lauren.a.gosnell@gmail.com

Lauren Gosnell

I have been married to my husband Josh for 13 years. We have a 12 year old daughter, Kennedy, and a 4 year old son, Brandt. We also have two four-legged family members; Logan is our blue heeler/husky mix and Lyla is our chiweenie.

Through homeschooling my own children and being involved with co-ops, I’ve experienced an up-close view of how truly different we all learn. Experience is a great teacher, and God has equipped me with how to alter my teaching style when needed. I trust that He will continue to equip me and grow me as a THEO teacher.

I have learned to trust God’s plan and truly appreciate His sense of humor, mostly through all those times I said ‘I will never (fill in the blank here)’, and then those same things come to life.

It is such a blessing to have this opportunity to share my love of math with THEO students and help them gain confidence in a subject that isn’t always well-loved.

Kathy Franda

Kathy Franda homeschooled her 3 children for 12 years graduating the youngest in May 2011.  She has been teaching science, computer, geography, psychology, and elective classes at THEO since 2009 and other local co-ops since 2000.  She has a B.A. from University of Rochester in New York.  Kathy’s lifelong passion for science began at an early age growing up at and exploring the estuaries and intertidal zone of a barrier island in New Jersey. She has traveled to many of the states, countries, and marine habitats that she teaches about – often with National Geographic educational programs. She believes in “hands on” learning to improve initial learning, long term retention and student interest and teaches utilizing varied methods to benefit various learning strengths.

Email kathyfranda@gmail.com with questions about classes.

elsacdeltoro@gmail.com

¡Hola! I am a native Spanish speaker, born and raised in Cuba. I am married and have three lovely girls. With the help of God, I have been able to home school all three. My two oldest graduated from THEO and are now in college. Through home education, I had the opportunity to pass on my native language to my daughters. Homeschooling them helped me discover a passion for teaching.

Outside of our home, my first experience teaching was under the direction and guidance of THEO’s presigious Spanish teacher, Shari Schwarz. She fanned the flame of my desire to impact the lives of home schooled students with the gift of a second language. I have enjoyed stepping in as a substitute teacher for many THEO classes, and I am excited to begin teaching my own classes this year. Alongside fellow THEO Spanish teacher, Julie Smith, I am in the process of becoming certified as a TPRS (Teaching Proficiency through Reading and Storytelling) Teacher, and cannot wait to work with your students. It is going to be a fantastic year!

gracefillednest@gmail.com

Hi, my name is Helen Green (a local Christian artist) originally from Boerne, Texas.  I’ve been married almost 20 years to my faithful husband, Kelly Green.  We have a 14-year old daughter named Grace, plus a loud Sheepdog named Darla.

I love to paint and encourage others along the way. Let’s conquer the fear of messing up and start drawing and painting. My style is light and airy from impressionistic to contemporary, yet I have a variety of styles in between.

My background has been in retail advertising as Sr. Art Director/Grahic Designer for sixteen years, yet, my real art enthusiasm began by watching my mother paint on canvas, going to galleries and flipping through her art magazines. Now my own daughter loves to design & create, and we hope your loved ones will be inspired too.

The past ten years, Philippians 4:8 has been my prayer and hope for future artist, “Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy – meditate on these things”.

I have sold my art through local stores, curators, Instagram, Minted.com and a major national retailer.  As an artist, there is joy guiding numerous art camps from small artisan batches to church size events, afterschool programs, homeschool (mostly in my little home).  Once per year, I donate paintings to Scottish Rite Hospital for their Summer of Colors silent auction.

Looking forward to our time together and grateful.

Helen Green
Text or Call 214-336-1489

instagram @helengracegreenart

mr.nejensen.teacher@gmail.com

Nathan Jensen returns to THEO as a recent graduate from the University of Texas at Dallas, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a B.A. in Literary Studies with Honors and a Teaching Certification for 7-12 ELA (English). In the spring semester of 2019, Nathan worked as a substitute teacher for Allen ISD and taught as a long-term substitute for two months at Erickson Middle School in Allen. Also, Nathan has taught throughout his life at a variety of Church programs such as VBS, Awana, St. Paul’s Sunday School, and Grace Kids.

Having grown up in the homeschool community, Nathan appreciates the opportunity to offer the same outstanding education that he received to the next generation. As a child, Nathan struggled to learn to read, so he understands the challenges of becoming a proficient reader and writer and aims to nurture the reader that exists in every student.

Involved in theater since a young age, Nathan has performed in over 50 different productions, including both semi-professional and professional jobs. During the last 6 years, he expanded his focus to include film, creating and producing a web series on YouTube called Project Jumpchute. Working on every aspect of this project, from writing to constructing sets to editing, Nathan learned what it takes to produce filmed content and what mistakes for beginners to avoid. He is thrilled to have the opportunity to share what he has learned about the process of creating films with future filmmakers.

Stevehorvathguitar@gmail.com    Steve can also be reached at 972.665.8621

Experience

• Worship Leader/Band Director – 7 years
• Guitar Teaching – 15 years
• Playing and Studying Guitar – 23 years

Hi! My name is Steve Horvath. I am originally from California, but after I met my beautiful Texan wife, the rest was history! I have been in the Lone Star State about 16 years now. I have 15 years of private guitar teaching experience, as well as 7 years of worship leading experience in which I have led and directed a band.  I have been playing and studying the guitar for the past 23 years.  I love teaching and helping people reach their musical goals and aspirations!

I have been married to my wife Courtney for 16 years and we have three sons – Seth (13),  Caleb (11) and Ian (4).  I am also a fan of bold coffee, traveling and photography. I have traveled overseas on missions trips to Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, Vietnam and Ecuador. I was home schooled myself until I reached the 8th grade!

Students also have the option to participate in recitals and various other performance opportunities.  You can also look at our website or FB page included in the links below if that would be helpful.

My music studio has two locations: The first is near Parker Road and McCreary and the other is in Downtown Wylie.  For Theo students who would like to take lessons at one of our studios, we offer a $40.00 discount per month ($85.00/month as opposed to our normal rate of $125.00/month), for lesson times that would be considered homeschool spots (early afternoon).   We also offer piano lessons on Thursday and Friday at our downtown Wylie location.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out!

Thank you!

Steve

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuitarLessonsWylieTexas

Website: GuitarLessonswylietexas.com     Phone: 972-665-8621

debijones@verizon.net

Education

BS (cum laude) in Education from Angelo State University, 1988

About Mrs. Jones

Experience

My family started our homeschool journey in 2005 and we have never looked back. We found THEO when someone told my elder son about it. We were very new to homeschooling and it almost sounded magical! My son participated in the band that year and then I started teaching at THEO the next year for just a few hours each week. Now, I have thoroughly enjoyed teaching Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry and SAT Math Prep at THEO for more than 19 years. I LOVE the consistency and absolutism of high school math.

Additionally, I serve as the pianist at my church, which yields plenty of real-life stories of practicing and mastering new music and concepts!

Personal

I have been married to my wonderful husband Dan for more than 37 years. Our oldest son graduated from UTD in 2015 and works as a Data Analyst. Our daughter graduated from OSU in 2018 and from OSU medical school in 2022. She is now in surgery residency. Our youngest son graduated from UTD in 2024 (bachelor’s degree) and will be graduating from UTD in 2025 (master’s degree). He is hoping to work in the field of Economics. My personal interests include gardening, cooking, sewing and playing the piano.

mpiehler@att.net

Mindy Piehler

Mrs. Piehler earned a B.S. in Education with a specialization in English from Baylor University. Following graduation she taught in Richardson I.S.D. She began teaching at a homeschooling co-op in 1996 and feels blessed to continue to do so. She has been happily married for over 30 years and adored homeschooling her own four children. They now have a psychiatric nurse practitioner, an MSU grad working in Plano as a consultant, a golf and ice hockey player at Bethel University, and a student at the University of Arkansas. In the summer of 2020 she is excited to add two daughters-in law to the Piehler Pack. Mrs. Piehler loves teaching, cherishes her students, and makes learning a delightful adventure. She would be honored to have your student join her!

Grammar

Literature for 5th – 6th Grades

Junior High Literature

oberstedebbie@yahoo.com

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is Proverbs 3:5-6…. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your steps”

Teaching is one of my passions, yet I did not realize the extent of this passion until the Lord directed me to home school our six children over 20 years ago.   Three have graduated and I still have five more years until the youngest graduates.

Along with teaching my own children, the Lord has provided opportunities for me to teach others.

• I served at N-TECH in the startup years both on the board, in the Nursery, and as a teacher.
• I have been teaching Sunday School so long that the children who were just starting school are now adults and graduating college.
• I have been a mentor to the youth and have served as a leader in our churches youth group over the last 14 years.
• I headed up our church’s VBS program a couple of years.
• This year as an “older” woman, I started mentoring a small group of women from my church.

In 2010, I was blessed with the ongoing opportunity to travel to different Home School Book Fairs representing a curriculum I have used with my children.  It gives me great pleasure to encourage and help parents in their homeschooling journey.  I also give presentations at the conferences and during the off-season, I give weekly webinars.

Before having children, I did get in two years of college and earned an Associated in Applied Arts. Once I started teaching my children, I started learning how to learn.  My desire is to instill a love of learning in others.

yidanrog@hotmail.com

I was born and grew up in Beijing, China. I have a BSc. degree from Peking University. Then I went to Canada for graduate study. I earned a MSc.degree in Physics from the University of British Columbia and a MSc. degree in Computer Science from the University of Toronto. My husband and I moved to Plano due to his work.

I have been a teaching assistant and tutor during the time in the graduate schools, and I also taught ESL and high school math in Toronto.

I like to draw, watercolor paint, and Chinese paper cutting.