Keynote Speaker – Kathy Koch
Founder and President of Celebrate Kids Inc., Author and Speaker
Celebrate Kids
Dr. Kathy Koch is the founder and president of Celebrate Kids, Inc., an organization dedicated to helping parents and educators understand and meet the needs of today’s children, and a co-founder of Ignite the Family: A Movement of Awakened Parents. She is an international speaker and the author of several books including Screens and Teens, No More Perfect Kids, and How Am I Smart? Dr. Koch has influenced thousands of parents, teachers, and children in 30 countries through keynote messages, seminars, chapels, and other events. She is a featured speaker for the Great Homeschool Conventions, on the faculty of Summit Ministries, and a frequent presenter for Care Net, Axis, and other organizations.
Dr. Koch’s practical, relevant, and results-oriented concepts and engaging, honoring, and humorous speaking style draw enthusiastic raves from children, teens, parents, and educators. They leave her events armed with new beliefs, attitudes, practical tools, and increased hope to build healthy relationships and increase success in family, life, and school.
Dr. Koch earned her Ph.D. in reading and educational psychology from Purdue University. She resides in Ft. Worth, TX.
Featured Speaker – Tricia Goyer
Author, Speaker, Associate of Celebrate Kids, and homeschool mother of 10 children
TriciaGoyer.com
Tricia Goyer is a wife, homeschooling mom, speaker, podcast host, and USA Today bestselling author of over 80 books. Tricia writes in numerous genres including Christian fiction, parenting, marriage, and books for children and teens. She loves to mentor writers through WriteThatBook.Club. Married to John and mom of ten children, Tricia truly believes teaching and guiding her children daily is her greatest work. Tricia lives near Little Rock, Arkansas. You can discover more about her at TriciaGoyer.com
Featured Speaker – Melissa Hannigan
Author and Speaker for Celebrate Kids, and homeschool mother of 4 children
Celebrate Kids
Melissa Hannigan holds a Master’s of Arts degree in counseling from Midwestern Theological Seminary. She is wife to John Hannigan, executive director of Celebrate Kids. They have been married for 16 years and together they have four children Joey, age 15, Maddy, age 13, Ella, age 9, and Charlotte, age 7. Before becoming a full-time homeschool mom, Melissa worked in a young women’s correctional facility as the on-site therapist, helping teen girls overcome abuse, addictions, and trauma. She is passionate about helping people discover God’s best for their lives. Today, Melissa brings her clinical mental health background to the Celebrate Kids team as an associate writer and speaker. She seeks to help parents find joy in raising healthy kids that grow up to be healthy adults, living the abundant life God intended.
Featured Speaker – Dan Beasley
HSLDA Contact Attorney, and homeschool father of 4 children
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) – hslda.org
As and HSLDA staff attorney, Dan serves HSLDA member families and advocates for homeschool freedom in 12 states. He represents families who face legal challenges to their right to homeschool and regularly corresponds with school officials, college admissions staff, legislators, and government agencies regarding the legality and effectiveness of homeschooling.
Dan was homeschooled through high school and went on to earn a juris doctorate from Oak Brook College of Law and a master’s degree in applied biblical studies from Moody Bible Institute. He and his wife Bethany (also a homeschool graduate) are homeschooling their five children.
Featured Speaker – Kevin Boden
Attorney, local Alaskan, and homeschool father of 8 children
Kevin is husband, homeschool father of 8, attorney and local Alaskan. Kevin and his wife, Wendi, live in Fairbanks, AK where Kevin works full-time as an attorney advisor with the Air National Guard. Having moved 5 times in 10 years while on Active Duty, Kevin and Wendi understand the uniqueness of homeschooling in various countries, managing new relationships, adapting to new state requirements and saying many goodbye’s and hello’s. Kevin has a desire to help engage fathers in the homeschooling journey, love their wives in the day-to-day of homeschooling life, and lead their families to know and love the Lord. Kevin graduated from Wheaton College (IL) and obtained his J.D. from Seattle University in 2009. He and Wendi have one daughter in college and seven children still at home.
HSLDA Speaker – Natalie Mack
HSLDA Military Outreach Coordinator and homeschool mother of 5 children
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) – hslda.org
Natalie Mack is an author, speaker, retired therapist, veteran Navy chaplain spouse and homeschool mom with over 20 years of experience serving the military homeschool community. Currently serving as President of Belvoir Home Educators in Northern Virginia, she founded and led several military homeschool support groups around the country and overseas. As an HSLDA High School Educational Consultant and Outreach Coordinator to the Military, Natalie specializes in the development and review of college preparatory high school student transcripts, assists with NCAA eligibility questions and curriculum selection. Her military outreach support provides military-related information and advances the goals of military parents in the journey of homeschooling their children.
Natalie is uniquely qualified as a homeschooling mother of five children. As a military spouse, she continuously adapted to local resources available within her diverse local communities to maximize the homeschooling experience for her family and fellow military families. She served on the board of the Camp Pendleton, CA homeschool group in 2001 – 2003, founded and led the Military Christian Homeschool Support Group of Virginia Beach, VA in 2005-2010, served as President of the Naples Christian Homeschool group in Naples, Italy from 2012-2013. In eastern NC, she co-moderated the Camp Lejeune and New River Military Homeschoolers group.
She is a graduate of Spelman College, Atlanta, GA, BA in Political Science and Spanish and The George Washington University, Washington, DC, MEd, concentration in Community Counseling.
Some of her passions include languages, history, and travel where she has created a “classroom” among the cities and cultural sites of the world for her children.
In addition to consulting, speaking and sharing her passion for home education, Natalie enjoys being a soccer mom and business owner. Natalie’s achievements shine the brightest through the dedicated “ease”, to which she attributes to God’s grace, in homeschooling three college graduates, one college sophomore and and her remaining highschooler.
HSLDA Speaker – Faith Berens
Special Needs Consultant with HSLDA and Homeschool Mother of Two Children
Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) – hslda.org
Faith’s own learning struggles and diagnosis of dyscalculia compelled her compassion for other bright but struggling students. A fifteen-year teaching career before she became a homeschool mom included both public and private schools, Department of Defense Schools, tutoring, and working as an educational therapist and reading specialist. Holding a Master’s Degree from Shenandoah University, Faith’s specific areas of expertise include early childhood education, literacy development, and the identification and remediation of reading difficulties, including dyslexia.
Since 2008, Faith has applied her passionate advocacy for special needs students serving as an HSLDA Special Needs Consultant, encouraging parents at homeschooling conferences across the nation and internationally, and writing. Faith’s articles have been published in several national homeschooling magazines, and she has been the guest of several, popular homeschooling podcasts. She currently serves on the board with SPED Homeschool, in addition to having her own in-home, private practice as an educational consultant, reading interventionist and evaluator.
Faith resides in the rolling hills of Fauquier County, VA with her amazing husband, Matthew. Having recently graduated their oldest daughter, who is now pursuing a career in the medical field, they are still actively homeschooling their middle school aged son. Faith’s hobbies include traveling, reading (and enjoying a great cup of coffee), baking cookies, antiquing, singing, leading women’s Bible studies, walking and exploring in nature or museums.