Parent Advisory Council
The Parent Advisory Council (PAC) is a group of home schooling parents who helps advise WISDOM on ways to best serve the home schooling community. PAC members must be WISDOM parents who profess the Apostles’ Creed. They meet twice a year for an in-camera meeting of the PAC followed by an assembly with facilitators, office staff and administrators.
Members of the PAC:
- provide prayer and moral support to WISDOM and the governing school authority;
- are ambassadors for WISDOM by their lifestyle;
- are a resource for the families of WISDOM (this role is not administrative but supportive);
- welcome families new to WISDOM;
- make themselves available for contact by our WISDOM families (see the "Read More" section of each bio for contact information);
- advocate to WISDOM on behalf of WISDOM parents;
- assist facilitators with local WISDOM events;
- may gather or write articles for the WISDOM website or magazine;
- are politically informed, engaged and aware;
- update WISDOM families about current issues that impact home schooling (watch for inserts in the WISDOM magazine).
Our homeschooling adventure began 11 years ago when our oldest was in kindergarten. Since then, we have added four more children to the journey of learning, loving, and growing in faith together. WISDOM has been our choice from the beginning, and we have always so appreciated the freedom and support we’ve received as primary educators of our children.
We do life together as a family on a hobby farm south of Calgary, which offers many learning opportunities and daily drama. Book lessons may be interrupted by the sudden realization that the goats have gotten out – again – or the need to simply stop and laugh in amusement at the goose chasing the dog. We cherish the memories and time we have with our children, and can hardly believe how quickly the years fly by!
We have been married for twenty-seven years, and the Lord has truly blessed us with thirteen children in sixteen years. When we were first married, a man at church loaned us a vhs tape with Scott Hahn's conversion testimony on it, and that message contained a very earnest desire to not only give one's life unreservedly to Jesus, but to also to consider surrendering our fertility as well. As a result, the Lord was so good to us, and we soon became parents to a little boy, and then a little girl. We wanted the very best for our son and daughter and when looking through a stack of clearance books at a bookstore we happened upon a book called The How and Why of Home Schooling by Ray E. Ballman. Rebecca recalls reading that book and then following Greg around the house reading the book out loud to him! We agreed that we felt this was the best for our children, and Rebecca quickly checked out books by Raymond and Dorothy Moore from the public library to learn more and to read aloud to Greg; we felt in our hearts a definite call! To us, even though we knew no other homeschoolers, it was once again another part of surrendering to the Lord.
Our journey into home schooling our five children began over 19 years ago. We are nearing the end of that journey with only one child (now age 16) working toward completing high school studies. We have found this to be the most rewarding journey we have ever embarked on. Walking with, and seeing the development of each of our children – in their character, their faith, their education, and their life pursuits, has been a great joy. We have met the challenges that are unique to each child's development and we have worked past those hurdles – some being more challenging than others.
Among our children, we have a Certified Automotive Technician, a Registered Nurse, a documentation and inventory assistant for an aviation (helicopter) company, an Interior Design Technology student, and a budding carpenter who is working toward apprenticeship and trade certification. Each of our children participate regularly in Christian ministry and outreach opportunities. Each has a unique hobby or interest that he or she approaches with dedicated or vibrant enthusiasm.
WISDOM has been there to help us on this journey, and we have appreciated the directions and options that were and are available to us. In turn, we are very pleased to volunteer on this council and thereby make ourselves available to WISDOM and its home school community so that you might be able to contact us if you have any questions about your homeschooling journey. We are here to help and to share what we have learned along the way.
Along our journey we have discovered what works and also what does not work, given the unique needs of each child. God blessed us first with 'normal' learners, and then with increasingly more challenging learners into the spectrum of the very dyslexic (clinically diagnosed as 'severe'). The home school atmosphere made it possible for each one to truly flourish. Although it took significant work, along with plenty of trial-and-error, especially with two of our children, the hard work has paid off and all are of good character and they are thriving! Again, we are thankful to the staff and facilitators at WISDOM Home Schooling that have helped us to help our children.
Please feel free to contact us.
Fairview - (780) 835-8722
We first considered homeschooling our children when our oldest child was just a toddler. By the time kindergarten (and the yellow school bus) approached, we had surrendered to God’s leading by choosing to educate our children at home instead of in a school setting.
This journey that began with some foreboding soon evolved into a new lifestyle filled with fun, frustration, adventure…and a whole lot of fantastic books! Several bookshelves later, we find ourselves at the end of our 26-year-long homeschooling experience with our five children.
Our journey started with a whisper, “We could try Homeschooling.” It was meant to just be a year to allow our kids to decompress from a very stressful school year. We quickly saw the benefits and we enjoyed the freedom it gave us so we kept saying, “just one more year.” That was 12 years ago. Two of our children have now graduated with an Alberta High School Diploma and 2 are working through the WISDOM Course Challenges to earn their Diploma. We know that we don’t need that Alberta Diploma for our kids to be successful in life. It was our kids’ choice to earn the credits needed for a diploma and we are deeply grateful to the WISDOM team for finding a way for us to earn credits while still following a traditional homeschool lifestyle. We are proud to be a voice on the PAC for homeschooling families in our area and to encourage and support them on their journeys.
Theresa and Vince Holden have lived in Drayton Valley, Alberta since 2018, when they opened an acupuncture clinic in the town. They have four children ranging in age from 16 to 7 (three of them boys). They started homeschooling when their oldest son was in second grade after a bad experience in the public school system. They are currently helping that same son navigate homeschooling through high school. Their children's interests vary greatly. The oldest is into fine arts, while the next, a girl, age 12, is fascinated by agriculture, and the 10-year-old boy is a wealth of knowledge on astrophysics. It has been an interesting journey, with each child needing something a little bit different in terms of learning style and program. Even still, they have no regrets and will take the adventure where it leads them.
Hello! We’re Michael and Victoria Hutchinson. We are a homeschool family and are new this year to serving on the Parent Advisory Council. We will be celebrating our 20th anniversary this coming January 2025 and feel so grateful for the adventure we’ve had together so far, especially the experience of home educating our four children for the past 11 years, who range in age from 7 to 16.
We recently moved from Edmonton about 45 minutes south to Central Alberta and are working on rebuilding and renovating a 1955 two story home that we relocated (in 3 pieces) from its original location in Calgary to our rural land. Along with working on our own home, we own a renovations company, some rental property, and try to stay active in sports and get out into nature as much as possible.
Michael was homeschooled from early elementary through high school, while Victoria had only attended public or private school. Together, we bring a blend of backgrounds and perspectives that when combined, fuel our commitment to homeschooling and recognise the value in providing our kids with a unique and individualized approach to helping them learn, live, and reach their goals for life.
We are Menno and Margaret Knelsen, and we're from La Crete, way up in northern Alberta. We have been a homeschooling family since 2001, and registered with WISDOM since 2008. It has been a challenging journey for us, but also incredibly rewarding. When we first started out, our two oldest girls came out of public school after completing grades three and one. We appreciated the school where they were attending at the time, and clearly communicated that our reason for pulling them out was to bring them home. We had discussed the possibility for a couple of years before, and the time felt right.
Time marches on and there have been many changes to the Kok family since our last bio on the WISDOM website. We have been married for almost 32 years. We still have 4 children but now they are all adults, ranging in age from 29 (our son) and down to 19 (3 daughters). The older 2 are living on their own in St. Albert and Edmonton. We still have 2 girls at home to keep us company, when they are around, plus a dog and 2 cats. We are still living in St. Albert.
WISDOM has supported us in our homeschooling journey for 20+ years. Our son was in school for Grades 1-3 before we took him home. The three girls started homeschooling in kindergarten. The youngest has just finished. It is the end of an era. Sometimes we wish we could start all over again.
Over the years we have seen the growth WISDOM has experienced. We have also witnessed the way WISDOM has dealt with some very difficult situations with integrity and a complete trust in God. We have enjoyed being part of the PAC and have met some of the most amazing people because of it. Feel free to contact us if you want to chat about homeschooling or WISDOM.
Diane and Joe met in high school and were married in 1981 in Calgary. Before their children were born, Diane taught English and French in senior and junior high schools. Joe was formerly a Financial Analyst, then made a career change and became a high school Physics and Chemistry teacher. They were blessed to be offered a position with WISDOM in the fall of 1997, facilitating for 25 years before retiring and joining the Parent Advisory Council. Diane and Joe have also volunteered together in the marriage preparation ministry and have enjoyed years of scripture studies with their small church community. Living south of Calgary on a lovely acreage, Joe and Diane run a greenhouse in the spring.
We have been married for 16 years and God has blessed us with two children, grades 9 and 5. Our oldest led us into our homeschooling adventure when he was a toddler, and we have not looked back except to wish for more time together. We love WISDOM and hope to continue our journey to the end with WISDOM.
Currently we call Ponoka home. Sheldon is a Master Electrician in the oil and gas industry and volunteers at our local parish. Presently, Kim is a homeschool teacher, mom and chauffeur for our children.
Although both of us were homeschooled until high school (one attending a small private Christian high school and the other a public high school with the population of a small town), sometime in our marriage we had wanted our children to attend private Christian school. However, our oldest had not even finished Grade 1 during the pandemic in 2021 before it was evident that we would be switching to homeschooling.
The first year of homeschooling was the biggest hurdle for us, as we were working full-time as an electrician and paramedic while simultaneously teaching three small children. We learned quickly that our facilitator was our most valuable resource.
Now we are in our third year of homeschooling, expecting our 5th child, and are so grateful for the transformation homeschooling has done for our family. The best part of serving on the Parent Advisory Council has been meeting the entire organization; without a doubt, the staff put their entire heart into WISDOM Home Schooling.
Our journey with homeschooling began during the pandemic. Kris was reluctant at first but only a few months in, we were all hooked! We have three children, two in high-school and our son is just at the beginning of his schooling. Now we are all engaged and very well connected with homeschooling in our small town community of Carstairs. Kris works away so when he's home this gives us more family time together. He enjoys all the discussions regarding what we are learning and joining us when he can. Amanda's outgoing personality has been an asset in getting people involved in the different homeschool activities. These activities include: sewing, kindergarten groups, art classes, fun get togethers, teen activities, and more. She also is on the Soccer Association Board and the Friends of the Carstairs Library board, and has organized a local homeschool conference this past spring, that she hopes will continue each year.
Our relationship started in the Rockies in western Alberta and that place seems to keep drawing us back. It feels like it has become considerably more work for us to get out there in the last few years, but we can’t seem to figure out why. (Our family increasing in size from 2 to 7 might have something to do with it!) We also love to spend time with our extended family, play music, sing, and watch our young children grow and experience life.
As children, we both transitioned into homeschooling around the years 1999-2000 from public schools; this set us on the path towards homeschooling our own children, as we saw firsthand the great power and flexibility that homeschooling offers to a family. As the parents of 5 beautiful young children, we are starting down the path of home education with a sense of gratitude that God has helped us to find this path in life and faith that he will help us to walk it well. Even though we are new to the journey of home educating our children, we are no strangers to homeschooling personally, and when we meet others who are along this homeschooling and parenting path, we can get pretty excited about it.