Angie Sayre grew up in West Virginia and attended undergrad at Marshall University. During her time at MU, she worked as a writing tutor at the university’s Writing Center and taught English as a Second Language classes through Marshall’s ESL department. Once she earned her B.A. in Communication Disorders, she moved to Knoxville to complete her M.A. in Speech Pathology at the University of Tennessee. After working as a speech-language pathologist for three years, she and her husband moved back to Tennessee where she chose to become a stay-at-home momma. She has been homeschooling her children for the past 15 years: two sons now in college, one daughter in high school, and another daughter in elementary. Angie loves teaching at home, but she especially enjoys bringing her energy to a weekly classroom setting….better still it involves writing and literature!

Alison Tipton is a Knoxville native who can sometimes be seen prowling old graveyards and dressing in historical garb. She has been interested in history since she first read R.L. Stevenson’s Kidnapped at age 12. Now considerably older than that, Alison is excited to be teaching at CEEC where she taught History and Composition classes previously from 2008-2012. She and her husband live in Fountain City where they are currently homeschooling four of their five children (and running breathlessly after the toddler and the dog).

Jill Heaton attended Crown College and received a Bachelors in Elementary Education and a Certificate in ASL Interpreting Training through the college’s Language Navigators Program. Jill also attended Sword Deaf Baptist College and received her Masters in ASL and ASL Interpreting. The Lord burdened Jill’s heart for the Deaf, and that burden turned into a deep love and respect for the Deaf and the Deaf culture. Through her educational experience, Jill learned more about the great need for a Christian outreach into the Deaf community, not only in America, but throughout the world! Jill also works as the Deaf ministry leader of her church, Clear Springs Baptist in Corryton. Jill’s ultimate desire is to reach the Deaf with the Gospel and share with them of Jesus Christ and his love for them. Jill hopes to touch other’s hearts with the burden for the Deaf so that there will be many people who will share the burden for the Deaf and will seek to learn their language so that they too may be able to share the Gospel and Jesus Christ with them!

Le'Ann Cassidy has her B.S. Degree in Athletic Training from Carson Newman College. She's homeschooled both of her boys since kindergarten. Her oldest attended CEEC for all 4 years of high school, and her youngest currently attends. She's married to Donathan, and their family attends Salem Baptist Church in Halls. In her free time, she helps coach people to better health & loves to craft.

Mabel Marcley is a native of Puerto Rico and came to the U.S. to study at Niagara University in
1981. She graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree. She taught Spanish I & II for fourteen
years at River Valley Community College in New Hampshire. When her husband retired from
teaching at the same college, they moved to Knoxville to be near their two daughters and eight
grandchildren. A few years after arriving in Knoxville, Mabel started teaching at River’s Edge
Christian Academy and taught for five years. After a short break from teaching, she began again
teaching at Truth Trekkers Co-op for four years. Currently, Mabel teaches students from home.
Mabel loves teaching and sharing the Spanish Culture with student and is rewarded with the
knowledge that many students use their Spanish as a witness tool both at home and in the
mission field.

Mark Brackney has been a teacher at CEEC for many years. He is married to his wife, Christine, and they are blessed with seven children. They have always home-schooled and their children have been a part of CEEC. Mark received a B.R.E. (Bachelor of Religious Education) degree from Rochester College, a Christian liberal arts college in Michigan. He received his M.A. (Master of Arts in Ministry) degree from Oklahoma Christian University. They moved to Knoxville in January of 2003 where he currently serves as the minister for the Arlington Church of Christ in North Knoxville. Before that, he worked for the Rochester Church of Christ for twelve years in various roles (campus ministry, youth ministry, family life ministry). He taught adjunct classes in Bible for Rochester Christian University (Rochester Hills, MI) for ten years before moving to Knoxville. He loves the classroom and the interaction with students. He says it is a joy to watch them grow in their faith.

Regina Reed grew up in Seymour, TN, a little bedroom community just inside
Sevier County from South Knoxville. She graduated from Seymour High School and
went on to study Elementary Education at Crown College in Powell, TN. During that
time she married her husband, Darrel (22 years). She earned her Bachelor of Biblical
Studies majoring in Elementary Education in 2004, then moved to Ypsilanti, MI where
she taught second grade for one year at FaithWay Baptist Schools and third grade for
two years at Calvary Christian Academy. The recession of 2008 hit the Christian
schools in Southeast Michigan pretty hard, so she began teaching toddlers until her first
child was born and she became a stay at home mama. Their family moved back to the
Knoxville area in 2011. She began homeschooling her first child in 2014 and has been
homeschooling all three children since.
The Reed family consists of 2 parents, 3 children, 2 dogs, and a tortie cat. They
live adjacent to Ijams Nature Center on the quarry side, so one of Regina’s favorite
pastimes is to wander through the forests of Knoxville’s Urban Wilderness. She also
loves cozy evenings reading aloud to her family, and cozy days reading to herself.

Ruth Caldwell graduated from LMU with a B.S. in Biology in 2004 and an A.S.N. in Nursing in 2006. She
has been married for almost 20 years and has two kids. She worked at Parkwest Hospital for several
years before realizing that God had different plans for her. She was a stay-at-home mom before she
began homeschooling their two children who are now in high school. Her hope is that she can inspire
children to love science as much as she does and for her students to see how amazing and intricate
God’s world is.

Todd Sparrow has had a career in software development and systems management for over 30 years as a computer programmer, network administrator, web developer, devop and consultant. He began in the computer industry working as a data entry clerk and rapidly moved through the channels to become a software developer at a Litton Industries manufacturing plant in 1995. He was also the lead developer/manager for a small team building banking web applications in the financial software industry for Fiserv Inc. for over 5 years in the early 2000s. Todd continues to provide consulting and management services to small and medium sized businesses in the greater Knoxville area. In addition, he has taught programming courses to home school students and in software bootcamps for the past 10 years.