Miss Dionne is a native Floridian. She has been married to her husband, Weylu, for 18 years. They have three children (13, 16, and 17) and one fur baby, BAMA. Their homeschooling journey began eight years ago, and she joined LAF’s amazing team of facilitators in 2018. Dionne holds an Associate of Arts degree with a focus on Early Elementary Education from Manatee Community College. Dionne is an active member of Bayside Community Church, serving in the cafe.
Wendy Coffey
Pre-K, Thursdays
Wendy is a mom of six children, ages 4-22 years old. She has homeschooled her children for more than 19 years. Wendy believes every child is different and every homeschool family is different. She is passionate about helping new homeschool families find a “grove” that works for them.
3 – 5 Literature
Leah Genheimer
Self-Contained Kindergarten, Thursdays
Leah grew up in a small town in Minnesota. She and her family have been living in Bradenton, FL, for the past 12 years. From the time her oldest was four, Leah has been homeschooling her kids – a total of 8 years and 5 kids later. About four years in, they joined LAF and loved the community and doing life with other homeschoolers. Leah has been a facilitator at LAF for three years. She loves the unit study approach to learning and implements it in her classroom. Her goal in education is for kids to be able to see God in all His creation.
Soon Sim Hakes
K – 3 Art, Thursdays
Sim grew up in Malaysia and came to the US to attend college when she was 19. Since Malaysia is a multicultural country, she is fluent in English, Mandarin, Cantonese, and Malay. She graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a Master of Science in Civil Engineering. Sim has been with Learning and Families for the past 7 years. She has three girls, ages 11, 9, and 6 and has been homeschooling all of them since they were in Kindergarten. She is passionate about homeschooling and especially loves the flexibility and freedom of homeschooling. Growing up, Sim really enjoyed art and being creative. When she was in middle school, one of her works of art was actually turned into a school mural. She is very excited to be teaching the K – 3 Art next school year!
Olga Halo
Kristin Henry
Self-Contained Kindergarten, Tuesdays
Kristin is a born-and-raised Florida Cracker! Kristin and her husband of 16 years welcomed a beautiful baby girl into their family in 2016. They knew homeschool life was what God was calling them to, early on. After their daughter completed VPK at a preparatory school, they joined LAF. The family has really enjoyed being a part of this community. Kristin’s favorite parts of homeschooling are how excited her daughter gets when she learns something new and bringing everything back to God and His amazing creation!
K – 3 Science
Jamie Sciensinski has been a part of Learning and Families since 2019. She was born and raised in Florida, graduated from Riverview High School in 2000, and went on to get her cosmetology license in 2001. Jamie married her best friend Tom Sciesinski in 2004 and had their first daughter Tyler in 2006. Being raised in a Christian home, Jamie was not content with public school and started homeschooling Tyler after her 2nd grade year. She has continued to do so while working part time. Jamie had her second daughter Hazel in 2014. Thanks to the help of her parents and her teaching, she has been blessed to keep them both homeschooled. Jamie opened her own salon in 2018. Her interests include animals, sports photography, homesteading, djing at ballgames, and basically anything crafty. She can never tire of learning anything biblically. She spends lots of time watching her two favorite girls, Tyler and Hazel, playing softball.
K – 3 National Parks Unit Studies, Tuesdays
Kimberly Souren is a retired trapeze artist. She was raised traveling the world and being homeschool by her parents. She loves the freedom that homeschooling allows and also being able to spend more time with her children.
Pre – K
Allana has an early childhood education degree with a reading endorsement from Malone University in Ohio. Allana married her husband Luke while in college and celebrated their 11-year anniversary in June. Allana’s family moved to North Port in May of 2021, as her husband serves as a children’s pastor in a church in Port Charlotte. Allana has three kids and has been homeschooling for five years. Allana and her kids love being a part of the LAF community. She taught at a private Christian school for two years before staying home with her kids. She has taught online for the past seven years in various capacities. Allana is also a private tutor both in person and online.
K – 3 Art,Tuesdays
Crystal graduated from Southeastern University with a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education in 2001. A few months later, she married her husband Jeff. She taught 1st and 2nd grade for four years, and during that time, she moved from Tennessee to Florida. She has been teaching at LAF for 11 years and teaching art for the majority of that time. She is mom to five children: Macayla, Mariah, Joshua, Andrew, and Elizabeth. She enjoys teaching, homeschooling, being with her family, doing art, reading books, camping, kayaking, and playing board games.
K – 3 National Parks Unit Studies, Thursdays
Jacqueline Zdrojowy, affectionately known as Mrs. JZ, grew up in Birmingham, AL. If you happen to run into her on an autumn Saturday, she will more than likely be wearing a crimson t-shirt and will probably input Roll Tide into your conversation at some point. Jacqueline has been married to her husband Brian for sixteen years, and they have seven beautiful children (six biological and one adopted). Jacqueline has been homeschooling for ten years. She has been actively involved in serving and ministering for over eighteen years and currently serves as the CEO of Pregnancy Solutions. She believes that no matter one’s background or story, it only takes one generation of change to change the story for all future generations.. Jacqueline loves serving alongside her husband at a local church they planted in 2013 and is always planning her family’s next road trip adventure.
