Keynote Speakers

Rick and Marilyn Boyer are true pioneers of the home education movement. They began teaching the eldest of their fourteen children at home in 1980 and are still actively home schooling their four youngest children today.

Rick and Marilyn have authored several books on home schooling and Christian parenthood and have spoken at conferences all across America and in several foreign countries. Their books have been translated into a number of foreign languages and have circulated around the world. Their ministry, The Learning Parent, ministers to parents through a web site, a monthly newsletter and their articles have been published in several leading home schooling magazines.

Rick, with his humorous, folksy style, has been called "the Will Rogers of the home schooling movement." Marilyn is always appreciated for her keen and warmhearted insights into parenting.

Rick & Marilyn Boyer

Mike Snavely

Kathi Kearney

Workshop Panel Members

Jordan Potter

	Keynote Speakers at Convention 2008
	Rick & Marilyn Boyer Rick and Marilyn Boyer are true pioneers of the home education movement. They began teaching the eldest of their fourteen children at home in 1980 and are still actively home schooling their four youngest children today. Rick and Marilyn have authored several books on home schooling and Christian parenthood and have spoken at conferences all across America and in several foreign countries. Their books have been translated into a number of foreign languages and have circulated around the world. Their ministry, The Learning Parent, ministers to parents through a web site, a monthly newsletter and their articles have been published in several leading home schooling magazines. Rick, with his humorous, folksy style, has been called "the Will Rogers of the home schooling movement." Marilyn is always appreciated for her keen and warmhearted insights into parenting. Mike Snavely Mike Snavely was reared in rural South Africa, the son of missionary parents. His father was a bush pilot for a remote hospital station among the Zulu people. Throughout his life he has been fascinated with wildlife and had a wide variety of interesting experiences growing up in that region, including a vast array of "pets". After graduating from Oak Hills Christian College in Minnesota in 1979, he returned to South Africa to work for the National Parks Service in the world-famous Kruger Park. Following this, he began a career as an African wildlife artist. In 1985 he married Carrie Baum who grew up near Hershey, Pa. Carrie attended Lancaster Bible College and was an executive secretary for the Pa. Turnpike Commission before becoming a full-time mom. In 1986 they returned to South Africa with TEAM (The Evangelical Alliance Mission) and served by teaching at Durban Bible College. Since returning to the U.S. they have developed a ministry of teaching subjects related to creation, in seminar format, using nature and wildlife as a basis. They founded this ministry in 1995 as a 501(c)(3), not-for-profit corporation, after several years of informal teaching on the subject. Mike and Carrie have three children - Luke (1986), John (1989) and Laura (1991) - who are home-educated. Learn more at the MISSION: IMPERATIVE website.
	Workshop Leaders Kathi Kearney Kathi is a HOME Board Member and a Gifted Education Consultant. She is also a Professional Associate with the Gifted Development Center in Denver, CO and the founder of the Hollingworth Center for Highly Gifted Children, a national resource and support network for exceptionally gifted children and their families. She was an instructor in talented and gifted education at Iowa State University for two years. She is the Past Chair of the Conceptual Foundations Division of the National Association for Gifted Children, and has contributed scholarly journal articles on such topics as assessment, the highly gifted child, rural and distance learning, minority groups in gifted education, and Leta Hollingworth's work on children with IQ scores above 180. Workshop Panel Members Panel members are HOME Regional Representatives and HOME Board Members. These veteran and committed homeschool leaders minister to fellow homeschoolers throughout Maine in so many ways. Their diverse backgrounds and collective knowledge and experience will educate and inspire all. Jordan Potter Jordan was homeschooled from kindergarten through high school in the Dallas, Texas area. While growing up with his two sisters, Jordan always enjoyed using music for ministry in various venues. Recently, after completing college and two master's degrees in Bible and church music, Jordan, his wife and infant son moved to Augusta, Maine. He currently teaches piano lessons and is the minister of music at Church Hill Baptist Church.