Guy Desaulniers
Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Middle School Math, Elementary and Primary
Guy's educational background is in Psychology and Statistics. After graduating from the University of Connecticut he attended graduate school at the University of Illinois in Psychology. During that time he was a TA and an Instructor at the University of Illinois. A lecturer presents to a class but a TA works with students one on one. Subsequently he worked in the business world for many years. As a manager he was extensively involved in training, to the point that his company had a nickname DesMac U because of the emphasis on training. He has for the last 10 years worked as a tutor at Discovery Learning Institute. His emphasis has been in math and test preparation. Test prep, in addition to math, includes English, Reading and Writing. Teaching Philosophy: Like most teachers his philosophy of education is a Socratic approach. He is trying to help the student figure out the answer on their own. Fortunately this is much easier to do in a small group, such as a co-op class. We all remember information that we have discovered on our own much more easily than when we are “zoning out” while we listen to something. Of course information does need to be presented briefly. But then the emphasis is on practice and integrating the material into one’s thinking.
As a final note he will mention that he generally believes that math is easy for most students. Problems arrive from a couple of sources: The way we communicate about it, the vocabulary and notation, and the cumulative nature of the knowledge. He does his best to be watching for those issues and thus minimize the the barriers to a student’s success.
Dr.Cheryl Peterson
STEAM, & Building Executive Function Skills
Cheryl is an adjunct professor in the Gifted Education Graduate Certificate Program at Hamline University, MN. She obtained a BA from Millikin University in Elementary Education, a MA from the University of Iowa in Educational Psychology and a Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in Curriculum and Instruction. As an educational consultant and blogger @drcherylpeterson.com, she uses her 30 years of teaching experience at all levels to support families and teaches with an education philosophy of play, practice and purpose. She is currently working on releasing her first book, "Because of 4...Be More," an inspirational story and handbook for teachers to bring play, practice and purpose to their own life and to the students who need it most.
Kelly Laschinski
Spanish
Kelly has a degree from William Jewell College in Spanish and studied Spanish abroad in Cordoba, Spain. She is certified to teach Spanish for grades K-12. She began her teaching career in the St. Louis area in University City public schools teaching grade 6-8. Locally she taught at Addison Trail High School, York High School, and most recently K-8 Spanish at Trinity Lutheran School in Roselle.
Angel Oakley
Preneurship, Yearbook, Middle School Composition, Creative Writing & Robotics
Angel began teaching in youth ministry over 27 years ago, after returning from a year abroad in Germany on the Congress-Bundestag Program. She taught both high-school and middle-school Sunday school and confirmation classes.
She also served as a confirmation camp counselor and speaker, graduated summa cum laude from Judson University with a major in Management and Leadership and a minor in Management Information Systems, and worked in marketing management, before leaving corporate to run her firm.
In her professional capacity, she has helped hundreds of businesses and nonprofits, created and facilitated educational classes for entrepreneurs and marketing professionals, taught college-level communications, and designed curricula.
As a parent, with a son very interested in robotics, Angel began coaching for First (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), initially hired by the local school district, Angel later coached privately. “The private environment is much more enjoyable because kids have the flexibility to work at their own pace, which allows the kids to thrive. First is an excellent program!”
Doug Jennings
Art Classes
Doug earned his B.A. from Trinity College, Deerfield and Design coursework at Southern Illinois University. Doug has worked as a Graphic Artist for over 25 years for Chicago area corporations. A published illustrator and cartoonist, he has taught Drawing & Cartooning at Kaleidoscope School of Fine Art since 1987.
To learn more about Kaleidoscope, please visit our website at www.kaleidoscopeart.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at @ksofarocks.
Melanie Schellpfeffer
Middle School – U.S. History/Geography, High School World/U.S. History Blend,
English Comp/Grammar
Melanie graduated from Trinity College with a degree in English/Secondary Education for grades 6-12. She taught 5th/6th grade English, Literature, and History/Geography at Medinah Christian School in Medinah, Illinois for 12 years. It was during this experience that she grew to love teaching World and U.S. History with an emphasis on the evidence of God's Sovereignty. When Medinah closed unexpectantly, she went on to Westminster Christian School in Elgin to serve in various capacities: subbing, Aftercare, and aiding with testing. In addition, Melanie has been actively involved at her church, using her teaching skills in Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, and AWANA. More recently, she also has had the privilege of Homeschooling some of her grandchildren.
She is looking forward to being a part of this Co-op group and is thankful for the Lord's leading her here.
Jen Payne
Crafts
Jen has a bachelor’s degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, a background in management, finance, hospitality and real estate appraisals. Along with homeschooling, Jen enjoys spending time with her family, crafting, scrapbooking, baking, sports, camping and traveling. Jen loves working with kids and seeing their creative side come out while learning new things.
Mehmet Cakmak
Coding in Python & Website Building
Mehmet Cakmak acquired his Bachelors and Masters degrees in Linguistics and Philosophy at the University of Konstanz, Germany. He is an ABD in philosophical logic. He worked as an academic collaborator and instructor at the University of Salzburg, Austria, and Sabanci University, Istanbul, Turkey. Since 2018, he is owner and lead instructor of CodeCraze, LLC, a coding and competitive robotics center in Batavia. He is interested in natural (German, English,Turkish, Latin) and artificial (programming and logical) languages as well as the logical, cognitive and philosophical issues around language in general.
Melissa Lopez
HS Biology
Melissa went to college at Baylor University where she studied biology and chemistry. Studying science at a Christian university allowed her to appreciate both God’s work in creation and His relationship with us. After college, Melissa worked in a medical research lab studying cancer targeting; then, God called her to teach. She taught in public schools for 9 years and has been teaching at local homeschool co-op for four years. It has been amazing to watch God create so many unique educational opportunities; online teaching is another way to teach for God and connect with students.
Melissa has been married to her husband for 14 years, and they currently live just outside of Dallas, Texas. They have three boys that they are currently homeschooling, so life at the Lopez house is never boring or quiet. Melissa is a member of Lakeshore Church in Rockwall, Texas. This year Melissa is looking forward to getting to know her students and helping them be as successful as they can be.
Matthew Janecek
HS World History
Matthew was born and raised in St. Charles. After graduating from the University of Iowa with degrees in History and Political Science he began his teaching and coaching career in Burbank, California. Upon returning to the Chicagoland area to raise his family he continued his career working for the Glenbard District until 2021. He has taught almost all social studies courses offered in the traditional setting including Advanced Placement courses in American History. He and his wife have recently moved to central Texas where he continues his passion for teaching History and pursuing his other passion of the arts as a recording artist. He is working for independent Homeschool Christian based Co-Ops and has appeared, lead, and participated in several grassroots educational reform endeavors. He has also taught digitally over the past several years with very high achieving international students; mostly from China. You can learn so much more about Mr. J by visiting his website @ mrj-usa.com or his YouTube page. Mr. J loves to engage with students and adults about meaningful things. “There are no questions that God fears.” He wants to pursue truth and to teach young people how to pursue truth no matter where it leads.
Lisa Blunt
Piano Lessons
Lisa has a degree in Middle School Education with a Language Arts emphasis and a Spanish minor from the University of Northern Iowa. She taught third grade at Des Moines Christian School before moving to this area. Lisa was privileged to homeschool her four children for a total of 20 years. In 2003 she started teaching piano lessons out of her home. Fellowship Church is Lisa’s home church, which makes her doubly excited to be teaching piano at this co-op!