The Northwest Catholic Family
Education Conference was founded in 1994 for the
purpose of providing education, encouragement, and
support to Catholic homeschooling families and those families who are considering homeschooling. The first Northwest
Catholic Family Education Conference was held at
Kennedy Catholic High School in Burien in the spring
of 1994. Fr. Hardon, Fr. Fessio, and Leonardo de Filippis
were the keynote speakers. The Seattle Police Athletic Pavilion
hosted most of our subsequent conferences.
CDs from the 2009 Catholic homeschool
conference are available
here.
Read what participants have to say about the Northwest Catholic Family Education Conference by visiting our Feedback page.
Information and photos from the 2008 Catholic Homeschool Conference can be found here.
2010 Conference Organizers
Maureen and Alan Arpin are home educating parents of nine and grandparents of the famous Not so jumbo Jack. The Arpins live in Kirkland Washington. Alan and Maureen are catechists; Alan is a cantor at his Seattle Parish and a BSA Scoutmaster of Chief Seattle Troop 1946. Maureen is an American Heritage Girls leader and a professional florist for weddings, churches and conferences and gala banquets. Maureen will cater the delicious Friday lunch and the Friday night Leadership Dinner.
John
and
Michelle
Charba,
both
Christendom
College
alums,
are 16-year
Catholic
homeschool
parents
of
seven
children.
Their
eldest
child
is
in
her
sophomore
year
at
Wyoming
Ctholic
College.
John
is
a
native
Texan
and
got
his
love
of
the
BBQ
from
all
their
family
gatherings
in
the
Lone
Star
State.
John
has
worked
for
the
State
of
Washington
legislature
for
19
years.
The
Charbas
are
members
of St.
George
the
Great
Martyr
Byzantine
Parish
in
Olympia.
John will
barbecue
lunch
on
Saturday
with
the
help
of
friends
from
the
Knights
of
Columbus.
They
will
serve
the
same
delicious
meal
provided
at
the
annual
August
Our
Lady
of
Perpetual
Help
Shrine
picnic.
Katherine
Eames, MBA, CMB and John
Eames, MBA, CPA have
served the Northwest
Catholic Family Education
Conference since 1994.
Katherine and John are the
parents of seven, having
home educated the two
youngest. The Eames' home
education has benefited
from many influences:
notably,
Maria Montessori,
Father John ardon,
the
Eastern Catholic Church,
Billings LIFE Leaders in
Fertility Education,
40 Days
for Life, coed
Sea Scouts of the Boy
Scouts of America
and
Musica Sacra.
Julia
Fogassy was born and
raised in the Pacific
Northwest. She and her
husband Karl have been blessed with nine
children, ages 15 to 38.
Julia owns
Our Father's House
which is dedicated to providing
families with educational
materials. She has been a
home educator for twenty-five
years and serves as the chairman
for the Archdiocesan Committee
on Scouting. Julia was one
of the founding members of the
Northwest Catholic Family
Education Conference. She is an expert in
homeschool conference
organization, and serves as our consultant
and co-treasurer.
Laura Keegan lives in
Snohomish with her beloved
husband, Joe, and their five
children ages 1 to 9
years. She is grateful for
the freedom to homeschool
her children and for the
homeschool community who has
taught her so much.
Prior to having children,
Laura and Joe spent their
free time photographing
God's great beauty in the
wilderness. Once
their first child was
born, they turned their
cameras to their new
favorite subject - now
they enjoy photographing
God's great beauty in
their children and other
people. For the past two years,
Laura has quietly walked around
taking pictures at the NW
Catholic Family Education
Conference and has been
invited back to do the same
again this year.
Albert and Bonnie Landry, Cobble Hill, B.C.Albert and Bonnie Landry live in the tiny hamlet of Cobble Hill on Vancouver Island, B.C. They have been homeschooling their little brood since 1991, using an eclectic blend of resources and methods for an eclectic blend of children. Their collective family interests range from ballroom dancing, historical fiction, debating tenets of the Catholic faith in a heated manner, swordplay, writing, speech arts, music, scrabble, cookery and socializing to road hockey and attending Catholic homeschooling conferences. Their seven darlings range in age from 25-5 years of age.
The Landrys are involved in a new ministry in their dioceses of Victoria on Vancouver Island. A mentoring minstry for couples in the first ten years of marriage has been started up; "Holy Familes," meet once a month for a potluck and discussion on a variety of topics meaningful to young families starting out.
In her spare time, Bonnie writes articles, sometimes for money but mostly not. She has been a regular contributor to a family life article called "Face the Day" for the last two years. A couple of her articles that appeared in This Rock are "Yelling at Leslie" and "A Case for Home Education".
Catherine Sauvage, R.N. and Lester Sauvage M.D. , home educators of two beautiful daughters, advocate for the best of tradition and science. The Sauvages are members of Seattle's Byzantine St. John Chrysostom Parish; Catherine is a retired oncology nurse, Lester is a practicing geriatric internist. Lester is a member of the Catholic Medical Association and the men's pick up basketball group at Mercer Island's Saint Monica Parish. Catherine promotes Nourishing Traditions as natural means for enhancing health and fertility and appreciates the icons of the east and the sacred music of the west.
If you would like to volunteer to help with the conference, please e-mail us. Conference volunteers will be invited to receive a discount on registration.