Note: “LC” means “Learning Community.”
Kursten Mason
2023-2024 Mentor: World Literature (LC 1, 3), English: Language Arts Dynamics (LC 1, 3), French (all live and self-paced)
Kursten Mason has been an educator her entire life, from teaching ‘summer school’ to her siblings at a young age to teaching and mentoring in public, private, and homeschools. She attended the University of Utah, served a church mission in France, Paris and returned to finish her degree in French Teaching with a double minor in Psychology and Special Education from Brigham Young University. Years later, she was homeschooling her three children and helping to found Commonwealth Schools while teaching LEMI projects such as Key of Liberty and Sword of Freedom. She’s been a mentor at Paradigm Schools for the past eight years and is excited to join the staff of Ensign Peak Academy.
Her educational passions are languages and history with a special love for French culture and our Founding Fathers and mothers, especially George Washington, John and Abigail Adams. There is power and inspiration in learning about great men and women. She believes that the most rewarding experience is to share that passion with youth and to watch their eyes light up as they find something that excites and encourages them to learn and do hard things.
She lives in Herriman, Utah with her husband, their youngest son (leaving soon on a mission to Montreal Canada, French speaking), their cat and a flock of chickens. She enjoys time with family, babysitting their grand-puppy, walking, hiking, Yoga, reading, and playing games.
Jennifer Barr
2023-2024 Mentor: Middle School World Literature (LC 2, 4 and self-paced), English: Language Arts Companion (LC 2, 4 and self-paced), American and British Literature (self-paced), English: Focus on Language Arts (self-paced)
Jennifer Barr graduated from Brigham Young University-Idaho with her Bachelor’s in University Studies with an emphasis in Business Management and has an Associates in Environmental Economics. She has a broad knowledge of marketing, accounting, education, human resources, and project management, which she has used throughout her career as a small business owner, substitute teacher and most recently as Director of her local library. Additionally, she is an active volunteer in her community, serving on local government committees, and in organizations such as the local food pantry, American Legion, Boy Scouts of America, as a wildlife rehabilitator and more. Jennifer has also volunteered for 20 years as a reading tutor, substituted at her local schools, and helped as a homeschool teacher for her extended family. She has always loved reading, learning, and the written word and has helped to foster a love of these things in others, as well.
Jennifer resides in Middleton, Idaho and is happily surrounded by her family and pets. She has four children and two grandchildren (with one more on the way). When not working, Jennifer can be seen curling up with a good book, spending time with her family in the great outdoors, gardening, and actively volunteering in her church and community. She is excited to join the students of Ensign Peak Academy on their learning journey.
April Brede
2023-2024 Mentor: Middle School Art Appreciation (all live and self-paced), Yearbook
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.
Von Hansen
2023-2024 Mentor: World History (LC 1, 2, 3, 4 and self-paced), Principles of Liberty Part 1 (LC 4), US History (Self-Paced)
Hearing Elder Neal A. Maxwell speak during the bicentennial celebrations of the Constitution in 1987 kindled a fire in Von’s heart for learning and sharing about the hand of God in history. That led to a bachelor’s degree in History from Brigham Young University in 1999, where some of Von’s favorite classes included History and Philosophy of Science, Constitutional History, and Religion and Thought in East Asia (although his all-time favorite was probably a Shakespeare class!). In 2007, Von was inspired to quit his job as he dove into the master’s program in Political Economy at George Wythe University, where he relished the most intense year-long learning experience of his life.
Von finally crossed the “T”s and dotted the “I”s on that experience and and graduated in 2016 — a long journey from hearing Elder Maxwell speak, but well worth the trip. In 2007, Von also began designing and teaching a series of four courses on Providential History. Since then, he has held classes for homeschool students ages 11-17 and adults all across the Wasatch Front from Huntsville to Santaquin. His favorite comment from that experience came from a new student who said that a friend had told her about “this wicked-awesome history class” that she just had to come and try out. She ended up staying for three semesters.
Von has been a serious student of constitutional forms for more than twenty years — not just THE Constitution, but all societal forms (as in, “What form does our government, economy, education, media, family, religion, etc. take?”). He worked for four years as a team lead at US Synthetic, a world-renowned leader in “lean manufacturing,” where he gained an in-depth understanding of that important and growing business form. Von also has recently written an essay on the nuclear family form and its amazingly important influence on the other societal forms over the last 500 years.
Von is married to the talented and beautiful Amy Hansen (nee Hawkins), and together they have seven children and five grandchildren, for whom they both beam with pride and joy. One of Von’s most cherished activities is to discuss the topics of the day, movies, books, etc. with his family and to learn from his children and sons-in-law as they become men and women of sound understanding themselves. Von served as a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Republic of Korea, and he thinks that Korean food must be what the Greek myths talk about when they describe ambrosia, the food of the gods.
Benjamin Muhlestein
2023-2024 Mentor: Principles of Liberty Parts 1 and 2 (LC 3 and self-paced)
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.
Meredith Beard
2023-2024 Mentor: World Geography (LC 1, 2, 3, 4 and self-paced), US Geography (self-paced)
Meredith is the mother of three homeschooled children. She has a great love of learning and enjoys studying a wide variety of subjects, including the gospel of Jesus Christ. She is currently living in Utah, after a recent move from Hawaii. She has loved living in many places, including Michigan, California, Nevada, Indiana, Idaho, Hawaii, and Utah. Each place increased her love for the geography of the United States.
Her hobbies are spending time with her family, knitting, and traveling. After nearly finishing a bachelor’s degree as a young woman, she returned to her college studies a few years ago, and completed a BS degree from BYU-Hawaii in Elementary Education with minors in Science and History.
Meredith loves serving in the gospel of Jesus Christ especially among the youth of the church. She served a mission in California. Her favorite teaching opportunities have included teaching early morning seminary and serving in the Primary.
Madison Maxwell
2023-2024 Mentor: Cell and Classification of Living Things (LC 1, 2, 3, 4 and self-paced), Genetics and Heredity (LC 1, 2, 3, 4 and self-paced), Chemistry and Ecology (self-paced), Geology and Astronomy (self-paced)
Currently residing near Olympic National Forest in Washington, Madison Maxwell is a science educator in the virtual world and in person, with a love for both. She graduated from BYU – Provo in Biology Science Education and loved doing field research on endangered Utah fish while studying there. Before working for Ensign Peak Academy, she started broadening her skill set by undertaking personal creative projects, like coding and animating for video games, and recently wrote and illustrated a children’s book with hopes of creating more in her spare time.
She also enjoyed educating kids about marine science for the Northwest Maritime Center in Port Townsend, Washington. She and her husband have one son, and together they can be found exploring the pacific northwest, finding cool rocks and taking pictures of the wildlife. She also has two cats (who sometimes like to make appearances while teaching) that she loves snuggling while playing video games. Madison believes that hands-on learning and games go hand in hand to create a more joyful school experience. She’s had a great experience teaching the students of Ensign Peak Academy and is glad to be a part of the team!
Genevieve Peterson
2023-2024 Mentor: Middle School Music Appreciation (live and self-paced)
Genevieve Peterson has spent a lot of time on stage, but her favorite roles are being a wife and mother of six children. The arts have always been an important part of Genevieve’s life. She has carefully orchestrated opportunities to study music and theater. She attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts as a Vocal Performance major. She then studied Humanities with a music emphasis at Brigham Young University. As a homeschooling mother, she wanted to give her children meaningful, quality opportunities for artistic education and performance. In 2015, she founded the Sweet Harmony Performing Arts Group, a nonprofit organization that serves homeschooled youth in Davis County, UT. She has led choirs, directed multiple musical theater shows, and coached an award-winning Shakespeare competition team. She loves to teach and inspire others to create! She is thrilled to be a mentor at Ensign Peak Academy where students can combine education and faith into a beautiful duet.
To relax, Genevieve enjoys playing the piano, singing, hiking, swimming, and crocheting. Her family has lived in California and Texas but they currently reside in Kaysville, UT.
Laura Waite
K-12 Language Arts Specialist
Laura Waite 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 went back to college at Grand Canyon University online and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in English Education. She has also earned endorsements in business and marketing and gifted and talented education.
Laura lives in Fredonia, Arizona where she is adjusting to an empty nest. She loves being a new grandma and watching her children as they continue to grow and learn. She loves walking on the beach, hiking to waterfalls, and paddling her kayak. Her favorite activities include writing, traveling, reading, watching movies, and playing games with her family. She also loves to learn and teach and is excited to do it every day!