Grades 10 to 12 and Graduation Program

Mary-Anne VanderHorst lives in Langley with her husband Burke (who is also a teacher) and their four children.

Mary-Anne earned her BBA from TWU and her BEd from UBC. She first taught for 4.5 years in an independent Christian school in Langley and then joined the TLA team in 2008. She is thrilled to be leading the Grad Program as Vice Principal.

In her spare time she enjoys spending time with her family, camping, running and playing soccer.

Jennifer Boessenkool is a high school Math and Science teacher living in Port Moody, BC. She has recently taught in the Calgary School Board in math and science, in addition to being a “city champion” basketball coach.

She enjoys spending time with her husband, Derek, and her children Alexienna – born in Sept. 2008, and Levi – born Oct. 2011. She enjoys going for walks with her dog Nash, swimming, hiking, and reading.

Jenn holds a Bachelor of Science in Animal Biology, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. She also spent time living and teaching in the UK.

John is a man of many experiences! Over the years he has been a firefighter, a marine biologist, a pastor, and a teacher. He believes life should be lived with passion. One of his passions is science… and anything science-related.

His motto? SCIENCE ROCKS! He has combined his passion for science with his love of working with his students.

When he is not contacting students or grading papers, he enjoys hobbies such as woodworking, exercising, visiting different cultures and, especially, riding his motorcycle. John is the proud parent of four children and two wonderful grandchildren.

Heidi joined the TLA staff in the fall of 2010, and is currently the Grad Adapted Program coordinator. She feels very blessed to have the opportunity to work from home and continue teaching.

Heidi lives in Langley with her husband, Ryan, and her two sons, Braeden and Nathan. In her spare time Heidi enjoys visiting with family and friends and spending a great deal of time outdoors.

It was the joy of helping other students in his computer class in high school that convinced Edward that he might enjoy teaching – enjoying computers was a given.

Edward obtained his BA in History and his BEd in SS-History from UBC, spent time in Japan and New York, then returned to the Lower Mainland with his family.

In his first year at TLA, Edward served as the school’s English and Social Studies Specialist, Grad Coordinator, and Tech Guy. As TLA has grown and others have stepped in to take over some of those roles, Edward has been blessed with the opportunity to focus once again on one of his first loves: helping others utilize computers!

Gareth Howell is a Math teacher living in Kamloops, BC. He has taught in the Kamloops district for many years, teaching everything from Math 7 to AP Calculus and has been tutoring math for over 12 years.

He enjoys spending time with his wife, Arlee, and his 2 children, Ephraim and Nathan. He enjoys playing piano, drums, and ukulele and writes a lot of music at home.

He has a Bachelor of Arts with a Major in Mathematics from Thompson Rivers University, and a Bachelor of Education with a specialty in Secondary Math Education from Simon Fraser University.

Originally born in Washington State but raised in Canada, Sandy married her husband Don in 1993 and now lives in the Okanagan. They have 4 grown children whom they homeschooled for most of their education.

When Sandy is not working online, she enjoys being outdoors, hiking, kayaking, or doing some landscaping work. She also enjoys doing home improvement projects, sewing, and baking. However, the most important part of her life is continually learning about her Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, and studying His Word.

A desire to help children reach their potential is what drew Charles to education. He enjoyed working in various Christian schools throughout the Lower Mainland.

Previous to that he worked supporting adults with physical and mental challenges in the community. After graduating from Simon Fraser University, he went on to complete a master’s degree in education at the University of British Columbia.

He and his wife Nicole (also an educator) live in White Rock, where they spend their time adding to their substantial film collection or taking photographs of family members.

Erin joined TLA in 2011 after teaching at two other distributed learning schools as well as in the classroom. Originally from Victoria, she moved to Prince George after she graduated from the teaching program at the University of Victoria. After five years in the north, she moved back to Victoria in 2013, closer to family and the west coast life she loves.

Erin is passionate about empowering families to be successful in their home education journey. She enjoys sharing her ideas and creating connections with students and parents. She has worked in a variety of different roles including as Online, Home and Blended teacher. In 2018 she transitioned to Learning Assistance and is now the coordinator for this aspect of student’s learning in K-9.

Erin derives her approach from a variety of research, professional development and experts such as Dr Ross Greene, Dianne Craft, Sir Ken Robinson and others. “I believe in Dr Ross Greene’s idea that children want to do well and they will do well when they can. It’s important to listen to what our children are telling us through their behaviour and words so that we can frame realistic and achievable goals for them.”

Janice is excited that God has brought her to TLA. She has been a teacher for a number of years, teaching a range of subjects and grades. Having spent many years in South America as a missionary, Janice is fluent in Spanish and works with the online Spanish students in addition to her Two-Day Blended program.

In her spare time, Janice likes to go to the movies, to the beach, and out for coffee. She also enjoys the doodle craze called Zen Tangle.

Jaime is a veteran homeschool mom of three beautiful children – Lily, Gabriel, and John – who brings a love of home education to her role as DL teacher.

Having received a Bachelor’s degree in history and music from Trinity Western University, Jaime returned to school later in life to enhance her education skills by attaining a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia.

Jaime loves exploring the innovative educational opportunities that are enabled by blending online learning with homeschooling. In addition to a love of learning, she enjoys reading, music performance, directing her church choir, and the art of homemaking.

Kim Thomas is a Humanities teacher living in Vancouver, BC. She graduated from the University of the Fraser Valley with a degree in Sociology, Geography, and History. She received a Bachelor of Education from UBC in 2012 and has been working with TLA ever since.

As a teacher, Kim is passionate about connecting with students and families to form meaningful relationships. Her ultimate goal is to instill a lifelong passion for learning in her students.

Although she grew up in Langley, Kim now loves living in Vancouver so that her husband, an animator in the film industry, can be close to work. Working for TLA online means that she can work from their small city apartment with her two young children, Lucy and Jack. In her spare time, Kim enjoys reading, cooking, watching movies, and going on sweet adventures!

Suzanne was a high school Social Studies teacher in Richmond before homeschooling her two girls, Mary and Abigail from K-12. She is passionate about Canadian history and encouraging teens to be proud, responsible Canadians. Suzanne has a BA in History from TWU, and studied for a term at Oxford. She is excited to be sharing her love of history and investing in the lives of our TLA teens.

Always on a hunt for great historical moments, Suzanne has spent 24 years dragging her husband Jason around the globe. When trips are not in the cards, they hop in their kayaks in Point Roberts and go for a spin.

Deanna earned a Science degree with a major in Math. Since then, she has enjoyed passing along her love for math to her students. She has been teaching Math and other subjects for over 8 years, and continues to enjoy the challenges it brings. Her goal is to work with students in collaboration with their parents as they tackle the later years of high school mathematics.

In her spare time, she is an avid volleyball and tennis player, and enjoys reading a good book, although spare time is not easy to come by with four children in her home. She thoroughly enjoys the time she gets to spend with them every day.

Since lining up dolls in her play classroom, teaching has been Judith’s passion. Judith is a BC-certified teacher who has taught both primary and intermediate grades in the independent schools, home schooled her own eight children, and worked as a home teacher for a number of years.

Presently Judith works with online students in the humanities area as she encourages interactive opportunities among students and connects learning to the real world. Being part of online learning in the twenty-first century is an exciting challenge for Judith.

She lives in her hometown New Westminster with her Dutch-born husband, still homeschools her youngest, and gardens her unusual ravine plot.

PJ is an avid outdoorsman. He has been an educator/administrator for over 28 years in public, First Nations, and Christian Schools.

In his spare time PJ enjoys soapstone sculpting and painting houses. He has two grown children and resides in Kamloops.

David had a long history of teaching in the Independent school system before transitioning into the role of pastor of a church in Maple Ridge. As life often goes, he has come full-circle back to teaching at TLA while continuing to pastor.

David married Cara Lee in 1994 and 5 addresses, 3 kids, and a dog later – they’re still going strong!

Shelley has always loved anything active and athletics related. She has years of experience playing
a wide variety of sports and volunteering as a coach for various teams and sports camps. She is
excited to be able to share this passion with the students of TLA in the blended PHE program.

Shelley lives in Langley with her husband Paul. She feels blessed to spend the majority of her week at
home managing her active household of five sons and one daughter. She also loves to volunteer for
activities at her church.

Joyce Froese is a high school Math and Science teacher. She has considerable experience teaching Math and Science at all levels, as well as teaching students with various challenges.

She enjoys exploring, creating, growing and learning.

She holds a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Physics, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia.

Ben has taught students of all ages from children to adults both in Canada and overseas. While now an adult himself, Ben prefers to remain a big kid at heart and can be found occasionally reading Star Wars comics at his local library.

In addition to his B.C. teaching certification, Ben has various other credentials including a Master’s Degree in Peace and Conflict Studies. However, his favorite one is being a husband and dad to his awesome family.

Nyssa is a Humanities and ELL (English Language Learners) teacher living in Kelowna, BC. She joined TLA in 2021, having recently returned to her hometown after spending several years teaching in Germany, South Korea, and China. In between her international teaching positions, she held post-secondary administrative roles in exam coordination and online education.

She attended UBC Okanagan, completing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and English as well as a Bachelor of Education with a specialty in Middle School and Secondary Humanities. She also holds a postgraduate certificate from Queen’s University in Teaching English Language Learners.

Nyssa’s favourite hobby is traveling and she loves exploring the world, meeting people from all walks of life, and seeking out new adventures. However, now that she is back in BC she is thoroughly appreciating and enjoying the beauty of her hometown!

Melannie is excited to be joining the TLA Team to work with online learners. She has had the blessing of experiencing many roles in both public and independent school settings. Melannie has taught a range of subject areas at the middle school and high school levels — from French and Math to Careers, Leadership, and English…and more. However, her more recent teaching has focused largely on high school English.

Melannie completed her Bachelor of Education at UBC Vancouver and her Graduate Studies in Educational Leadership at Trinity Western University.

Melannie believes in the power of story and the gift it is to hear stories and share stories. She enjoys skywatching, dancing in the kitchen, doing puzzles, baking and crafting. She strives to be a passionate learner and encouraging teacher and looks forward to connecting with students and sharing in the learning journey.