HEED Naples

HEED Instructors:

The goal of Home Education Enrichment Day is to serve God by assisting families in their call to home educate their children. HEED helps equip home educating parents to fulfill their responsibility by connecting them with instructors that will enrich their home education. (Please note that not all HEED instructors hold a Florida Teaching certificate.) HEED provides community for middle and high school aged students in an environment where they are encouraged to seek God and to pursue academic excellence. The parent ultimately remains the teacher. The HEED instructor is a facilitator, instructing the student in class, while the parent oversees and leads the student during the week.

Lee Ann Thomas (write.now.lat@gmail.com)
Logic / Rhetoric Level Writing

Having taught her children since birth, Lee Ann Thomas believes with her whole heart that there's no place like home when it comes to education. With the Lord's urging, a Bachelor's degree in teaching and very little confidence, she and her husband set out to train up their own children. She soon learned that her confidence and ability were hanging by a thread and she was beginning to wonder about the Lord's "urging" as well. The love and encouragement of other families in the same predicament was the spark which ignited her passion for group teaching. Lee Ann believes all children are "full to overflowing" with God given creativity training children to effectively express and present this gift is the challenge that she loves and the talent she has been given.

Rebecca Silva (mariposamommy@hotmail.com)
Physical Science

Graduating from the University of Colorado with a degree in Environmental, Population and Organismic Biology, Rebecca has fallen in love with teaching. Being blessed with an ecological/conservation semester at the Biosphere 2 Center in AZ has inspired her to share the love of the planet God gave us! Rebecca has taught chemistry, physical science, earth science, middle school math and drama in Steamboat Springs, CO. Since 2004, she has taught drama, art, public speaking, and ecology in Naples through HEED and Parks and Recreation. Excited to get back to her first love, Rebecca is looking forward to pairing with parents to achieve the best and most thrilling home school science experience.

Kim Whitcomb (kim@whitcombfamily.com)
Historical Literature / Effective Writing

My husband Scott and I have been married for five years and have three beautiful children (Trevor, Logan and Caitlyn) I was born in Boston, MA and moved to sunny Naples at the young age of seven. We currently attend Summit Church Naples where we love worshiping and serving God. Working out at the gym, running and reading are some of my hobbies. Mostly I live spending time with God and around his people. I graduated from University of South Florida in 1993 with my Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education. I taught in the Collier County public school system as well as served on an administrative team at a middle school for eleven years. Teaching middle school Language Arts, Reading and Writing, I was able to develop a wonderful creative experience for all students. Challenging students to their full potential is a constant goal of mine. I earned my Master's degree in Educational Leadership in 2005 at Florida Gulf Coast University.

Gena Smith (gls523@comcast.net)
Mixed Media Art

Gena Smith is a home schooling mother of four children who has a passion for art, and has taught art classes for the past four years. This year she is looking forward to teaching a new series of art classes studying art history chronologically and including projects to reinforce the concepts learned. She loves to research and gather information to help students gain the best understanding of material being taught. Her enthusiasm inspires students to become confident with their God-given creative abilities. Because of the nature of who God is, Gena believes that we are all creative beings, made in God's image. She loves teaching and her passion for art manifests itself in exciting the children about learning and expressing themselves.

Julie Yamin (trinityconsulting@embarqmail.com)
A Classical Approach to Literature / Breaking the Spanish Barrier-Level 2

Julie Yamin is a homeschooling mother of two, Rebecca (17 years old) and Leah (12 years old). She was raised in Latin America (Peru, Brazil, and Venezuela) due to her father's overseas assignments with Ford Motor Company, has traveled extensively throughout North and South America and Europe, and is conversant in Spanish, Portuguese, and French. After earning her Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Administration from Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, Julie went on to receive a Master of Business Administration degree from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. She then moved to Toulouse, France for one year, where she received a Certificate of Completion in French Language Studies from the Universite de Toulouse. Homeschooling has been part of the Yamin household for fourteen years, and the family is active at Covenant Presbyterian Church of Naples (and its Hispanic church plant, Buena Esperanza), the Naples Philharmonic Youth Chorale, and piano and violin instruction. Over time, Julie's love of teaching has manifested itself in such endeavors as tutoring in the languages and Bible instruction during the Sunday School hour to age levels as diverse as toddlers and teenagers.

Lee Carbonell (leecarbonell@sylvanswfl.com)
(Sylvan Center Director of Naples)

Algebra I / Algebra II / Geometry / Verbal/Essay SAT Test Prep / Math SAT Test Prep
Essentials to High School Grammar / High School Study Skills / Middle School Study Skills

Lee attended Vanderbilt University, the University of Connecticut, and the University of South Florida. She holds a B.S. in neurobiology and physiology with a concentration in mathematics and a Master of Business Administration in marketing strategy, management,and international business. Lee has worked at Sylvan Learning Center tutoring and teaching SAT Prep classes for over 4 years.

To meet the Sylvan Tutors visit: www.tutoring.sylvanlearning.com/localcenter/653