Heidi Pope
2025-2026 Mentor: Topaz Unit Studies (5th Grade LC A and LC B), 3rd Grade Math Study Hall, all 3rd – 6th Grade self-paced unit studies except Geography
Heidi has been homeschooling for 26 years. She and her husband have five beautiful children, four of which are married with families of their own. Prior to her career in home and family life, she was the director of Human Resources for a Marketing and Political Research Firm. She has been a freelance writer and journalist for three decades and has received numerous accolades for her amusing apologues.
Heidi enjoys organizing community events and educational projects. She has enjoyed gathering community participation with programs such as an international language training and student exchange, historical battle re-enactments, emergency planning and preparation events and is currently the torchbearer for Bismarck Children of Christ Leadership Academy. Heidi loves working with children, and youth and loves helping them make spiritual connections to the world around them.
She has a predilection for creating team building opportunities and experiences for young people and families. She loves serving at the temple, spending time with her husband and homeschooling her youngest son. She enjoys creating funny memories, playing games with her family, kayaking, reading and playing with her grandchildren.
Lethe Cheney
2025-2026 Mentor: Pathfinders English Language Arts (6th Grade LC A and B and self-paced), Voyagers English Language Arts (self-paced)
I am a wife to an amazing husband and mother of two beautiful daughters who also attend Ensign Peak Academy. My husband and I were both born and raised on the beautiful island of Oahu where we met in seminary, and reunited after his mission. We were married in the Laie Hawaii temple and both graduated from BYU-Hawaii. I have a dual degree in Elementary and Special Education and taught as a Preschool Special Teacher for 8 years. In 2011 my husband joined the U.S. Navy and we began our grand worldwide adventure! We have been home educating for over a decade and have enjoyed making new friends around the country in Great Lakes, IL, San Diego, CA, Jacksonville, Florida and currently, Augusta, GA! We also loved the two years we spent living abroad in Yokosuka, Japan! Here in Georgia we enjoy our time living out in the country on 6 acres of rolling hills, taking care of our 11 chickens, 6 goats, and Cusco our alpaca. There’s always a project in progress around here! Family time is a priority for me and one of my favorite family memories is the 2 week long road trip we took driving across the country visiting Utah, spending the 4th of July at Mount Rushmore, and visiting many of the historic sites at Nauvoo! We recently began serving as ordinance workers in the Columbia South Carolina temple, which has brought greater growth and happiness to our lives. My other joys include bicycling, snuggling up with a blanket and good book, watching Korean dramas, and getting up early in the morning to workout or do yoga. My major aims in life are to help others stay positive, deepen their testimonies of Jesus Christ and his gospel, and help them strive to reach their potential!
Alyssa Jensen
2025-2026 Mentor: 5th Grade Math Study Hall, Topaz Unit Studies (6th Grade LC A and LC B), K-2nd Grade Unit Studies, English Language Arts, IXL Math, Teaching Your Children to Read Using the Book of Mormon
Alyssa Jensen is first and foremost a wife and mother to five amazing children. The Jensen family has been homeschooling for the past seven years and have really enjoyed learning in a gospel centered setting. Alyssa graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education. She has taught off and on in the public school setting as well as teaching English online. Alyssa has also developed and taught curriculum for a variety of homeschool classes and co-ops.
Alyssa grew up in West Valley City, Utah where she met her very own knight in shining armor (sir lancer of Granger High school). Alyssa married her knight in 2001 and have moved their way across the country living in Arizona, New Mexico and the past decade in South Carolina. They now reside in League City, Texas.
Alyssa has a passion for learning and loves to teach because she learns so much. She is often found serving with the youth and children in the church. Her favorite service was when she was able to teach early morning seminary. Alyssa is a certified personal trainer and behavior change specialist. She loves being active and pushing herself in the gym. One of her favorite things is to see the light of understanding illuminate in someone she is teaching.
Robin Hastings
2025-2026 Mentor: Discoverers Writing and Literature Studies (4th Grade LC A and LC B + self-paced), Trailblazers Writing and Literature Studies (self-paced)
Robin Hastings grew up as the second of seven children and has five of her own (all grown now). Her passion in life is her family and supporting each member in growing closer to Christ and fulfilling their dreams.
She has a bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University in communications, emphasizing public relations. She loves our country, so after graduating, she worked on Capital Hill for a U.S. Congressman for three years. During this time she married (single’s ward success story), and worked on The Hill until the due date of her first child. From there she immersed herself full time as a mom, her true passion. Her family has lived in Virginia, Tennessee and Texas– twice in that order. As her own children got older and started moving out on their own, she wanted to continue surrounding herself with children. So, she got certified as a teacher, including for special education and for English as a Second Language. She then spent the next several years teaching special education, general education and dyslexia. She jumped at the opportunity to teach at Ensign Peak Academy where she is free to teach academics from a gospel perspective–for history is really HIS-story.
Robin Hastings loves reading, playing the piano, gardening, going for walks and adventures around town, family history, attending the temple, and of course spending time with her beloved family.
Tara KElley
2025-2026 Mentor: 3rd Grade Discoverers English Language Arts
Tara has been teaching for over ten years. She has taught in public, private, and online schools. She has taught 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, and 6th grades. Most recently, she taught 1st grade at American Heritage School in American Fork, Utah. She is a Wyoming girl at heart, and she is so excited to move back to Cody, Wyoming this summer. After teaching at American Heritage for a year, Tara has been able to enthusiastically return to Ensign Peak Academy.
Mrs. Kelley has six children, with the youngest being born just after school ended in May. Their ages are 19, 17, 14, 13, 8, and newborn. She truly believes that “children are an heritage of the Lord.” She spent one year homeschooling three of her children, and will continue to personally provide their education in the years to come. Tara and her husband have been married for 21 years. He works as a Temple Facilities Manager for the Cody Wyoming Temple. This position and the rapid construction are what is bringing them back to the Cody area.
Mrs. Kelley enjoys reading, baking, working out, fishing, hiking, paddleboarding, playing games with her family, and learning all she can about homesteading. She is looking forward to working with students in reading and writing again this year. She enjoys seeing insights and creativity that students have when they read a story that changes their lives or when they share their thoughts, feelings, and ideas through writing.
Carolyn Marriott
2025-2026 Mentor: Intro to Spanish
Carolyn Marriott has a passion for learning and teaching. Besides homeschooling her own seven children, she has decades of experience teaching youth in church and academic settings. Valuing community, she and her children participated in homeschool groups in Washington and Utah where she taught a variety of topics from Spanish, to U.S. History, to Economics. She currently thrives on learning with the students at Ensign Peak Academy.
Carolyn has traveled in Chile, Central America, Europe, Canada, Argentina, and the United States, broadening her appreciation for the beautiful world and its people. She served a mission in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and received a BA in Spanish from Brigham Young University.
Currently, Carolyn lives with her husband and mother in Wallsburg, Utah. She loves gardening, reading and discussing classics, sewing aprons, going on long walks, and hosting “poetry teatime” for her grandchildren.
Enjoy this Interview with Carolyn Marriott to learn more.
Ben Mulestein
2025-2026 Mentor: Topaz Unit Studies (3rd Grade LC A)
Benjamin S. Muhlestein resides in Overton, Nevada and is a husband and father of a beautiful wife and six wonderful children. He served a Mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Hawaii Honolulu Mission. He received his Bachelor’s of Paralegal Studies from Utah Valley University in 2002, and earned his Master’s Degree in Classical Liberal Arts from George Wythe University in 2016. He has mentored youth and adults nationally and internationally for many years. He taught Seminary for an entire school year as a student teacher. He is the Founder of Illuminating the Light Within, Restoringthefounders.com, The Quintilian School of Oratory, and The George Washington Character Curricula. Benjamin has a deep passion for learning and teaching principles of liberty and freedom, and has great faith in the rising generation of youth to rise to the full potential of who God needs them to become.
Kim Reeder
2025-2026 Mentor: Topaz Unit Studies (4th Grade LC A and LC B)
Kim Reeder loves learning and helping others get an education to match their mission. She has been happily married to Randy Reeder since 1999. They live near Boise, Idaho where they have raised their five amazing children who are becoming awesome young adults.
Kim graduated from Idaho State University in 2000 with a bachelor’s degree in Dental Hygiene. She worked as a dental hygienist while Randy finished up his masters degree and realized that her true passion lies in teaching, not teeth. She retired from dental hygiene the summer of 2002, when Randy graduated and their 2nd child was born, thus beginning her real education.
Homeschooling her own kids has led to many wonderful adventures and opportunities she couldn’t have anticipated – things like milking dairy goats, worm farming, and coaching FLL robotics teams to name a few. As the kids got older and wanted to take classes with other kids, Kim began teaching a variety of classes through various hybrid schools. She has taught book clubs, science, PE, and leadership classes.
In 2017, she began teaching leadership classes online to 10 – 14 year olds and has enjoyed learning with kids all over the world since. Having the online teaching experience was a huge blessing when the pandemic hit and Relief Society lessons were moved online. As the 1st councilor in the Relief Society of her ward, Kim was able to seamlessly adapt to teaching the sisters in her ward through Zoom during that time. Kim has recently been teaching leadership principles online to adults as a fleet trainer for WIRA. She is super excited to be bringing her online teaching experience to Ensign Peak Academy to learn with the 3rd and 4th graders this year.
When she is not teaching online classes, Kim enjoys serving as an ordinance worker in the Boise Temple, gardening, running trails, and reading great books. She loves the Come Follow Me program and currently serves as the 14-16 year old Sunday School teacher at church.
Enjoy this Interview with Kim Reeder to learn more.
April Brede
2025-2026 Mentor: Elementary Studio Art (3rd – 4th Grade)
April Brede earned her B.A. degree in English from the University of Utah in 2001. After graduation, April taught high school English in private institutions for nearly a decade. Most recently she has taught English as a second language for an online platform (VIPKID) for the past eight years. Despite an obvious background in English, April is also passionate about art.
April made it a point to curate a fabulous art education through continuing education courses, in person courses and online courses along with years of hard work and practice. For the past two years, April has been instructing in-person classes at Art Nook. Her students range from five year olds through adults. April feels that art is a skill that can be learned and believes that anyone can create art with the right instruction. She believes that because we were created, we have a divine need to create! April wants to inspire young artists to create art that gives hope, celebrates God’s beautiful creations, and bears witness of individual worth.
April and her husband currently live in Aiken, South Carolina where they enjoy the outdoors with their Shelties and horses. They have two return missionary sons and a daughter-in-law, all whom currently live in Provo and attend BYU.
Enjoy this Interview with April Brede to learn more.
Marie Withers
2025-2026 Mentor: Elementary Studio Art (5th and 6th Grade)
Marie Withers has been a teaching artist most of her adult life—sometimes teaching, sometimes making art, sometimes doing both. She holds an MA Degree in Art Education from Brigham Young University. As a life-long learner, she has participated in structured academic study as well as workshops and online classes. In recent years, she has been able to travel to Italy, France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Thailand, Israel and Egypt, and considers those experiences as an important part of her education. While in some of these countries, she was able to visit art museums and locations such as The Louvre, Musée d’Orsay, Borghesi Gallery, Accademia Gallery, Uffizi Gallery, and several others. She also attended an international conference in Reggio Emilia, Italy on the educational approach named after that city.
Marie worked for 20 years as a graphic designer at Brigham Young University, collaborating with student designers and cohorts in campus projects. She has been involved with Ensign Peak Academy as a developer and mentor since 2019. Most recently she completed a year of teaching and serving as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Art in the Art and Design Department of Southern Virginia University, in which she loved working with the students and fellow faculty members in an enriching environment.
She believes in the power of co-mingling concepts learned in her own art practice with the art of teaching. These activities inform each other and bring a richer experience in helping students to learn from each other as well as with guidance from a mentor.
Currently Marie lives in Eastern Idaho. Her love of the outdoors informs her artwork as well, and she can be found taking photos and painting in nature, referring to it as “field research.” Through these experiences, she is reminded of the scriptural text that says, “…all things denote there is a God;…(Alma 30:44). She loves hiking and traveling. She also enjoys being an aunt, sister, daughter, and friend.
Sarah Reynolds
2025-2026 Mentor: Pathfinders English Language Arts (5th Grade LC A and LC B)
Sarah Reynolds grew up in the redwoods of Northern California and loves driving all over the USA. She met her future husband after serving a mission in Quito, Ecuador. One of the things she really liked about him when they met was that he served in her home mission (Santa Rosa, CA) and knew where her hometown was! She married her sweetheart in 2011 and they quickly started welcoming their four children to their family. She now loves bringing her four children along with her on road trips. They never have a boring time.
Sarah graduated from Brigham Young University with a major in Spanish and a minor in English. She loves to serve in her community and has been elected to roles of leadership in her local PTA, as well as currently serving as a Beta Club Sponsor for her homeschooling group. She started homeschooling her children in 2020 and fell in love with the freedom to explore her children’s interests. She treasures the time she has with them at home and watching them grow up together.
Sarah comes from a family of educators, her father teaching math for several years and her mother working at the local community college. She also has a brother who teaches a travel high school, and two brothers that homeschool their families with their wives. They often collaborate and share learning resources. She loves the pursuit of knowledge and helping others to fall in love with this process.
Laura Waite
Language Arts Specialist, IXL Account Manager
Laura Waite is an enthusiastic educator who loves to teach and learn every day. She grew up in California, earned an Associate Degree from Ricks College (Brigham Young University-Idaho), married a very handsome and talented man, and raised six children – all girls except five! After 20 years, she returned to college through Grand Canyon University’s online program and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. She holds endorsements in business and marketing as well as gifted and talented education. She has a deep appreciation for literature and is passionate about helping others to express their thoughts and feelings through writing.
When she’s not at school, Laura loves walking on the beach, hiking to waterfalls, and paddling her kayak. She also enjoys quilting, traveling, reading, watching movies, and playing games with her family- especially the grandchildren. One of her more ambitious goals is to visit all of the temples in the United States. She currently lives in Richfield, Utah, where she looks forward to many new adventures.