High School Specialists
WISDOM's High School Subject Specialists are certificated teachers with a particular subject focus. Their primary role is to provide coaching and feedback on high school resource choices, and evaluate the portfolios of students pursuing Alberta credits in core high school courses. To find out more about course challenge, click here.
High School Credit Advisor
credits@wisdomhomeschooling.com
credits@gilbertineinstitute.com
Desmond began with WISDOM Home Schooling in the fall of 2020 and is looking forward to meeting and supporting families with their education vision and its pursuit.
It is said that a parent is a child’s first teacher. This, however, is often understood to mean just the first few years of life, but the parent-child relationship is a life-long commitment. It is true that what happens in the early years of a child’s life is very critical, but as parents our responsibility for our children’s formation does not end there.
Through homeschooling, parents have greater responsibility and freedom to shape the learning and the learning experiences of their children.
High School Chemistry Specialist
pierre-andre@wisdomhomeschooling.com
pierre-andre.beaudoin@gilbertineinstitute.com
Pierre-Andre grew up in the small town of St. Paul, Alberta with his parents and six siblings. There he went to school from k-12 and played almost all sports but had a strong passion for hockey. After high school Pierre-Andre continued to play Jr. hockey in Lloydminster and St. Paul while attending the U of A, where he was studying to become a teacher. In 2017, Pierre-Andre received his Bachelor of Education majoring in biological sciences and minoring in chemistry. He then went on to work for Edmonton Catholic Schools teaching math and science at the high school level for 5.5 years. It is through this teaching experience and having children of his own that Pierre-Andre realized the necessity for parents to be the primary educators of their children. Pierre-Andre truly feels that he has answered God’s calling in joining WISDOM Home Schooling as a facilitator and the chemistry specialist. He loves supporting, encouraging and working with families in achieving their homeschooling goals.
English Subject Specialist
780-741-0982
rhonda@wisdomhomeschooling.com
rhonda.caluttung@gilbertineinstitute.com
Fitz and Rhonda met and married while teaching high school in Calgary. They loved working together then, and they love working together now. Currently, Rhonda is a facilitator for WISDOM as well as the English & Social Studies Specialist, and Fitz is her amazing assistant who also tutors Chemistry online and leads WISDOM’s in-person Physics Labs. Together, they have almost fifty years of teaching experience!
Their three children are in Grades 9, 11, and 12 and have all been homeschooled since kindergarten. They live in Rocky Mountain House where there is a large and active homeschool community, including the Classical Conversations coop that Rhonda started in 2018 and where she directs Challenge II.
Some of Caluttung’s favourite things to do as a family include hosting movie nights for family and friends, playing frisbee, reading together, and taking naps. The girls like to bead and knit and draw and journal and the boys like to wrestle and play board games and play Minecraft and tell punny jokes. They have a nine year old standard poodle named Mahal who dislikes classical music and whines when the kids practise piano.
Random tidbits: Rhonda is a passionate reader and especially enjoys her Well-Read Mom book club. She is Métis and directs The Métis Heritage Project, a nonprofit that works in partnership with Parks Canada to provide interpretation programs at the National Historic Site in Rocky Mountain House. Rhonda is a certified life coach.
High School Math & Science Specialist
780-581-1601
peter@wisdomhomeschooling.com
peter.weidman@gilbertineinstitute.com
Peter grew up in Spruce Grove, Alberta, where he was schooled through the institutional model of K-12. He went on to the University of Alberta where he completed a Bachelor of Secondary Education, majoring in Physics with a minor in Mathematics. Upon completion of his first degree, he was called to the Seminary, where he attended the Seminary of Christ the King in Mission, BC, which is conducted by the Benedictines of Westminster Abbey. Peter describes this as, “one of the most fulfilling and most valuable experiences of faith and community formation one could ever ask for.” Peter completed his Pre-Theology degree majoring in Philosophy and he says that he doesn’t know his minor as he had to take equal amounts of minor classes in Ecclesial Latin, Koine Greek, and Catholic Religious History. While in Mission, his passion for hockey seemed to be contagious as he also managed to help get a new outdoor asphalt hockey rink built for intramural street hockey, of which he found himself the Commissioner and ran the league. He is proud to have taught Fr. Matthew, the seminary vice-rector, how to enjoy playing roller hockey.
Social Studies Specialist
825-413-8669
joy@wisdomhomeschooling.com
joy.ronald@gilbertineinstitute.com
Joy Ronald was born the youngest of ten siblings in Edmonton and grew up in Alberta, Quebec, and Ontario. She went to public school and became a teacher because she wanted to make those schools a better place!
Joy began homeschooling as soon as her first child was born, and was inspired by educating four very different creative learners throughout most of their school careers. Her fourth child graduated last year, and Joy is excited to be a Social Studies Specialist with WISDOM! Joy loves supporting homeschoolers and feels like she has been training for this job for the last thirty years!
High School French Course Specialist
lydie@wisdomhomeschooling.com
lydie.delli.santi@gilbertineinstitute.com
Born and raised in Paris, France, Lydie has always been passionate about languages and diverse cultures. While studying at university, she had the opportunity to work with people from various backgrounds at Disneyland Paris. Her extensive travels have taken her to places like Madrid, Spain, Torino, Italy, Athens and Santorini, Greece, and the Netherlands, among others. Each experience has broadened her horizons and deepened her appreciation for languages and different cultures.
In 2004, Lydie made a significant move to London, England, to improve her English before pursuing a Bachelor of Education to teach English Language Arts in France. She fell in love with the city and decided to complete her BEd at the University of Uxbridge in West London. Over the next four years, she taught French, Italian, and Spanish to underprivileged students aged 7 to 13 at a comprehensive school. These years were some of the most challenging yet profoundly rewarding of her teaching career, as she saw remarkable transformations in students who had previously faced educational obstacles. It was during this time that she realized the crucial impact of a strong family foundation on children's well-being. This experience planted a seed in her, although she did not fully realise it at the time.
Latin Specialist
james@wisdomhomeschooling.com
james.rauch@gilbertineinstitute.com
James grew up in Westlock County, the home of Herbert Greenfield, the fourth premier of Alberta, where he went to public school from K-12 and thought nothing of it. This all changed when he enrolled in Concordia University College in Edmonton where he met his future wife and WISDOM alumna, Miriam, who introduced him to the wonderful world of homeschooling for the first time. At Concordia, James pursued the liberal arts and was shocked to learn that Miriam had already read many of the books he was studying in his classes throughout her homeschooling career. This realisation made James reconsider the potentials of what an education ought to be. He graduated with distinction from Concordia in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in English literature. Although his minor is history, church history to be specific, classics, philosophy, classical languages, and Christian theology could also qualify as he took an equal number or more classes in these disciplines than his actual minor.