Dawn Wooten - English and Writing; Academy Coordinator

Dawn Wooten has been teaching at the college level for 7 years. She holds a Master’s Degree in English as well as a Bachelor’s in English and a Bachelor’s in Business Management. She has taught remedial writing at Ivy Tech Community College and Freshman Composition at IPFW. In addition, Mrs. Wooten was a home school parent for 6 years and has tutored other homeschoolers for the past 3 years.

Mrs. Wooten believes that any student has the ability to learn to write well and has used a variety of texts and techniques to achieve success with her students over the years. Her specialty is advanced writing for high school and college level students. "There is no such thing as a bad writer. Students often think themselves bad writers when what they are actually having trouble with is mechanics. My desire is to show every student that their thoughts and beliefs have value and are worthy of putting on paper."

Wendy Bailey - Health/Science

Mrs. Bailey holds a Bachelors Degree in Physical Education (K-12) and Health and Safety (5-12) from Huntington College. She also holds an Indiana State Teaching License. In addition to her experience with Care 2 Learn, Wendy was a Public school educator and coach from 1992 - 1999; was Director of the Zanesville Youth Program from 1997 - present; was an abstinence teacher for True Life Choices from 1999 - 2001, and 2006-2008; and she is also coordinator of Alive & Well Abstinence Education Program since 2008.

Her teaching philosophy is that "God has created us all with different talents and abilities. An important part of growing up is discovering the areas in which God has gifted us. I believe that all children can be successful in learning if they are challenged according to their learning styles. For this reason, it is important to use a variety of teaching methods when presenting a lesson. It is also important to teach in an interactive, enthusiastic manner so that learning will be fun for the students.

Ellen Bentz - French and English

Mrs. Ellen Bentz has over 12 years experience as a French and English teacher in grades 7-12. She graduated with distinction with Bachelor's Degrees from Indiana University in English and French and has completed post-graduate work at IPFW. She is trained in multiple pedagogical techniques, including 4Mat, Choice Theory, Socratic Method, Creative Learning strategies, Instructional Best Practices, and group learning strategies.

Jodie Cruz - Math

Jodie Cruz has been with Care 2 Learn for approximately 9 months. She holds a Bachelors in Elementary Education, an Indiana teaching license grades 1-6, and middle school math endorsement, a Masters in Educational Leadership, and an Indiana Administrator’s License. She Co-Developed the after school ISTEP Enrichment Program at Most Precious Blood School and privately tutored students that needed 1-on-1 help after school.

"I believe that every student has a right to learn at a comfortable pace, in a comfortable environment and in a way that they find enjoyable. Getting to know students and their individual learning styles is one of the most important steps in teaching. Learning is not something that can be forced onto someone, but, rather, must be welcomed by them."

Fride Irving - English and Writing

Fride Irving has been teaching at the college level for more than 10 years. She holds a Bachelor's degree and is certified to teach Basic and College Level English. She has taught remedial writing at Ivy Tech Community College. She also spent several years helping in the home schooling of her grandson.

Mrs. Irving believes in the power of the individual and the potential of every student to succeed in all of their endeavors.

Rebekah Christiansen- Spanish and Art

Rebekah Christiansen is an outstanding instructor whose education includes Undergraduate degrees in Spanish and Art; 4 months studying abroad in Seville, Spain during her undergraduate education; 1 month studying abroad in Puebla, Mexico during her graduate education; a Teaching License from Nebraska to teach k-12 Art and 6-12 Spanish. She is currently working towards her Masters in Education. She has worked as a riding instructor, sports coach, dance teacher, and art teacher. "I am an artist as well as an Art teacher I love photography, painting, and drawing. I have done some freelance work in Photography and sold some of my other works of Art." Rebekah is a welcome addition to the Care 2 Learn family.

Carol Livengood - Music Appreciation

Carol Livengood has been a tutor at local schools in the Fort Wayne area for 6 years. She holds a Bachelor of Music from Fort Wayne Bible College (Taylor Fort Wayne), a Bachelor of Science in Education from Indiana University and a Professional Educator’s License from the State of Indiana.

"I see the purpose of education as the process that prepares children for life as an adult. Therefore, there is much more to education than book learning. Education entails morals, discipline, virtues, along with academics. Education should teach children to not only cope in the adult world but to succeed. This can only be done by teaching the basic subjects along with discipline, morals, and ethics taken from the Holy Bible. This is the standard that this country was started on and it was not until it was taken out of the school system that the system began to fail. Without God we can do nothing. The biblical standard of authority is for children to be under the teaching of adults. They are not able to teach themselves and they do not always know what they need. Education comes when children are willing to listen to an adult they know cares about them and what they become. Like adults, children are all different in their learning styles. There should be a variety of ways to test children’s learning accomplishments. A teacher who cares will take the time to find out what that learning style is and try to accommodate his/her teaching to help the child be successful.

Tina Mattes - Science

Tina Mattes is certified to teach Biology, Chemistry, General Science, and Physical Science. She has a B.S. in Biology and an A.S. in Chemistry from Purdue University. She has received two Duke's Day Scholarships under the Medical Technology program for maintaining a GPA above 3.5 at Purdue University. Tina graduated in the Honor Society from North Side High School in 1986. Tina left the working world to home school her children. She has helped in the Heart Coop and Discovery Clubs teaching other home school students.

"My philosophy of education is two-fold. The first involves the total realization of how magnificent God's design of all our creatures really is. He is solely responsible for all creation. Our responsibility lies in the realization that we need to honor his creations by respecting and caring for every life surrounding us. My philosopy includes educating the children to understand and respect all of nature, including the welfare of humans balanced with nature. The second aspect of my philosophy involves how it is taught. I believe science should be taught with hands-on labs, art, and even music. Students learn so much more with variety instead of a straight lecture class. I believe education should be well-rounded, memorable and enjoyable for the students, so that they can learn the total wonder of science. There will, of course be structure and expectations that the students will have to meet during the class in order to earn their grades, but it will be done with the whole child in mind, not just academically."

Lori Way - Art

Lori Way is a well-qualified instructor whose educational background includes a Bachelor of Arts with a major in psychology from Purdue University, West Lafayette; a Master of Arts in Humanities with an art concentration from California State University, Dominquez Hills; and she is currently working on Ph.D. in Interdisciplinary Studies with a humanities and culture concentration from Union Institute and University, Cincinnati, Ohio. She also completed Continuing education classes from Oxford University (UK) and the University of Saint Francis from 2007 to 2010. She has taught at Ivy Tech Community College, Fort Wayne and Marion; University of Saint Francis, Fort Wayne; Four County Vocational School, Kendallville; and ITT Technical Institute, Fort Wayne.

Her personal philosophy of teaching is “developing the student’s own personal style in art appreciation, examining the history and culture that produced a work of art, and gaining valuable skills in written and oral presentation. I see it as an important part of my role as an educator to connect my students to both ancient theories and current events affecting the art community. I am constantly researching topics in ancient and modern art, and I share my discoveries in the classroom. My background in graphic design and print media has also helped me to relate technical innovations of art production to my students. The study of art history is really the study of mankind’s expression through the ages. My job is to help students recognize this, allowing them to become active participants in their own world of art.” We are so excited to have Lori as part of the Care 2 Learn teaching staff.