Mrs. Heather Asbach has been homeschooling for fourteen years. Having seen first-hand the value of a classical education in her two grown sons now in college, she has a God-given passion for Christian classical education that seems to increase exponentially each year. She has a B.S. in Chemistry, and currently serves as Rivendell’s Head Administrator. She also teaches Life Science, Biology and co-teaches Latin. Heather and her husband, Ron, are the parents of four children. Heather’s hobbies are reading, music, cooking, and baking. Her secret ambitions include reading every book she owns, traveling to Europe again, and being an invisible student in all of the rhetoric classes.
Mrs. Erin Bona is a homeschooling veteran, having homeschooled three children through high school. She has been tutoring at Rivendell for the past three years, in addition to being a private tutor in a variety of subjects. Currently, she tutors history and literature to the grammar classes, but has tutored grammar and writing as well. She considers tutoring for Rivendell to be an exciting and rewarding experience. She finds it satisfying to use such interesting curriculum to teach eager students, whose families are encouraging and supportive. Erin especially enjoys her students, re-reading children’s literature classics, and having fun with history. Daemen College is her alma mater. She is blessed with two terrific grandsons.
Mrs. Tricia Prieto teaches grammar and writing to the grammar level students who attend Rivendell. Her priorities are God first, Gregg (husband), their four children (Jesse, Samuel, Micah and Julia), church and community. She began homeschooling in 2000 and continues to find the experience richly rewarding. She was invited to join the Rivendell team in September of 2010. Tricia enjoys the energy and the uniquely fresh perspectives of her young students.
Tricia holds dual permanent certification in both special and elementary education. She completed her MS in Education at Buffalo State College. She has been teaching since 1985. As a Peace Corps Volunteer, she taught in a remote village in Liberia, West Africa. After traveling around the world, she returned to Western New York to teach students with special needs in both the public and private sectors.
Through Tricia’s life-changing experiences living overseas, God has cultivated within her a heart for the nations. She is involved in mission work in Bangladesh and is anticipating many other opportunities abroad as the Lord leads. She is passionate about helping the church increase cross cultural sensitivity in how the message of Christ is presented. Tricia has earned through study a license to preach and directs women’s ministry at her church.
Miss Laurel Vincett teaches Latin to the grammar students. She is a student in the Rhetoric class at Rivendell and has attended since 2008. She is a former Rivendell Latin student. Laurel's interests include horseback riding, art, and reading good
Mrs. Sue Wolcott teaches dialectic writing classes and public speaking. “I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord…” is such a blessing to her! She grew up on Grand Island and the Lord directed her path to Cedarville College where she earned a BA in Communications and Marketing. She used her degree from Cedarville to develop the marketing, advertising and sales program for a tour company in Niagara Falls for over 17 years. Her job was to oversee the International and Domestic Sales as well as internet development. Her desire since she was young was to be a teacher, and she was always involved in teaching ministries at her church including Sunday School and VBS programs. The Lord opened the doors five years ago for her to fulfill that teaching desire in a public school setting when she left the tourism industry and began to work for the Grand Island School District. The Lord then led her to Rivendell in 2009, teaching a debate program to the rhetoric students. She and her husband have been married for 18 years and have three daughters (14, 11 and 10). She has the opportunity to serve the Lord as the AWANA Sparks Director and Senior Choir Director at Bible Presbyterian Church on Grand Island. She is also an AWANA Ministry Team member for the NYPENN area. When time permits, she loves to scrapbook.
Mr. John Carey teaches U.S. and World History to middle and high school level students. He holds a Master’s degree in Education from Niagara University. He has been a teacher for over ten years and has been teaching at Rivendell since 2007. His teaching focus at Rivendell is studying historical questions in relation to their impact on the Christian faith. Critical thinking skills are emphasized in the process.
John’s primary occupation is Fire Captain for the Niagara Falls Fire Department. In this capacity, he instructs adults in essential firefighting skills as well as the medical skills needed to be certified as both CPR and EMT providers. He is a veteran of the United States Air Force. He is a trustee for the NFFD Mutual Aid Association and an advisor for the NFFD Peer Support and CIS.
Mr. Kirk Wildermuth teaches Algebra and Economics to Rhetoric students at Rivendell. He holds a B.A. in Education from Trinity International University in Deerfield, Illinois. His post graduate studies have been focused on small business and entrepreneurial studies. Kirk thoroughly enjoys engaging young people regarding their world views and philosophy of life.
Kirk grew up in Northbrook, Illinois, and is a U.S. Army veteran. Currently, he works as a part-time consultant and trainer for a local restaurant chain and spends his summers working with his brother in Talkeetna, Alaska. He has been married for 31 years to his fabulous wife Holly. They have three adult children. He currently serves on the Board of Directors for the Buffalo City Mission and enjoys studying German and reading U.S history and theology.
Mr. Eric Napoli teaches the rhetoric writing and government classes. He graduated from the University of Buffalo in 1995 with majors in English and history and minors in education (with NY certification) and political science. He taught in the public school system for about three years before teaching at Finney High School in Buffalo for four years. He is working toward a Master of Divinity degree from Liberty University and hopes to be completed in 2012. Eric began working as a youth worker in 1991, became full-time in 2001, and is presently a pastor at Amherst Baptist Church, ministering to young families, youth, children, and college students. A major part of his life is instigating mission-mindedness within the church and using such trips to deepen relationships between the body of Christ and Christ Himself. Since 1996, he has regularly traveled to Holland, Uganda, Dominican Republic and various other countries. He also sees missions as an essential component of everyday life, so a major part of his life and the life of his family is to serve locally and in many of the states and provinces around us.
Eric has been blessed to be able to travel with his beautiful wife, Kathryn, early in their marriage and more now with his oldest daughter, Olivia. He and Kathryn have four children ranging in age from two to six. The Napolis began homeschooling in 2009. They love it and see it as a wonderful way for them to stay together and minister as a family as much as possible. He has also really enjoyed the time spent this year at Rivendell and continues to enjoy the students with whom he is privileged to work along side.
father was the oldest son of a Pennsylvania coal miner and a one-room schoolhouse teacher. Her mother, the first-born of an electrician/farmer and his wife, was the best cook in western Pennsylvania. Darcy was their fourth daughter of five, and some of her earliest memories were of sitting in her dad’s lap with another sister while his deep voice with its Pennsylvania twang brought to life the words of a story. Then, her mother would take them almost weekly to the town hall, housed in a 19th century building, where they would descend creaking wooden stairs to the library with the privilege of being able to borrow six books for the week – what a delight that was to a youngster just learning to unlock the mystery of words and ideas! And always looked forward to were visits to her grandmother, the former teacher, and the dust-covered shelves of books up in the expansive attic where, after conquering fears about a scare-crow that descended through a hole in the attic ceiling (older cousins had kindly warned her of his existence), she first discovered Nancy Drew. Her appreciation for a wide variety of literature was further developed when a few of her older sisters laughed at her announcement, at ten years of age, that she planned on attending Harvard University when she grew up. One sister remarked, with a sneer (can you believe it?!) that if that was the plan Darcy had better expand her reading beyond fairy tales. The sting of that teasing caused her to resolve to read all one hundred of the classic books her dad had purchased along with a set of World Book Encyclopedias that year. She did achieve her goal, even though she probably understood only half of what she read. All of these experiences comprise the first, and though informal, perhaps the best part of her education.
She went on to acquire a B.S. in Education with a minor in Humanities during her last year of undergraduate school, studying philosophy and art in Denmark. She has completed part of her graduate studies in Counseling Psychology. Her teaching experiences include pre-school classes, private tutoring, teaching art at a private school, private music instruction, and teaching literature classes at Rivendell. She is married and the mother of four boys – all of whom were home-schooled, most of whom love reading to this day.
Mrs. Elizabeth Cremean co-teaches the Latin A class. She and her husband, Nels, have five children, all of whom have been homeschooled since kindergarten. Her children have each attended Rivendell at various times. Elizabeth is grateful the Lord has provided this educational opportunity for them. Her B.A. degree is in Communication Disorders. She enjoys reading, music, Tazo earl grey tea, laughing with her family, and tinkering around with websites.
Mr. Jeff Spencer and his beautiful wife, Michelle, have been blessed to have three of their five children (2 were pre-Rivendell) experience Christian classical education at Rivendell. They have seen their children be challenged and mature spiritually, intellectually and socially. The opportunities to develop clear thinking skills, writing ability, and public speaking proficiency at this high level together with a deep understanding of history, culture, and literature would be difficult to find at any other local educational institution.
Jeff enjoys reading, writing,apologetics, tennis, and camping, including mountain climbing and wilderness canoe trips in the Adirondacks each summer. He recently retired from the New York State Court System where he served as a Court Attorney/Referee and Hearing Officer. He holds a Juris Doctorate degree in law and a Masters degree in Public Administration. Jeff has taught a variety of courses at different local colleges, writes a monthly column for Bar Association newspaper, and has been a guest lecturer at various legal organizations. He is excited to be part of the Rivendell tutor team.
