Past Tutors & Workshop Instructors

Len Cuthbert is an accomplished playwright with extensive experience working with youth and teens. He is the creator and director of the not-for-profit organization, Fridge Door Live Theatre Company which develops programs that “build confidence, develop competence, and encourage collaboration,” and creates productions that “influence, inform, and inspire.” Len’s plays have been produced in Canada, US and Europe. Locally, he has produced and directed his own works and acted in other stage productions and received awards nationally. He graduated from Trinity Western College (Associate in Arts Degree) and Heritage College (BRE Degree: Youth) and has earned certificates playwrighting and art education from multiple institutions. Len will be leading playwrighting workshops to help students develop and refine their monologues, dialogues, and sketches for the musical revue.

See Len’s work at Lencuthbert.com and Fridge Door Live Theatre Company

Courses

• Theatre Arts Initiative (2023-24)

Tarah Stock

Tarah Stock is the co-founder of GLO and a veteran homeschool mother to four children. She has designed and co-desgned many homeschool courses over the years and is passionate about equipping the next generation to impact our culture for Christ. She has a BS in Communications and an MA in International Public Policy but after a short stint as the Director of Marketing at the Institute of World Politics in Washington DC and on parliament hill in Ottawa, most of her professional skills have been spent working from home consulting small businesses in marketing and branding. She enjoys sharing her passion for creating, analyzing and  dissecting media messages with any GLO students interested in thinking about the deeper things propelling our modern society and working with them to produce media and artful creations of their own. Anyone who knows Tarah knows she has a passion for the arts.  More than two decades ago she dreamed about a course that would bring talent together to help young  aspiring artists more deeply understand important ideas while sharpening their skills in expressing them. She was very excited to finally be part of seeing that vision become a reality through the 2024 GLO's Theatre Arts Initiative.  Tarah is now looking forward to developing a  new  Civics course with her husband, Peter.

Courses

• Civics & Political Participation (Spring, 2025)

• Theatre Arts Initiative (2023-24)

• Media Studies (Fall, 2020)

Leah Snelgrove is a professional vocalist and songwriter who began working as a child actor in Toronto at age 8 and has been active in the world of theatre arts ever since. In addition to vocalizing for film and television scores and spending 15 years touring the U.S. and Canada with a major orchestral pops musical production, Leah has written and produced multiple commercial recordings of music for young children. She is also highly gifted in music education and has spent more than 20 years teaching and workshopping voice, creative dance, drama, and music in various Ontario schools, academies, churches and performance centres. Leah retired from her touring and commuting positions in 2018 and now lives in Westmount where she  teaches music (voice, violin, and piano) to children and adults–including many homeschool families–through her home music studio. She is mother to a very creative young adult daughter. She and her husband attend Redemption Bible Chapel where she has been serving as a vocalist on the worship team since 2021. Leah will be leading workshops in vocal drama, dramatic interpretation, monologues, and acting.

Courses

• Theatre Arts Initiative (2023-24)

Courses

• Theatre Arts Initiative (2023-24)

Joanna Papastamos joins the G.L.O. team of tutors with a wealth of musical experience and a drive to help reclaim the theatre arts for Christ! Joanna has been involved with music education for more than 35 years. She has taught instrumental music, vocal music, and general music courses in many different capacities: as a music teacher in public and private schools, through private instruction, and as a church choral director. She has also produced/co-produced multiple  musical productions through public schools as well as with different churches. Joanna was a saxophone major at Western University, married a guitar player and has two children who are also very musical (vocally and instrumentally), the eldest following in her footsteps on the path to becoming a secondary music teacher. Joanna’s home church and homeschool co-op are Summerside Community Church where she has been able to continue using her gifts and talents leading the homeschool concert band and choir, while also a part of the vocal team for worship. Joanna will be the lead ensemble director for the Theatre Arts Initiative course, both leading workshops and playing a significant role in the directing of the final music revue. She is most excited to see our young voices grow and emerge in the world of musical theatre arts with a heart for living out Christ in such an expressive and exciting way. Bring on the voices!

Courses

• Theatre Arts Initiative (2023-24)

Liz Sheil is a science expert with a background in biomedical engineering as well as education. With a B.Eng.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Western University and a master's degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Toronto, her science work centered around GAIT analysis and biomechanics. In 1995, with the arrival of her first son, her work shifted to child rearing and home education. 

Liz now lives on a small farm in the outskirts of London, Ontario where she enjoys raising animals, gardening, and breeding Bernese Mountain dogs. She also enjoys fostering babies. She has really enjoyed homeschooling all five of her wonderful children (four of whom have already graduated), and is looking forward to teaching biology again! Liz and her husband, Greg, attend Summerside Community Church.

Liz has been a tremendous asset to the homeschool community in the London area. For eleven years she served as director of the large homeschool co-op H.I.G.H. Day South and she is now working to help establish GLO for high schoolers.  Students will enjoy her natural and relaxed approach to scientific discovery and find her expertise in the area inspiring!

Courses

• Logic (Fall, 2021)

• Chemistry (Spring, 2021)

• Biology (Fall, 2018)

Francis is on a mission to help and equip business owners, entrepreneurs and wannabe entrepreneurs, to expand their thinking and create innovative products using modern day technology.  He is the founder, CEO of Red Square Labs ( Mobile App Development) and co-founder, CEO, of Citruvio Communications Inc. (Secure Messaging for Healthcare professionals).

Born in Rotterdam, Netherlands and raised in Aruba, Francis moved to Canada in 2004. After graduating from college from the interactive multimedia program, he decided to pursue an entrepreneurial career. In 2005 he founded Yanga Interactive, a web development company. After running the company for 8 years, Francis saw the rise of mobile technology and decided to focus entirely on mobile app development. He began a new venture called Red Square Labs. Since then, he worked with many clients across the globe and developed many innovative mobile applications for the iOS and Android platform.

In 2013 and 2014 he was the organizer and mentor for Startup Weekend London. Startup Weekend is a 54-hour weekend event, during which groups of developers, business managers, startup enthusiasts, marketing gurus, graphic artists and more pitch ideas for new startup companies, form teams around those ideas, and work to develop a working prototype, demo, or presentation by Sunday evening. 

Francis shares the Christian faith. He is a born again believer and is an active member of the Victory Christian Centre church in London Ontario. He serves as a music director for the worship ministry and also assists as a Sunday school teacher in the children’s ministry.

Courses

• Out of the Box-Into the Future (Spring 2021)

• Tech Launch (Fall 2019, Fall 2021)

Stephen Faris is a well-loved musician and music educator as well as an avid homeschool advocate. A homeschool dad to three children AND a homeschool grad himself, he is passionate about learning and about teaching. 

Stephen holds a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from UWO, an  Music Industry Arts degree from Fanshawe College, and a Master’s of Theological Studies from Heritage Seminary. 

Stephen is an incredible teacher with over two decades of experience providing private music instruction to families in the St. Thomas and London area. He also teaches at King's Academy Christian School and has volunteered countless hours at various homeschool co-ops teaching choir, music and other courses. 

Stephen is a life-long learner with a wide range of interests including science, technology, finance and primitive skills. He grew up on a small goat farm near St Thomas. Currently he resides in St. Thomas with his wife, Natalia, and their three children.

Courses

• Wilderness Survival (Summer, 2021)

Dakota Soares is a fourth year honours student majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Geoscience. He holds a Certificate in Oil and Gas Operations and a diploma in Geographical Information Systems. He is policy chairman and secretary of the CPC LKM EDA, president of the Ilderton Business Association, co-leader for the Middlesex County 4H Poultry Association, and member of the ACM, ASTM and IAS. Future plans include applying for an M.Eng in Software Engineering at Western University. 

Dakota was homeschooled through Grade 12, and has attended Community Bible Church, Ilderton ever since the church was incorporated. 

In his spare time, Dakota enjoys playing the guitar, flying drones, caring for his award-winning show chicken flocks on his parent’s hobby farm, building LEGO trains or driving his pickup truck a wee bit too fast on county dirt roads.

Courses

• Intro to Computer Science (Fall, 2020)

Sid Leys is a master carpenter who has spent a lifetime teaching and developing curricula for a variety of subjects and people.  Originally from Scotland, he first worked as a ship’s carpenter. After a work injury forced him from the job site, he looked to apply his carpentry skills elsewhere. Sid retrained in education and spent 23 years teaching carpentry within the Ontario secondary school system. Here, he taught across all learning spectra--from the developmentally delayed to the academically gifted.  

Sid also served as a vice principal and a school board consultant/coordinator to write and develop science, coop, technology, and business and industry connections curricula.

Currently, Sid teaches adult learners as well as instructors. He conducts worker’s health and safety training across Ontario, including for the London’s Carpenter’s Union where GLO classes are held.

Sid is passionate about teaching carpentry and enjoys tailoring instruction to the skill level and learning style of each participant. With a double major in Sociology and Psychology he has an ability to understand people and connect them to the material at hand. This will be the first time he has taught home school students and he is excited for the opportunity.

Father to eight children and 8 grandchildren. Sid and his wife, Mary, live in London, Ontario.

Courses

• Beginning Woodworking  (Spring, 2020)

Lizz Thibodeau has spent her life studying languages.  She loves to speak French and always makes a point of learning the basics of a language before travelling to a country that speaks it.  Lizz graduated with distinction in Honours French and English from Brescia College and with distinction in Intermediate/Senior French and English from Althouse College.  

Lizz was head of the French Department at Woodstock Collegiate Institute until her first daughter arrived in 2005.  She then spent the next 12 years at home with her two daughters.  

Lizz’s family comes from Scotland, and she loves to travel.  She studied French in both Quebec and Montpellier, France.  Greece, Kenya, Barbados, Belgium, Morocco, Turkey, Germany, and Italy are some of the places she has visited with her husband, Andrew.  She also loves gardening and cooking.

Lizz and her family are active members of Chalmers Presbyterian Church, where she is also currently the Office Administrator.

Courses

• French 1 (Fall, 2018)

• French 1 (Fall, 2019)

Andrew is a recent graduate of Wilfrid Laurier University with a degree in Geography. He is currently working at Oxford Reformed Christian School as a high school humanities teacher and loves being a part of students’ education journeys.  

Born in Iona Station, Andrew is one of 9 Westerveld children. He was homeschooled from kindergarten through to grade 12 by his incredible mother and is excited to be part of the homeschool community again. Andrew teaches piano lessons to a number of students and loves watching students discover new things.  He is a member of the St. Thomas Free Reformed Church along with his family. 

Andrew enjoys photography, playing the piano, visiting with friends, traveling, and hanging out with his nieces and nephews.  

Courses

• 20th Century History (Fall, 2020)

• Canadian Geography (Spring, 2020)

Bernita Westerveld has many years of experience homeschooling her 9 children through high school. She is currently homeschooling her youngest son, who is starting grade 12, which means her 30 year journey is almost done! 

History and reading (including reading aloud) have always been favourites, and she and her husband Art both love reading biographies and church history. Bernita has taught this Canadian history course to 16 homeschooled students and enjoyed the experience.  She has taught numerous co-op classes, organized several Canadian history field trips to Ottawa, and spent many years leading a support group in St Thomas. She also served on the OCHEC board for some time and coordinated several homeschool conferences in the 1990’s. 

Bernita is currently teaching Sunday school at the Free Reformed Church in St Thomas where they are members, and also coaches the local Bible quizzing team in London. She enjoys life on the farm, photography, journaling, scrapbooking and spending time with their 20  grandchildren. 

Courses

• Canadian History (Fall, 2019)

Reighen Grineage is a current undergraduate student at the University of Western Ontario pursuing a double-major in Anthropology and Linguistics. She completed her grade 8 piano through the Royal Conservatory of Music and has taught piano privately for a time as well as being a teaching assistant for music class for grades 2-12 in Villa Nueva, Bolivia for two months. 

Reighen is from Dresden, Ontario where she was homeschooled for the entirety of her schooling before being accepted to Western University. She is currently attending Redemption Bible Chapel London and considers that to be her London home church, though she does still have strong ties her church in Dresden. Reighen is also a member of an on-campus Christian group called Power to Change where she is responsible for event planning and outreach.

Her enthusiasm is for teaching others about how reasoning through the art of logic is a direct reflection of an absolutely reasonable God; and her love for the complete understanding of all aspects of language is seen in her teaching style and will make the classroom an inviting and exciting place for students to learn.

Courses

• Logic (Spring, 2019)