This page is 'under construction' - as we update teachers and their teaching assignments. If you have ANY questions about our teachers, feel free to contact Leslie or Susan.
Our Directors
Leslie Kent, Upper School Director
Leslie Kent holds a Graduate Certificate from SMU and a B.S. from Kansas State University. She has homeschooled for eleven years, graduating her now 21yo son and 19yo daughter, and continuing to teach her 14yo youngest son. Her homeschooling journey began with reading “The Well-Trained Mind” (Wise & Bauer), and following generally in that classical direction for much of her curricula and content choices. Lately, she has been influenced by a point made in “A Thomas Jefferson Education” (DeMille): “people cannot be educated unless they choose to seek education.” Her desire is to meet the needs of children who are curious and ready to learn, by engaging them in valuable activities and challenging them with ideas.
Susan Riddle, Grammar School Director
Susan Riddle, a homeschooling veteran of 10 years, has served for 20 years at First Baptist Church of Keller in various capacities: Preschool Ministry Director; VBS Director; Sunday School Teacher; and Preschool Weekly Teacher. She has eight children ranging in age from 20 to 3, and is currently homeschooling the youngest five. Her years of homeschool experience include two years as coordinator and teacher of the Glenview Baptist Church Homeschool Program, and leadership positions in two homeschool co-ops. Susan’s desire is to help children find the joy of learning.
Upper School
Dr. Pam Kendall, Anatomy & Physiology Teacher
Dr. Pam Kendall graduated magna cum laude in 2001 with a B.S. in Human Anatomy and a Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Cleveland Chiropractic College. She has a calling to teach, having taught preschoolers for many years and tutoring underprivileged children while in college. She will teach A&P to our Rhetoric 2 students this year. Dr. Kendall believes having a love of knowledge is vitally important to becoming a compassionate human being, and is excited to share her knowledge of the human body with the MGA students.
Gayle Marshall, Algebra 1 & 2 Teacher
Gayle holds Texas teaching certification in Secondary Math, and will teach our Upper School students 6th grade, Pre-Algebra, and Algebra 1. She has 7 years’ experience teaching math in public schools; 8 years’ experience as a math curriculum consultant for area public school systems, a position which included writing and editing their math curriculum; and many years’ experience as a private math tutor. Gayle enjoys finding ways to help a student be successful at math – and maybe even learn they can enjoy it, too.
Kenneth Rose, Logic Stage History/Geography Teacher
Kenneth Rose Sr. has a B.A. in Liberal Arts from Evergreen State College, a Masters in Divinity from Faith Seminary, a Doctorate in Ministry from Sacramento Theological Seminary, and an Honorary Doctorate in Humanities from Sacramento Theological Seminary. He and his wife have been homeschooling their four children since 2006. He has taught in the ministry for over 30 years, but loves history as well. He is excited to explore the era 1600-1850, and all its stories, with the Logic level students this year.
Laurie Thompson, Logic Stage English Teacher
Laurie earned her B.S. from John Wesley College, Owosso, MI, where she majored in Psychology/Sociology and minored in English, graduating Magna Cum Laude. She taught at Metroplex Chapel Academy and Restoration Home School Assistance Programs and has homeschooled her four boys throughout the last 15 years. Laurie's goal in teaching English is that the students don't just read great literature, but experience it and communicate that experience to others in a clear and engaging manner.
Joni Boyd, Biology and General Science Teacher
Joni holds a B.S. in Biology from Oklahoma State and a B.S. in Nursing from the Univ. of Central Oklahoma. She has taught in a variety of capacities since 1998, primarily classes in CPR certification, childbirth, and parent education. Joni has also worked as an RN in Labor and Delivery and Pre-op/Post-op, since 1990. Joni's youngest son is a student at MGA, so her commitment to MGA's success is equal parts love for teaching, love for science, and love for her children.
Karen Masters, Spanish Teacher
Karen Masters holds a B.S. in Secondary Education from Baylor University with specializations and Texas state teaching certification in French and Spanish. She completed coursework for a Masters degree in Spanish, and has had the opportunity to study French in Paris, Spanish in two beautiful locations in Mexico, and participate in missions work in Spain. She considered it an amazing experience and a privilege to use her language skills to the glory of God to help spread the gospel. Karen taught both languages for six years on the high school level. She has also used both languages in the aircraft industry, and as an editor for a major college textbook publishing company, though her heart always longed to return to teaching. She has homeschooled her own children since 2001, and is thrilled to be back in the classroom teaching Spanish to our Logic and Rhetoric students at MGA.
Melanie Lemley, Humanities Teacher
Melanie Lemley holds a B.S. in Physical Therapy from the University of Florida. She has taught middle school science and consumer math at a private Christian school, and anatomy and physiology at the community college level. But it is her international experience and love of reading and history that especially equips her to teach our Upper School humanities classes. She has homeschooled her four children while serving internationally with Wycliffe Bible Translators (WBT). Living in Africa enhanced Melanie's global perspective on our world history. She is currently a grant writer for The Seed Company, an affiliate of WBT. An avid reader, Melanie's goal in teaching is to inspire students to develop curiosity, breadth, depth and civility in their approaches and responses to the world around them.
Edward Koester, Algebra Teacher
Grammar School
Christine Auger-Velez, Music Teacher
Christine majored in music at Western Washington University and at the Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College of the City University of New York. She has performed professionally everywhere from Carnegie Hall to the local coffee shop. She moved from NYC to Watauga in 2006, where she homeschools her children, serves on the board of the North Texas Suzuki Association, and is a member of the Suzuki Association of the Americas. As a Suzuki teacher since 1993, Christine knows that any child can learn to play an instrument with proficiency if given the right environment in which to learn. Christine's students have enjoyed such successes as earning placement at first stand of the InterSchool Orchestras Concert Orchestra in New York City and acceptance, after audition, into LaGuardia High School of Music and Art and the Church Street School in New York City. On a less glamorous but more vital level, her students have learned to be comfortable in front of groups, to effectively cooperate with others, and to experience the sheer joy of music.
Amy Rose, Bible Teacher
Amy Rose has a B.A in Religion from Faith Seminary and Doctorate in Divinity from Sacramento Theological Seminary. She has been homeschooling her four children since 2006. Amy has a love and a passion for teaching God's word and has been doing so for over 10 years. Her heart is that all children will be empowered with God's Holy word and be able to rightly divide the word of God even in their youth! She looks forward to making God's word exciting and alive to the children at MGA. "Come, ye children, hearken unto me: I will teach you the fear of the LORD." Psalms 34:11
Amy Bearden, Language Arts Teacher
Amy Bearden has served for 19 years alongside her husband in Life Action Ministries, traveling with their family across the US, and homeschooling her five children along the way. Amy's greatest joy in homeschooling her own children has been teaching them to read, and watching them blossom in their abilities in language arts. Last year, Amy successfully taught, with energy and creativity, our Level B students to read, using a phonics program that laid a solid foundation for improving their reading fluency in the future. For the 2010-2011 year, Amy will teach grammar, phonics and reading to our Grammar C and D students, and is privileged to do so.