2025 CONVENTION - SPEAKERS

Featured Speaker

Dr. Jeff Myers is president of Summit Ministries, a highly respected worldview training program whose tens of thousands of graduates are making a difference in politics, law, academics, medicine, science, and business. In the last 20 years Dr. Myers has become one of America's most respected authorities on youth leadership development. Focus on the Family founder James Dobson referred to him as "a very gifted and inspirational young leader." Evangelist Josh McDowell called him "a man who is 100% sold out to preparing the next generation to reflect the character of Christ in the culture." Through his appearances on Fox News and other media programs, Dr. Myers has become a fresh voice offering humor and insight from a Christian worldview. He holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree and teaches leadership courses through CollegePlus and Belhaven University, He and his wife, Danielle have four children and live in Colorado.

For more information about Dr. Jeff Myers, please visit http://www.summit.org/.

Carol Barnier is a fresh, fun and popular conference speaker unlike any other. Her objective is to have the wit of Erma Bombeck crossed with the depth of C.S. Lewis, but admits that most days, she only achieves a solid Lucy Ricardo with a bit of Bob the Tomato. She is a frequent guest commentator on Focus on the Family's Weekend Magazine broadcast, where she's spoken on a variety of humorous topics ranging from not being ready to be a Titus woman (It's the name: Titus. Anything that rhymes with Phlebitis is automatically suspect) to why angels need a new public relations manager. She has been a guest on many radio programs, contributor to many magazines and is a speaker to conferences nationwide. She's also a homeschooler of 17 years, author of four books, mother to three children, and wife to one husband. Her first three books deal with the non-linear mind trying to make it in a very linear world (teaching ADHD kids, being a highly distracted mom, learning styles.) But her latest book, Engaging Today's Prodigal, Clear Thinking, New Approaches, and Reason for Hope, shares her own prodigal journey and lessons learned to equip and encourage parents who are experiencing the pain of a child leaving the faith they were raised with. While her humor will have you leaning sideways, her faith is solid stuff. Whether speaking about her first born son's 13 surgeries, her homeschooling challenges, her family's many ADHD challenges, or her own walk from being a God-denying atheist to the most grateful recipient of God's amazing grace, this woman speaks from the heart. She knows why she knows what she knows.

For more information about Carol Barnier, please visit http://carolbarnier.com/.

Melinda Boring has been a popular workshop speaker for over 15 years. She enjoys the privilege of sharing her personal and professional experience, humor, and compassion with others. Her presentations are packed with practical suggestions and her personable style gives fresh hope and perspective to experienced homeschoolers and newcomers alike. A willingness to openly relate her personal anecdotes leads to a special connection with the audience. Very often attendees' feedback boils down to: "How long have you had a hidden camera in my home, because that is exactly what we deal with every day?" Melinda is an authorized Joyce Herzog workshop presenter. In addition to presenting workshops in multiple states and Europe, Melinda is an accomplished author. Her book, Heads Up Helping! has been a source of encouragement and hope for hundreds of people. For the past decade she has been a regular columnist in the Home Companion, a bimonthly publication of Christian Home Educators of Ohio. Her articles have been reprinted in a number of other magazines, online newsletters, and state homeschooling publications including Heart of the Matter online. Armed with a degree in education and her M.A. in speech/language pathology, Melinda and her husband felt led to homeschool their children. Recognizing that two of her children were struggling learners, Melinda applied herself to find ways to meet those needs as well as those of her typically developing child. Despite her many prayers, Melinda's children continued to present her with challenges that made her become a better teacher than she wanted to have to be! As only God can, He now uses those difficult times to bless others through Melinda's presentations as she shares over 18 years experience as a homeschooler. Melinda's oldest two children graduated from their home school in May 2006, and her "baby" graduated in 2011. Although she is adjusting to life as an "empty desker", she continues to serve the homeschool special-needs & struggling learner community. Melinda Boring, MA-CCC/SLP, also has over 25 years experience as a licensed and certified speech language pathologist. Melinda is owner and president of Heads Up! and can be reached at the address below or through the website www.HeadsUpNow.com.

For more information about Melinda Boring, please visit http://www.headsupnow.com/.

Carlita Boyles is a Christian wife and mother, and the author of the new homeschool math curriculum, Math on the Level. Together with her husband, John, who is the editor and illustrator, she has developed a program that gives parents the tools to teach their children at each child's level of maturation using real-life family-centered activities instead of textbooks. Carlita has a passion for helping parents confidently teach children in the way that the children learn best.. Her interest in helping homeschooling parents is a reflection of her background in education. She has a Bachelor of Science degree in Child Development and a Master of Arts degree in Special Education. She also holds a California Multiple Subjects teaching credential and a California Specialist in Learning Disabilities credential. For over 12 years, Carlita taught in California public schools, primarily in classes for children with learning disabilities, and has worked as both a Resource Specialist and a Special Day Class teacher. With the birth of her oldest daughter in 1993, she left the public school setting to become a homeschooling mother.

Since 2007, when Math on the Level was introduced, Carlita has been traveling across the country with her family, speaking at homeschool conventions and encouraging parents. Her talks have brought hope and confidence to struggling families.

She and John live in Windsor, California where they continue to homeschool their three delightful children who are in now in junior and senior high school.

For more information about Carlita Boyles, please visit http://www.mathonthelevel.com/.

Joanne Calderwood is an UNDERwhelmed mom of eight great kids, ages 12 through 24, homeschooling for 20 years and counting. As a former classroom teacher, Joanne had a meltdown when trying to homeschool her first four children with the classroom mentality. Then she began to allow her older children to work independently, and the results were so amazing that she began receiving requests to share her system of parenting & education which incorporates the tenets of self-learning and mastery. Results include perfect- and nearly-perfect SAT scorers, and four teens (so far) who have gone on to attend their first-choice colleges on full scholarships! Joanne is the best-selling author of The Self-Propelled Advantage, and The Self-Propelled Student Planners. She and her family present one-day Self-Propelled Advantage (SPA) Family Conferences across the country, and she is the heart behind www.URtheMom.com. Joanne loves helping moms (as well as entire families) become UNDERwhelmed while giving students an Advantage that lasts a lifetime.

For more information about Joanne Calderwood, please visit http://www.joannecalderwood.com/.

Dr. Bruce K. Eagleson was saved while in medical school. He is an emergency physician. He and his wife have exclusively homeschooled their four children for 25 years. They have four high school at home graduates, and two college at home graduates. Dr. Eagleson sees himself as a homeschool evangelist. He is recognized nationally as the founding chairman of the national homeschool advocacy group, The Alliance. Dr. Eagleson has served on the Christian Homeschool Association of Pennsylvania (CHAP) Board of Directors for eighteen years. In addition, Dr. Eagleson is the author of the CHAP book Keys to Homeschooling in the Keystone State. Bruce has presented at many conferences including ENOCH of NJ, Mass HOPE, TEACH CT, CHAP, Sandy Cove's and Harvey Cedars' homeschool week, HSLDA's national leadership conference and the National Alliance of Home Education Leadership.

For more information about Dr. Bruce Eagleson, please visit www.chaponline.com.

A homeschool graduate from Pennsylvania, Will began working for HSLDA in January, 2004 as a legal assistant to Staff Attorney Scott Woodruff. After graduating from Oak Brook College of Law with his J.D., he moved on to direct HSLDA's Federal Relations department and to serve as HSLDA's federal lobbyist.

As HSLDA's representative on Capitol Hill, Will uses his passion for homeschooling to advocate for all homeschoolers before Congress and the federal departments. He has testified before Congress and met with senior officials from federal agencies and the executive branch.

From October 2007 through December 2012, Will served as the director of Generation Joshua, a division of HSLDA, where he worked with young people who are passionate about making a difference in politics. He oversaw a doubling of Generation Joshua's membership, an increase in local clubs, and an expansion of Generation Joshua's reach and effectiveness.

In July 2011, he also took on lobbying for ParentalRights.org as the organization's director of federal relations, where he advocates before Congress for the Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. He is a member of the U.S. Supreme Court bar and the California bar.

Will and his wife Rachel, who is also a homeschool graduate as well as an accomplished portrait artist, and their son Dominic reside in northern Virginia.

For more information about HSLDA, please visit http://www.hslda.org.

Heather's homeschool journey began after it appeared she was going to fail first grade at a traditional school. She flourished at home and, from an early age, advocated for homeschooling in radio, TV, and newspapers. Heather pursued a degree in biology and taught students of all ages, from hands-on preschool nature classes to college biology. She graduated summa cum laude from Arizona State University in 2001, a year after marrying the love of her life, Rich. Since 1997, she has encouraged families through her workshops. Drawing on her unique perspectives in biology and as a home school graduate who is now in the trenches educating her four children, Heather inspires parents to pursue a loving, holistic, and developmentally appropriate approach to education. Her heart is to encourage and equip parents towards intentional parenting, pursuing God and delighting in the adventure of learning. She is the author of the new book, The Ultimate Guide to Brain Breaks. She and her husband are now thrilled to be funneling their passion to support homeschool families into their involvement with the board of Arizona Families for Home Education!

For more information about Heather Haupt, please visit http://www.heatherhaupt.com/.

Colene, with her husband Tom, home schooled their daughters through high school in a home where learning was a joy and a way of life. Earning scholarships, each girl excelled at college in biology, engineering, English and law. More importantly, all three women are walking with the Lord and starting to raise their own families. Colene has a deep passion for homeschoolers. Alongside her husband, she served on the board of AZ Families for Home Education for over 13 years. During that time, she became a sought-after speaker, speaking at numerous conferences, including the National English Teachers Convention and the AZ Home Educators' Convention. Colene often speaks with her daughter, Heather Haupt of Cultivated Lives. Colene is the author of Russia: The Land of Endurance, published by KONOS. Presently, Colene works for the Alliance Defense Fund and spends most other moments with her husband, daughters, sons-in-law and nine delightful, rambunctious grandchildren.

Andrew is the founder, principal speaker, and director of the Institute for Excellence in Writing. Presenting throughout North America, he addresses issues relating to teaching, writing, thinking, spelling, and music with clarity, insight, practical experience, and humor. His seminars for parents, students, and teachers have helped transform many a reluctant writer and have equipped educators with powerful tools to dramatically improve students' skills. Although he is a graduate of the Talent Education Institute in Japan (Suzuki Method) and holds a Certificate of Child Brain Development, his best endorsement is from a young Alaskan boy who called him "the funny man with the wonderful words." He and his beautiful, heroic wife Robin are parents of seven, grandparents of five, and educators of their two youngest children at home in Oklahoma's Green Country.

For more information about Andrew Pudewa, please visit http://iew.com/.

Sonya Shafer is a popular homeschool speaker and writer, specializing in the Charlotte Mason Method. She has been on an eighteen-year adventure studying, practicing, and teaching Charlotte's gentle and effective methods of education. She co-directs SimplyCharlotteMason.com, a place of practical encouragement and help to homeschoolers.

For more information about Sonya Shafer, please visit http://simplycharlottemason.com/.

Heidi St. John has been married to her husband Jay since 1989. Together they have seven children from toddler to adult and have homeschooled all the way through high school. A favorite conference and radio speaker, Heidi approaches marriage and parenting with humor and grace. Her passion to encourage moms and set them free to be who God has created them to be will bless and encourage you.

The St. Johns travel and speak together throughout the year, encouraging couples in their marriages and training and equipping parents to disciple their children as part of their daily family life, using God's Word as their primary vehicle for spiritual growth and discussion.

Heidi is the author of "The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Romance: Nurturing Your Marriage Through the Homeschool Years." Her second book, "The Busy Homeschool Mom's Guide to Daylight," was released early in 2012. She is the creator of a new journal for moms called "Words Along the Way: A Mother's Journal" which emphasizes the joys of journaling through the homeschool years.

Jay and Heidi are also the founders and executive directors of Firmly Planted Family Ministries, a parachurch organization dedicated to training and equipping parents to disciple their children by focusing on "the things of first importance" (1 Cor 15:3). Firmly Planted Family Ministries has been in operation since 2000 and has benefited thousands of families across North America and Europe.

For more information about Heidi St. John, please visit http://heidistjohn.com/tbmb/.

Jim Weiss and his wife Randy founded Greathall Productions in 1989. It was a huge leap of faith as children's audio at the time was just coming into fashion. Raised by parents who valued literature and history and with the additional influence of grandfathers who loved to tell stories to their grandsons, Jim grew up in the presence of literary and real-life characters in the tradition of oral language. Jim graduated from The University of Wisconsin, Madison and entered the sales and marketing profession. At forty years old, he realized that he was unfulfilled and needed to make a career change. With a lot of prayer and reflection, Jim and Randy decided to trust their intuition that a line of storytelling recordings told, not read would provide a wonderful way for children to appreciate classics at an early age. This year, Jim and Randy Weiss are celebrating Greathall Productions' 25th Anniversary year of business Married for 38 years, Randy and Jim reside in Charlottesville, Virginia and are the proud parents of a married daughter and son-in-law. To date, Jim is the producer and reader of 48+ Greathall storytelling recordings featuring classical literature and history; masterful and thoughtful readings of G.A. Henty Titles; unabridged readings of The Story of the World Volumes I-IV; Carry On, Mr. Bowditch, by Jean Lee Latham and Ralph Moody's, Come On, Sea Biscuit, and a variety of Read-Along Book/Cd Sets. Weiss is the recipient of 100+ national awards from The Old Schoolhouse, Mary Pride's Practical Homeschooling Reader's Choice, The American Library Association, Parents' Choice Foundation, The Film Advisory Board, Parents' Guide to Children's Media, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio, AudioFile, Creative Child Magazine, Children's Media, and many more. Jim Weiss recordings are highly praised and recommended by leading home school journals and reviewers including Home Education Magazine, Homeschooling Today, Greenleaf Press, The Well Trained Mind, Family Times, The Old School House, and countless others. Jim travels extensively across the United States and Canada presenting library, school, store and community events; teacher workshops; and his favorite, HOMESCHOOL CONFERENCES.

For more information about Jim Weiss, please visit http://www.greathall.com/.

Travis Zimmerman, Speak My Word Ministries' Co-Founder, loves Jesus Christ with all of his heart. Over the past 25 years, his speaking style has been described as electric, dynamic, and heart-felt. Travis has committed the past 13 years to memorizing God's Word which he has spoken at national conferences, national and state homeschool conventions, retreats, camps, and churches. His short video messages on The Daily Pulse have logged 60,000+ views. Travis earned an Aerospace Engineering degree from Penn State University as well as a Master of Business Administration from Webster University. He is currently enrolled in a Master of Arts in Theological Studies at Liberty University. Additionally, Travis served as a United States Air Force officer as well as Sight & Sound Theatres' national sales manager. Travis and his bride, Suzanne, live in Hershey, PA where they homeschool their five school-age children: an oldest daughter and four sons. See www.speakmyword.org for more information.

For more information about Travis Zimmerman, please visit http://www.speakmyword.org/.