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PHC Prep Academy Instructors

All Patrick Henry College Preparatory Academy instructors are bible-believing Christians, committed to helping their students grow spiritually as well as academically.

Most PHC Prep Academy online courses have two instructors—a Master Teacher and a Classroom Teacher. The Master Teacher is the vision behind the course and its AP-approved syllabus, who personally designs and creates course content and oversees the progress of the course during the year. Many are Patrick Henry College faculty members, and all are highly qualified in their respective fields. Each Classroom Teacher is a fully qualified instructor with a degree and specific knowledge that leads your student to success—and a heart to help your student individually improve and grow, while thriving in the online environment.

To read more about the instructors for a particular course, simply scroll down the page to the course you are interested in and click on the instructor’s name.

AP Calculus AB

Master Teacher: Rebecca Darby

Master Teacher

Rebecca Darby

BA, Florida Atlantic University

Rebecca graduated with honors from Florida Atlantic University in 1991, acquiring a B.A. in Mathematics along the way. Since then, she has spent the past 19 years passionately and persistently teaching secondary mathematics. Throughout her years of teaching, she has had the opportunity to teach math at all levels from grades 6 through 12, and has tutored extensively in both regular courses and SAT Prep. Currently, Rebecca teaches secondary mathematics and serves as Mathematics Department Head at Calvary Christian Academy.

Rebecca and her husband, John, currently reside in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. When she is not actively involved in stomping out mathematical ignorance, she enjoys reading, singing, and good conversation.

AP English Language and Composition

Master Teacher: Erin Brown Conroy, MA

Master Teacher

Erin Brown Conroy, MA

MA, Western Michigan University
BA, Western Michigan University

Erin Brown Conroy is a professional writer who has taught composition and research for the Patrick Henry College Distance Learning program since 2007. She has authored five books (including Simplified Writing 101: Top Secrets to College Success) and published numerous materials regarding mastery education, parenting, and healthy living. Before teaching for Patrick Henry College, Professor Brown Conroy taught research, composition, leadership, and strategic management for nine years with Cornerstone University’s Professional and Graduate Studies Division, both online and in the classroom for associate, bachelor, and master’s students.

In addition to freelance copy editing, website text writing, and marketing/social media writing, for 18 years, Professor Brown Conroy has created curricula in academic and fiction writing, research, reading and spelling, study skills and school success, and American Sign Language. Professor Brown Conroy continues to write both nonfiction and fiction books, has coached fiction writers for ten years, and is a member of the Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), the American Christian Fiction Writers Association (ACFW), and Romance Writers of America (RWA).

Professor Brown Conroy and her husband, Shawn, are parents of 13 children by birth, marriage, and adoption and live in Michigan, where they homeschool their four school-aged children still living at home.

Classroom Teacher: Aubrey Heki

Classroom Teacher

Aubrey Heki

BA, Patrick Henry College

Aubrey Heki is a graduate of Patrick Henry College with a BA in Political Theory, a major that furnished her with ample opportunities to sharpen her skills as a writer.

Through her studies, she has come to further appreciate capturing the beauty of transcendent truth through the written word. Prior to studying on campus in the fall of 2007, she spent two years in PHC’s Campus @ Home distance learning program, completing most of her required core courses online. Because of her experience as a distance-learning student, she is cognizant of the delight and challenge involved in replicating a “classroom” environment online.

With three years’ experience as the Classroom Teacher for the AP English Language
and Composition course, her passion is to equip students with the ability to formulate thoughts concisely, persuasively, and to glorify the Creator through writing. In previous years, she has taught and evaluated writing both in the classroom and online. While in high school, she gained classroom experience as a teacher’s assistant for a high school debate class. Additionally, she taught a junior and senior high writing class for homeschooled students, using writing curricula to develop the coursework. For one year, she participated as a writing mentor in PHC’s Writing Mentorship program, offering feedback to help students improve their writing.

Aubrey and her husband Jason reside in Virginia with their toddler daughter. During her spare hours, she enjoys reading, running, hiking, making sundry crafts, and chatting with friends over a cup of coffee.

Classroom Teacher: Shane Baker, EdD

Classroom Teacher

Shane Baker

EdD, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
MDiv, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
ThM, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary
BS, Athens State University

Shane Baker is a recent graduate of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary with an Ed.D. in Christian Education. He earned a B.S. in Education from Athens State University, Athens, AL in 1997 and taught English in the public school system for three years. After teaching in the public classroom, Shane served as the Director of Financial Aid for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary for seven years while earning both the M.Div and Th.M. He currently serves Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary as the Registrar and serves as an Assistant Pastor at a local church.

Shane’s studies and working in the theological education community for the past twelve years have provided him with various experiences and insight in understanding a Christian worldview. His passion is to serve as an educator in an administrative role while teaching. Shane’s focus in the classroom is to help students learn through writing, no matter the subject.

Shane resides with his family in rural North Carolina. During his spare time he enjoys playing the guitar, watching movies, reading, and studying.

AP English Literature and Composition

Master Teacher: Steven Hake, PhD

Master Teacher

Steven Hake, PhD

PhD, Binghamton University
MA, Yale University
MDiv, Westminster Theological Seminary
BA, Colby College

Steven Hake is the only Patrick Henry College faculty member (with the exception of Michael Farris) to have taught at the college since its very beginning in 2000. He was the director of Rivendell Study Center in northern Pennsylvania for four years just prior to coming to PHC. He was a tent-making missionary to Taiwan for almost 20 years prior to that (1977–1996), teaching English literature in a large Chinese university for most of that time.

Dr. Hake has nine children, four of whom are married. They span 26 years. He has seven grandchildren.

Dr. Hake designed and launched the literature major at Patrick Henry. He directs that major and serves as chairman of the Department of Classical Liberal Arts. He is an avid reader and enjoys learning languages as a hobby. He regularly reads (with widely varying degrees of fluency!) the Bible in 10 languages.

He is very interested in the culture-shaping mission of Patrick Henry College, and believes that we need to read the great books in order that some of us may one day write them.

Classroom Teacher: Jennifer Schlaudt

Classroom Teacher

Jennifer Schlaudt

BA, Patrick Henry College

Jennifer Schlaudt graduated from Patrick Henry College in 2007 with a B.A. in Literature (magna cum laude). Her studies under Dr. Steven Hake afforded opportunities to read and analyze literary works, experiment with different types of writing, and complete an internship in proofreading and editing. Before her four semesters on the Patrick Henry College campus, she spent two years as an online student in PHC’s Campus @ Home program. Her high school education included AP coursework and a successful encounter with the English Literature & Composition exam.

Over the past five years, Jennifer has worked as an online instructor and an independent tutor, offering assistance to middle school and high school students across her local area, the country, and the world. She has taught and graded writing in various forms—creative writing for middle school, essay writing for middle school, and essay writing for high school—along with other subjects such as Spanish, SAT Prep, and Christian worldview/apologetics. As she enters her fourth year with PHC Prep Academy, she counts the AP English Literature course as her favorite teaching venture so far. She has also enjoyed some consulting work as a proofreader/editor for a small textbook company.

Jennifer makes her home in deep East Texas, where she seeks to serve her family and show Christ to her community through whatever opportunities the Lord brings her way. She loves encouraging others in the body of Christ and practicing daily gratitude for God’s many blessings.

Classroom Teacher: Emily-Rose Cockerham

Classroom Teacher

Emily-Rose Cockerham

BA, Patrick Henry College

Emily Rose Cockerham graduated from Patrick Henry College in 2008 with a B.A. in Literature. During her four years of on-campus education she had the privilege of learning from some truly brilliant teachers including Dr. Steven Hake and Dr. Gene Edward Veith. These teachers gave her the opportunity to learn to write in a number of different venues and styles including analysis, novellas, poetry, and radio drama. During her junior year, she was given the opportunity to mentor young high school writers—a vocation she continued until her graduation.

Since graduation, Emily-Rose has continued to both self-educate and help train high school students in her hometown of Columbia, South Carolina. She has taught several courses in Worldviews in Literature, as well as serving as an editor for writings varying from young adult novels to doctoral theses.

As she prepares lessons for her PHC Prep Academy students, Emily-Rose enjoys the chance to grapple with great authors and share her enthusiasm for literature with others. She looks forward to learning something new from her students.

Emily-Rose lives in South Carolina, where she is seeking to serve and grow in God as she walks the daily adventure of life in faith.

AP Macroeconomics

Master Teacher: Melissa Muender, MA

Master Teacher

Melissa Muender, MA

MA, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
BA, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Melissa Muender, with a master’s degree in applied economics, has taught for Liberty University, the Art Institute of Pittsburgh Online, Eastern Shore Community College, Rowan Cabarrus Community College, and Central Piedmont Community College. She has worked as a consultant for the Wake Forest University School of Medicine and has scored for NJASK, CELLA, and CAHSEE with the Educational Testing Service. Melissa has also been invited to serve as an AP Reader for ETS, and looks forward to scoring AP Macroeconomics essays in June 2012.

She has also homeschooled her two children. Melissa is privileged to be the pastor’s wife at Maranatha Baptist Church on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and has enjoyed participating in several mission projects around the world. She teaches Economics for the Citizen for the Patrick Henry College Distance Learning program.

Classroom Teacher: Amy Raybould, MA

Classroom Teacher

Amy Raybould, MA

MA, Liberty University
BS, Liberty University

Amy Raybould graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Economics and earned a Master of Arts degree in Business from Liberty University. During her studies, Amy assisted in teaching all age groups ranging from elementary student to undergraduate and graduate college students. This will be her fourth year as the Classroom Teacher for PHC Prep Academy’s AP Microeconomics and AP Macroeconomics courses.

She currently resides in New Jersey where she works as a Senior Credit Analyst and Assistant Vice President for TD Bank within the commercial lending department. Amy is no stranger to the online education format. Prior to working at TD Bank, Amy served as the Director of Academic Advising for Liberty University Online.

AP Microeconomics

Master Teacher: Melissa Muender, MA

Master Teacher

Melissa Muender, MA

MA, University of North Carolina at Greensboro
BA, University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Classroom Teacher: Amy Raybould, MA

Classroom Teacher

Amy Raybould, MA

MA, Liberty University
BS, Liberty University

AP Physics B (with Lab)

Master Teacher: Michael Kucks, PhD

Master Teacher

Michael Kucks, PhD

PhD, Lehigh University
BS, Bucknell University

Dr. Michael Kucks received his BS degree in Physics from Bucknell University in 1980 and began working at Litton Electron Tube Division in Williamsport Pennsylvania immediately thereafter. That position was in the radar tube (magnetron) R & D department designing military and commercial magnetrons and analyzing older models for failure modes. He then moved to Wavetek Rockland in northern New Jersey in their commercial frequency synthesizer design department. His work involved the development of a low noise voltage-controlled-oscillator for a broad band microwave synthesizer. That experience led him to KDI electronics in Whippany, New Jersey, where he continued to work developing military communications systems at microwave frequencies. In 1988, as the Cold War ended, he returned to graduate school to study Physics and begin a career in education. In 1994 he received his PhD in physics from Lehigh University with a specialization in polymer physics.

Since then, he has taught physics, chemistry, and math in a variety of venues, including a private school in Annapolis, Maryland; Franklin & Marshall College; and Lehigh University. He has also developed an industrial electronics course and presented it to industry professionals around the country. Since arriving at Patrick Henry College in 2006, he has taught the core Physics course (including laboratory), Euclidean Geometry, and Statistics. Dr. Kucks finds that his industrial experience has been extremely beneficial in developing his teaching style and he enjoys looking for innovative ways to present challenging technical and scientific principles to students.

AP U.S. Government and Politics

Master Teacher: Frank Guliuzza, PhD

Master Teacher

Frank Guliuzza, PhD

PhD, University of Notre Dame
MDiv, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
MA, University of Wyoming
BA, University of Wyoming

Dr. Guliuzza is the Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College and a professor of Government. He is a well-known scholar in the field of government. An expert in constitutional law, he has published widely on the First Amendment (including his book Over the Wall: Protecting Religious Expression in the Public Square), the separation of church and state, and the role of Christians in political activism.

Dr. Guliuzza received the John S. Hinckley Award as the outstanding faculty member at Weber State University (2003). He was named Utah Professor of the Year by the Carnegie Foundation (2003). He has been recognized four times by the American Political Science Association for “Outstanding Teaching in Political Science” (2000, 2003, 2004, and 2008).

Dr. Guliuzza previously served as President of the Pre-Law Advisors’ National Council and is on the executive boards of the American Mock Trial Association and the American Collegiate Moot Court Association (currently serving as ACMA President). A successful moot court and mock trial coach at Weber State and PHC, he is the co-coach of the four-time defending moot court champions and has led his teams into the top ten at the national mock trial tournaments, coaching scores of students who were either all-American or all-regional competitors. He has also taught at Wheaton College, the University of Minnesota, and Vassar College.

Beyond his academic accomplishments, Dr. Guliuzza has extensive practical political experience. He was vice-chairman of the Utah Republican Party and ran for election to the United States Senate, though he was defeated by Orrin Hatch. At PHC, he advises students who plan to attend law school. In addition to coaching moot court and mock trial, he teaches classes at all levels for the Government major.

Classroom Teacher: Sarah Hengemuhle, MA

Classroom Teacher

Sarah Hengemuhle

MA, Georgetown University
BA, Patrick Henry College

Sarah Hengemuhle taught US Government and Politics with PHC Prep Academy in Spring 2012 and 2013. She graduated with honors from Georgetown University in 2010 with a Master of Arts degree in Security Studies and magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government with a Public Policy emphasis from Patrick Henry College (PHC) in 2004. Her graduate program included coursework in international security and mass media, intelligence policy and ethics, analytic and research methodologies, and economic drivers of terrorism as well as a number of experiences as a peer-reviewer, including a rigorous semester-long thesis seminar. She has worked as an analyst for federal and commercial entities since 2004. Sarah’s passion for critically analyzing her faith’s influence on her academic pursuits has influenced both her own scholarship and her desire to mentor others in this process. Sarah has experience tutoring, teaching and coaching in a variety of settings including coaching competitive gymnastics, teaching French to middle school students and tutoring her homeschooled siblings. She currently resides in Northern Virginia with her spouse where she enjoys sharing her love of Christ with her preschool Sunday school class and spending time with her dog.

AP United States History

Master Teacher: Robert Spinney, PhD

Master Teacher

Robert Spinney, PhD

PhD and MA, Vanderbilt University
BA, Harvard University

Dr. Spinney teaches U.S. History classes at Patrick Henry College. He also teaches the upper-division historiography course for History majors that explores what it means to think Christianly about the study of history. Before coming to Purcellville in 2007, he served as a pastor in a Tennessee church while also teaching Patrick Henry College’s online history classes.

Dr. Spinney has also taught at Trinity College (Deerfield, IL), Volunteer State Community College (Gallatin, TN), and The Valwood School and Open Bible Christian School (both in Valdosta, GA, and both junior and senior high schools). He has published two academic history books: World War II in Nashville: Transformation of the Homefront and City of Big Shoulders: A History of Chicago. He has also published ten ministry-related pamphlets with Tulip Books—pamphlets with titles like Did God Create Sports Also? Thinking Christianly About Sports; Monkeying Around With Dangerous Ideas: Four Reasons Outside the Field of Science Why Christians Should Reject Evolutionary Thinking; and Are You Legalistic? Grace, Obedience, and Antinomianism. God has given Rob and his wife Caroline five children, all of whom have been homeschooled.

Classroom Teacher: Juli Schuttger

Classroom Teacher

Juli Schuttger

BA, Patrick Henry College

Ever since Juli showed a fifth grader how to work a unit-conversion problem when she was seventeen, she has known that God has gifted her to teach. She has also known that her gift does not rely on her power—that same fifth grader got the problem wrong because of Juli’s dyslexia!

A gift of teaching that is bare of content does no one good, so God also gave Juli a long list of hobbies and interests: handwork of almost every description, quilting, clothing design and construction, gardening, cuisine experimentation, music (Renaissance through some Romantic mostly, though she does enjoy bluegrass and melodic contemporary stuff like soundtracks), history, philosophy, theology, literature (few things that flaunts themselves as “modern”), and a little bit of politics.

Juli is the oldest of seven and graduate of her family’s homeschool program. She taught art and choir to first through third graders for a year after graduating from PHC, then spent the next three years as the primary teacher at a one-room schoolhouse co-op for local homeschooled high-schoolers – Bible, math, European history, US history, and British literature. Juli also spent the second two of those years teaching for PHC Prep, so this is her fourth teaching venture heading into its third year.

Classroom Teacher: Joanna Main

Classroom Teacher

Joanna Main

BA, Patrick Henry College

Joanna Main is a graduate of Patrick Henry College with a B. A. in Government-Public Policy (class of 2005). This is her third year teaching AP United States History with PHC Prep. She is thankful that teaching has given her a good excuse to spend extra time studying one of her favorite subjects. She enjoys being able to lead students through the process of using a Christian worldview to analyze our country’s history. As a homeschooled graduate, she understands the benefits and challenges of learning in a non-traditional setting. It is her desire to help students overcome these challenges and encourage them to be well-reasoned and articulate in a more traditional classroom setting.

While completing her degree at PHC, Joanna interned for the National Center for Home Education and for Generation Joshua. After graduation, she continued to work for NCHE as a legislative assistant. These experiences, along with her coursework at PHC, afforded her many opportunities to improve her writing and editing skills. She is looking forward to providing assistance and feedback to students as they work to improve their own writing skills.

Joanna currently lives in Thurmont, Maryland where she watches football and baseball games with her husband, homeschools a 1st grader, and keeps a 2-year-old out of mischief. She also enjoys running, eating ice cream, and finding a good deal.

Classroom Teacher: Leslie Brown

Classroom Teacher

Leslie Brown

BA, Patrick Henry College

Leslie Brown graduated (magna cum laude) from Patrick Henry College in Spring 2012 with a B.A. in history. Though routinely enthralled by almost any period, culture, and location, her primary area of study is twentieth century American family history. Her senior thesis explored how American adults understood childhood in the 1950s, and how this affects Christian child-rearing advice today. She enjoys sharing a Biblical understanding of history with others, with the goal of infecting everyone with her own passion for the past and its stories. This will be her second year teaching U.S. History to PHC Prep Academy students.

Leslie spends significant amounts of time reading and writing, eclectically in both cases. Her reading list ranges from history and sociology to Russian literature and speculative fiction. She writes everything from academic studies and business letters to poetry and serial fiction. In the course of all this entanglement with words she has gained great appreciation for good writing, as well as a desire to use her writing and editing skills to help others become more proficient.

Leslie lives in northern Virginia, where she seeks to know her God and Savior more fully, and pursues her strangely varied interests—including not just reading and writing but also drawing, exploring back roads, and trying to teach herself to play the ukulele.

AP World History

Master Teacher: Douglas Favelo, PhD

Master Teacher

Douglas Favelo, PhD

M.A. in Classics, Ph.D in History, UCLA
B.A. and M.A. in History, California State University Fresno

Dr. Douglas Favelo teaches Patrick Henry College’s core history of western civilization courses as well as upper division courses in history. Prior to coming to PHC in 2010, he served as a Lecturer for ten years in the Department of Modern and Classical Languages and Literature at California State University Fresno, teaching history, literature, and Latin. In July 2010 he helped lead and teach a UCLA study-abroad program in Rome. During his doctoral studies at UCLA, the largest history graduate program in the nation, he was ranked number one all four years. He specializes in Greek and Roman history and literature; his research interests include Italian resistance to the expansion of Rome and the lives of the Christian desert monks of late Roman Egypt.

Dr. Favelo has been heavily involved in the classical education scene for many years, and also in the homeschool community. He has taught hundreds of homeschooled students Latin, Greek, history, and literature, and has spoken at conferences on homeschooling.

Dr. Favelo lives with his wife and three children in Loudoun County, Virginia. His passion is to facilitate students’ intellectual and spiritual development, primarily through the medium of a rigorous, Biblically-centered classical education, to the greater glory of God.

Classroom Teacher: Brian Trimmer, MA

Classroom Teacher

Brian Trimmer, MA

MA, Pepperdine University
BA, Columbia Christian College

Mr. Trimmer teaches AP World History classes through Patrick Henry College Preparatory Academy’s online program. In addition to teaching human society, culture, and development, Mr. Trimmer highlights Christian worldview and God’s continuing hand in shaping the course of human history. Mr. Trimmer currently teaches World and U.S. History at Oaks Christian School in Westlake Village California. In addition to his BA and MA in history, Mr. Trimmer earned a teaching credential through California Lutheran University. He has been a classroom teacher for thirteen years, and this will be his third year teaching with PHC Prep Academy.

Brian Trimmer has published three history-related articles on Google’s Knol informational website. Two of these articles are chapters straight from his Master’s thesis: Defenders of the West, the History of Naval Airstation Tillamook. He has also achieved expert author status on EzineArticles with eleven feature articles on entrepreneurship and home-based business. He and his wife Heather have begun a successful home-based business.

God has given Brian and Heather three children, all of whom are currently homeschooled.