settled in Birmingham, AL, where opportunities to associate with other homeschoolers (and non-homeschoolers) are plentiful. Heidi is a passionate student of many subjects and has devoted particular attention in recent years to American History and the Constitution. As the first Latter-day Saint and first homeschooler in her family, Heidi is laying a new foundation for the spiritual and scholarly development of generations to come, and she greatly appreciates the opportunity to be involved with LDSEHE.

 

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melissa coombs - editor

Melissa Coombs grew up in Lugoff, South Carolina. An excellent student, she was awarded academic and Journalism scholarships to the University of South Carolina. She later attended UVSC and BYU in Provo, Utah and it was there she met and married her sweetheart, Shawn. They have been married for 20 years and have five children. The author of “The Hows and Whys of the Year Supply,” Melissa is passionate about food storage and preparedness and is a popular speaker on these subjects. She and her family raise a huge garden every summer and bottle hundreds of jars of fruits and vegetables each year. Melissa and her family also love outdoor activities, including hiking, camping, canoeing, fishing and rappelling. Melissa especially enjoys raising Buff Orpingtons (that’s laying hens, to us city folk!). Melissa used to think that homeschooling was the craziest thing she ever heard of, until the Lord told her that she needed to homeschool her own children. Although she really knew very little about the subject, she jumped in with both feet and quickly learned a lot! She now knows that it is the best thing she has ever done for her family. She has been homeschooling her three sons and two daughters for the past ten years, and although “it’s the hardest thing [she] has ever tried to do,” she absolutely loves it!

 

 

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Youth Web Team

Audrey finlayson - data input

bio coming soon...

 

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clarissa Foxley - Youth facebook specialist

bio coming soon...

 

 

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katie tyner - web photographer

Katie moved from California 7 years ago and currently lives in York, South Carolina with her parents. She has one older sister, a niece, and a nephew. She absolutely loves photography, writing, history, singing, acting, and being outdoors. She is a Senior in high school and has been home schooled since 5th grade, and she loves it. Katie hopes to attend Southern Virginia University in the fall. She loves the South and is very patriotic. She also loves church and is currently serving as a Stake Youth Committee member and as her Laurel Class President. Katie loves laughing and loves to goof around with her family and friends.

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