AMY ROSTVOLD arostvold@gmail.com

Amy Rostvold has spent the last 20 years teaching writing and English in various capacities: as a writing tutor, reading interventionist, high school English teacher and current writing professor at Austin Community College. She is a fierce defender of education as the necessary ingredient for a healthy democracy, and she believes that children learn best in environments where they are respected, empowered, challenged and engaged. She lives in Austin, TX with her husband, two kids and two large and very barky dogs. 

ANDY ARIZPE aaarizpe@gmail.com

Andy Arizpe participated in math competitions from elementary through high school. He earned a BS and MEng in computer science from MIT, and has worked for nearly 20 years as a video game programmer. He is the father of two homeschoolers, whom he has coached for several years through various math competitions, and he also coached the 2023-2024 Austin Area Homeschoolers Mathcounts team. In his free time, he enjoys games, trivia, and puzzles of all kinds.

AMANDA FERNÁNDEZ orchardamanda@hotmail.com 

Amanda Fernandez taught High School Spanish 1 through 3, AP Spanish Composition and AP Spanish literature in the Dallas area. She double majored at the University of Texas at Austin in Spanish and Latin American Studies. She has been homeschooling her two kids for the last 9 years. Additionally,  she loves cooking, lifting weights, and traveling all over Mexico. 

ARIELLE ARIZPE ariellea@gmail.com

Arielle has a BA from Boston University with a double major in American History and Political Science, and an MEd from Texas State with a focus on teaching Gifted and Talented students and differentiating instruction. Before kids, she worked as an Educational Specialist at Region XIII (a division of the Texas Education Agency). For the past 3.5 years, she has taught mixed-aged history classes virtually with Mint and Bloom Learning and developed creativity-based inclusive history curricula for all ages. Arielle is a homeschool mom of two and loves cooking, gardening, and bouldering. 

AUBREY SAUNDERS aubrey@curiousmindsatx.com 

Aubrey taught in an Austin area school until leaving to homeschool her children. She began offering classes for homeschoolers and has over 20 years of experience teaching science to students in elementary through high school. When she's not geeking out over science, she enjoys playing the viola, reading, and knitting.

HELEN ALLEN mintandbloomlearning@gmail.com 

Helen Allen is a homeschool mom, educator, writer, and artist. Helen writes and illustrates children's books, as well curriculum for homeschool and public school use. Helen's teaching style is TAB (teaching for artistic behavior) with lots of SEL (social emotional learning) incorporated in. Her favorite animal is a chonky bear and her favorite mediums are watercolor, collage, and fiber arts. 

JEFF BROCK jeffbrock@me.com 

​​Jeff is a published Physicist with degrees from MIT and Boston University. He has been teaching Middle and High School for over twenty years.  He has homeschooled his five children for a decade in Austin. In his spare time he is the Head Sailing Coach at The University of Texas at Austin.  While he loves Physics and Math, he secretly loves Shakespeare, reading fiction, and playing his piano way way more.

JENNIFER JUDAY ‭jjuday@gmail.com 

Jennifer has a BA in English (Rice University) and MS in Information Science (University of North Texas). She has five years experience teaching at AAH Math Team and StemEd Labs (prealgebra, algebra, geometry and problem solving). She's especially into geometry, history of math, and British lit. She is also one of the long-time organizers of Armadillo Con - our local Science Fiction Convention!

KRISTIN SALOME kkaesalome@gmail.com 

Kristin has a BA in Communications with a minor in Psychology. She was a substitute and a preschool teacher for several years when her kids were young, and has been a homeschooling mom of 3 since 2018. She and her good friend Lauren formed a nature based homeschool group a few years ago because they love learning and exploring the outdoors with friends. One thing Kristin loves best is cooking up a delicious meal with her family. She also truly loves her time with the AAH Science Team. That’s why she’s decided to merge two of her loves with a Kitchen Science class to help show kids how fun cooking can be while learning about the science behind the foods that nourish your body.

LAUREN WOLK lauren.k.wolk@gmail.com

Lauren has a BA in Elementary Education with a minor in Physical Education. Prior to staying home to homeschool her children for the past six years she worked in early childhood education and then transitioned to working as a social worker in Austin, TX. Lauren and Kristin created a nature based homeschool group to encourage children to connect with each other and the natural world around them. Lauren has a love for baking, especially sourdough bread, and reading. In her spare time she loves to be outside in nature. 

MOLLY HURST molly.hurst@gmail.com 

Molly is a former high school English teacher. She double majored in English and Japanese at UT Austin and after graduation taught ESL in Japan. After returning to the States, she obtained her teaching certificate while enrolled in a graduate program. Since leaving public education to homeschool, Molly has taught high school, middle school and elementary literature to homeschoolers over the past 7 years. In her spare time she enjoys hiking and rock climbing.

SHANAN COLVIN cshanan04@gmail.com 

A graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Music, Shanan has taught as a choir director, musical theater program co-director, and a private voice and piano instructor. Shanan was named Northside ISD’s First-Year Teacher of the Year and Y100’s Teacher of the Week in her first year as a public school choir director. The decision to homeschool her children changed the direction of that plan and her research on alternative methods of education has solidified her belief that she can still combine her two passions in life, music and teaching, outside of the traditional classroom. Shanan loves performing just as much as she loves teaching. She is currently singing on tour with Gary Clark Jr. and in the past has had the privilege of performing in many musicals and has sung as a member of the University of Texas Chamber Singers, Texas Choral Consort, Cumberland Oratorio Singers, Cross Creek Chorale, Chorus Austin and the Houston Choral Society. When she is not singing, keeping her boys busy (and out of trouble) you can find her running, reading or spending time with her husband and 3 year old baby girl.