Laura Johnston
2023-2024 Mentor: German 1 (live)
Laura Johnston grew up in the South of Germany along the romantic Neckar River close to the Black Forest, in a wonderful family. After investigating the church for a year, she joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, one month before turning 17. After graduating she started her big adventures across the big waters with a new language, a new culture and all alone. She decided on broadcasting as her major at BYU. She had big plans to write and direct children’s TV shows. However she also started teaching at the MTC (Missionary Training Center) and fell in love with teaching German. She decided to join the German department after her beloved Professor Dr. Kelling invited her to teach German at BYU. He also made it possible for her to obtain her Master’s Degree. She had found her passion in teaching German and is eternally grateful for his guidance and mentorship! At that time the missionary, who had baptized her, appeared on the scene and they were married. She discovered a new passion: family! After the 5 children were on missions, at BYU and the last one in High School, she returned to teaching at UVU and also taught High School through Concurrent Enrollment. As empty nesters her husband and Laura moved to rural Pennsylvania and she was blessed with a teaching position at Bloomsburg University. The Lord had more exciting plans! A full-time position opened up in a High School and she discovered a new passion: teaching High School students! After moving to North Carolina to be closer to her son and his family, her daughter in law introduced her to Ensign Peak Academy! Teaching online would be different but meeting Diann, being greeted so warmly and learning about Diann’s vision for her students was a true blessing! Laura can’t wait to meet with her students each week. They are amazing, kind, capable and very courageous young people! She misses the long walks in the woods with her dogs in PA, watching deer, squirrels, groundhogs and an amazing variety of birds. She loves the explosion of colors and fragrance in the spring as flowers, plants, trees, birds and baby animals magically and gloriously appear within an ocean of shades of green! So many incredible blessings, so much gratitude!
Carolyn Marriott
2023-2024 Mentor: Spanish 1 (live), Spanish 2 (live), Intro to Spanish (live)
2024-2025 Mentor: Spanish 1 (live), Spanish 2 (live), Intro to Spanish (live)
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.
Kursten Mason
2023-2024 Mentor: French 1 (live), Intro to French (live)
2024-2025 Mentor: French 1 (live and self-paced), French 2 (live and self-paced), Intro to French (live), all other world languages (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.