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.