Our Director
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Emily Tussey
Emily Tussey has a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education and a Master’s Degree in Learning Experience Design and Educational Technology. She is a native of Phoenix and has two kids, Benjamin (7) and Claire (5). She taught in public schools for 6 years before taking some time off to be home with her kids. She has enjoyed working with homeschoolers for the last couple of years and is so excited to join Ignite as the Elementary Director.
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Our Tutors
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Megan Bloom
Megan graduated with Bachelor's degrees in both Communication and Psychology from The University of Colorado. One of Megan’s greatest privileges and blessings was to homeschool her own children and help other homeschool families. The Bloom family has grown by leaps and bounds in the past ten years!
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Christine Busch
Christine has always known she wanted to be a teacher. She followed that dream by earning her bachelor’s degree in Early and Elementary Education with a focus on special needs at Southern Wesleyan University in South Carolina. She began her career teaching in a public-school classroom before transitioning into homeschooling with her own family.
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Janice Ernest
Janice Ernest is a dedicated educator who recently joined Ignite as a homeschool mom and tutor, following a calling to homeschool her youngest daughter. She served as an assistant teacher at North Phoenix Great Hearts Academy from 2021 to 2025, transitioning from a career in healthcare back to her passion for teaching.
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Stacie Fischer
Stacie Fischer, a Phoenix native, graduated from Arizona State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Language Arts. She began her teaching career in the public education system in 2002 and still currently holds a K-8 teaching certificate in the state of Arizona.
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Sendy Green
Sendy began working toward a degree in Religious Education in 1998, and after taking time to focus on their growing family for 22 years, she has renewed her pursuit toward completing her bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Creative Writing. She has had 26 years of experience with religious education including teaching Bible classes from babies through middle school…
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Melanie Ketterling
Melanie Ketterling earned her BA in Elementary Education from Ottawa University. Melanie is AZ certified, with a full SEI endorsement, and is highly qualified in Language Arts. She has had 20+ years working with children birth-8th grade in preschool and classroom settings. She spent 9 of those years in the classroom, at a local private Christian school, as either a full-time/lead teacher or a substitute teacher.
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Melanie Kilcup
Melanie Kilcup earned a Bachelors of Science in Elementary and Special Education through Northern Arizona University and a Masters in Special Education from Grand Canyon University. Melanie was homeschooled herself and loves the homeschool community.
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Trista Maestas
Trista has been in education for 17 years. Most of those years were as a middle school science, Bible and math teacher at two Christian schools in California. Trista is a lifelong learner, with two bachelor's degrees from San Jose State University; one in Psychology and the other in Natural Sciences, as well as a master’s degree in Biology from Grand Canyon University in 2019.
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Anna McAffee
Anna is a homeschool graduate who is passionate about everything DANCE! She began ballet at three years old and her love for dance grew as she continued dancing until she graduated high school. Along with years of dance performances, she has also danced in church. With pastors for parents Anna has always been involved with ministry…
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Pam Mitchell
Pam has two adult children that she homeschooled for 15 years. She was a member of a homeschool co-op where she was the special events coordinator for a year, co-director for two years and the teen girl leader for a year. She received her Bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and...
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Tammy Mitchell
Tammy’s love of art began as a child - like most littles - and never got out of her system! As a young mother of 7, she taught painting classes to many children and adults for several years. She designed and wrote 8 “How To” decorative painting publications and began a decorative painting business which led to co-owning a custom and unfinished furniture shop with her husband.
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Kristene Moreno
Kristine has chosen to dedicate the last fifteen years of her life to her family by staying at home and homeschooling her three children. She loves expressing her creativity through DIY projects and interior design. She also enjoys being in nature and the adventures of camping! She looks forward to the company of her friends while grabbing a nice cup of coffee, but most of all she loves spending time with her kids.
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Kristen Patterson
Kristen Patterson earned her BA from Cal-State San Bernardino on a teaching track in 2006. She has been a substitute teacher, taught English to students in China (online), and has homeschooled her 6 children for 15 years. She currently teaches preschool with her husband of 26 years, at their church.
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Tisha Pena
Tisha has been a dedicated paraprofessional and homeschooling mom who, along with her husband, has successfully homeschooled her daughter through high school, celebrating her graduation last year from Ignite! Tisha, aka Mrs. Peña, is a returning tutor who teaches with a heart full of love for Jesus and her family.
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Brenda Prefling
Brenda has been married to her husband, Tom, for fifty wonderful years, and she is a mother to four and grandmother to ten rowdy grandchildren, ranging from five to twenty-two. She even raised one of Ignite’s Directors (Erin) and positively spoiled one of our tutors (Maddy) as she grew up! Brenda has been involved in homeschooling for many years.
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Tiffani Reid
Tiffani Reid grew up in Georgia and Florida and moved to Phoenix in 1993. Since graduating from Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee, she has been working as a teacher for over twenty years in some capacity, whether within the public, private, charter, or homeschool setting.
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Emmalee Rivera
Bio coming soon!
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Liane Shrable
Liane grew up in Guadalajara, Mexico, where her family worked as missionaries for "Life for Latins" until the age of nine. Liana attended college in Spokane, WA where she received her Associates of Arts with an emphasis in Musical Performance, including studies in opera. Music has been the largest influence in Liane's life. She loves serving on the worship team at Calvary Chapel Arise in Wittman, Arizona.
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Kaci Underwood
Kaci Underwood is an Arizona native who, alongside her wonderful husband, Daniel, is raising five children ranging in age from 6 to 18. With a heart for education, Kaci spent 9 years teaching early education at a local Christian school before transitioning to homeschooling her children two years ago, following God's guidance.
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Katiebeth Van Gysel
Katiebeth Van Gysel was born and raised in Arizona and attended Grand Canyon University where she earned her degree in business and marketing. She is a homeschool graduate and has enjoyed subbing for a private Christian school in the valley. Katiebeth is excited to be a part of the homeschool environment as a tutor…
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Nicole White
Nicole White graduated with a Bachelors of Social Work from Arizona State University. She also holds her Master of Social Work from Our Lady of the Lake University. Nicole currently works in a behavioral health setting part-time. Nicole began homeschooling her 3 children in 2020 as a result of education moving online, but quickly learned that it was a gift from God.