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MEET OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

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AMY UPDIKE

President

Amy loves to laugh, make new friends, dance, sing, sew and read. More than anything, she always wanted to be a mom, so she has always been a very involved parent with her four kids. Amy has taught 7 scholar classes, been a PTO President, Chairman and Secretary of Liber Leadership Academy and mentored lots of Junior projects. But her favorite mentoring experiences are curling up on the couch reading books and feeling that spark of joy learning with her kids. She has a BS in Business from BYU, is LEMI certified to teach QUEST, Key of Liberty and Pyramid, has completed Oliver Demille's "How to Mentor" program and dived deep into classic books during 10 years of Mentoring in the Classics.

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VANESSA SALATINO

Administrative VP

Vanessa loves to sew clothes and quilts, create art, do DIY projects and hang out with friends. She got her dream job of being a stay at home mom to 5 great kids. She was inspired to homeschool 9 years ago. She loves homeschooling because she gets to learn right along with her kids. She has learned to trust the TJED process and is grateful for the homeschooling community their family has been a part of. Vanessa is California born and raised, but moved to Oregon 15 years ago and loves the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Vanessa has had the opportunity to mentor junior classes and scholar classes at Hero Education Commonwealth and Liber Leadership Academy as well as served on the Board for Hero Education Commonwealth as Secretary. She has participated in the DeMille's MIC program for 5 years and has completed their "How to Mentor" program. She is a big advocate of "You, Not Them." 

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SARAH CLUFF

Education VP

Sarah has loved every moment of being a mom to her three children and wife to her husband of 25+ years. Sarah has previously been a Junior Program director, taught many Junior classes, mentored a Shakespeare Conquest scholar class,  taught as an elementary teacher in public school and run her own preschool. But her biggest joy and accomplishment has been teaching and learning alongside her own children.

She served an 18 month mission in Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, has a BS in Early Childhood Education from BYU, has several additional Reading Instruction certifications, is LEMI certified in Shakespeare Conquest, Pyramid, Sword of Freedom/Hero Project and Family Foundations and has completed six years of Mentoring In the Classics.

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KRISTEN BRADY

Secretary

Kristen loves too many things to list, but top contenders are family history, writing, being out in nature, and donuts with sprinkles. And, the hobby occupying her time today will likely scoot over for a new love tomorrow. With the plan to put her kids in public school, she nearly missed her homeschool calling. Luckily all things pandemic debuted the same year her oldest was to enter kinder—-making homeschooling her new normal. Homeschooling has brought her life unexpected vibrance and intentionality. Before deciding to stay home with her four children, Kristen graduated with a BS in Dental Hygiene from Utah College of Dental Hygiene and worked as a registered dental hygienist. She’s now excited to serve as secretary at Inspire!

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BRITNY FERY

Treasurer

Britny was homeschooled from 1st grade on. She met her now husband during her high school years at a local homeschool private school. They have been together 17 years and are now parents to 3 rowdy boys who keep them laughing. Britny enjoys wrestling with her boys and DJ’ing spontaneous raves for them. She loves to create, bake, 3d print, and DIY everything! Her favorite part of homeschooling is watching her kids explore learning and seeing their excitement in discovering new things. Before staying at home full time to educate her kids, she managed a dental office for 10 years which gave her lots of experience with billing and accounts receivable. Her love of all things math and attention to detail make serving as treasurer something she really enjoys!

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SARA DE LA GUARDIA

Scholar Director

Sara is a mom to 3 fiercely loved kids who are being raised on 100% organic, non-GMO, microchip-free fuels, she is a natural-born mentor and a total ray of sunshine in our community. Sara is the kind of woman who will walk you through your hardest parenting days, hand you an artisanal organic snack, and then gently explain why seed oils and synthetic vitamins are actually a silent plot to suppress our third eye.

Sara's favorite hobby is attending monthly book clubs—a sacred space where she has proudly not read a single page of the assigned book in five years, yet still manages to offer the most profound hot takes in town.

Sara radiates pure, infectious happiness, and even when she’s frowning, her eyes are smiling. Whether she's wrapping you in a warm hug, dispensing life-changing guidance, or dropping red-pill truth bombs about chem trails, she brings absolute warmth, laughter, and light into every single room she enters.

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LARA SHLERF

Junior Program Director

When Lara isn't keeping our homeschool group running like a fine-tuned machine, you can usually find this part-time board member and full-time mom of 5 feral-yet-thriving children at her easel creating fine art—or explaining to her kids why birds are actually government surveillance drones. Lara is equal parts pure heart of gold and top-secret intelligence clearance. Her kindness is legendary: she will happily bring you a home-cooked meal and a jar of fermented elderberry syrup in your hour of need, though she will gently ask if you’ve checked your smoke detector for hidden listening devices while she’s dropping it off. Between managing five distinct personalities, teaching everything from watercolors to calculus, and maintaining a mane of natural, majestic, shampoo-commercial-level hair volume that is clearly full of secrets, Lara somehow still finds the time to be our community’s chief investigative journalist. Whether she’s painting a breathtaking landscape in oil or connecting the red string between seemingly unrelated world events on her living room corkboard, she does it all with absolute grace—just don't ask her to use public Wi-Fi, drink fluoridated tap water, or stand too close to the new 5G tower down the street.

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HEATHER WYNKOOP

Inspirations Program Director

Heather is a mom to 3 captive, although rambunctious, audience members who are currently earning college credit just by riding in the minivan. She is a master communicator, an absolute joy to be around, and a walking encyclopedia of obscure facts. Because her motto is “Silence in the car is wasted learning time”, her children don't listen to Top 40 radio—they listen to three-hour historical podcasts on double-speed while running errands while she frequently pauses for spontaneous mini-lessons on the difference between "there," "their," and "they're." As a fierce guardian of the English language, Heather will gently correct your misplaced modifiers before you’ve even finished your sentence, all while dropping profound life wisdom with zero dangling participles. Heather's kitchen game is equally formidable: give her a block of cheese, her beloved Salad Shooter, and a crockpot, and she will shred an entire farm’s worth of vegetables in four seconds flat, dump 14 unmeasured spices into a pot, and walk away like a boss—producing a five-star meal by 5:00 PM. But her true superpower? Dropping everything to tear up the dance floor, hitting every step of a line dance routine with terrifying precision, immaculate rhythm, and pure, unadulterated joy.

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KATIE MARLEY

Registrar

Katie is passionate about all things creative. She loves painting, drawing, digital design, printmaking, decorating, building, and bringing the ideas in her mind to life. She’s equally devoted to her three amazing children. Early on, the Lord placed it on her heart to homeschool. After working through plenty of self-doubt, she stepped into that calling and has never looked back. She loves learning alongside her kids and discovering the world together.
Katie has taught five Scholar classes, served as the Junior Director of Liber Leadership Academy, and mentored numerous Junior projects. She is LEMI certified to teach Key of Liberty and Shakespeare Conquest. Katie helped start Inspire Family Academy, alongside Amy Updike and Sarah Cluff, with abundant direction and inspiration from Heavenly Father. She also designed the Inspire Family Academy logo and helped build the website.
In addition, Katie has completed seven years of the Mentoring in the Classics book club and holds a B.A. in Fine Art from Portland State University. 

Leadership Organization Chart
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Amy Updike

President

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Sarah Cluff

Educational VP

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Vanessa
Salatino

Administrative VP

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Heather
Wynkoop

Inspirations Director
 

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Lara Schlerf

Junior Director 

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Sara De La
Guardia

Scholar Director

Treasurer

Britny Fery

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Katie Marley

Registrar

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Kristen Brady

Secretary

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