JUNIOR CO-OP FACILITATORS​
Our Facilitators

Dionne Chang 

3 – 5 Science
 

Dionne Chang has been a part of Learning and Families for the past seven years. She joined the Junior Co-op science team in 2018, facilitating the upper elementary levels. She enjoys bringing the subject matter to life through experiments, games, dissections, and hands-on STEAM projects.

Dionne is a native Floridian, raised in Tampa. She moved to Bradenton 20 years ago and graduated from Sickles High School, in Tampa, in 2000. She has an Associate of Arts degree with a focus in Early Elementary Education from Manatee Community College, presently know
as State College of Florida. She has been married to her husband, Weylu, for 17 years. They have three amazing kids and a golden fur baby. Dionne enjoys spending time with family. They recently all started shooting archery. She loves playing games, working out in the gym, and going to the beach. Dionne is a member of Bayside Community Church and enjoys being a part of women’s small groups.

 

Wendy Coffey

Pre-K, Thursdays

Wendy is a mom of six children ages 3-21 years old. She has homeschooled her children for over 18 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.

Email Wendy

Jessica Falde 
3 – 5 Literature
 
Born and raised in the Sarasota/Bradenton area, Jessica attended school and college locally. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology from the University of South Florida and completed 45 hours of coursework toward her Masters Degree in Mental Health and School Counseling before becoming a full-time stay-at-home mother. She and her husband have three amazing children: a daughter in high school, a son in middle school, and another daughter in elementary school. Jessica is entering her 9th year of homeschooling and her 5th year with Learning and Families. In addition to homeschooling her children, Jessica has been an ESL teacher to native Chinese-speaking students since 2017. When Jessica isn’t teaching or busy with her children’s sports and dance schedules, she enjoys boating with her family, being outdoors, and reading! Jessica loves children’s literature and has always enjoyed writing. She is excited to share that love and joy with the many wonderful students at Learning and Families!

Leah Genheimer 

Self-Contained Kindergarten, Tuesdays

Leah moved to the Bradenton area eleven years ago with her husband Luke to go into sports ministry. Shortly after that, she started homeschooling. She has grown to have a passion for it and loves to help others in their homeschool journey. After a few years of homeschooling on her own with five kids, Leah found LAF and loved the community it created for their family. This will be her third year as a facilitator. She loves the unit study approach to learning and taking every opportunity in that approach to share about God.
Brandi McNulty 

K – 3 Unit Studies with Gather Round

Brandi is a Florida state certified teacher with a Master’s degree from the College of Education at Florida State University. She has been teaching in the state of Florida since 2003. Even after transitioning to home-schooling, Brandi has remained active in the field of education by working for various school boards in Florida as well as attending conferences as an advisor for various teaching certification tests.

 

Brandi has been married to her husband, Kevin, since 2006. They have three beautiful children: Abi, Kevin, and Emma. Brandi homeschools all three of her children as well as being a facilitator at LAF. When she is not busy teaching, she enjoys outdoor time with her family, the beach, fishing, and various theme parks.

Vanessa Santos

Self-Contained Kindergarten, Thursdays

 

Vanessa Santos earned her Early Childhood Education Associate and has over 11 years of experience working with students (infants – Kindergartners) and their parents. She had worked as a private school classroom teacher and has been homeschooling two of her three boys for the last two years. She enjoys working with children IMMENSELY – helping them discover and experience the world around them more fully. She makes a point to help students feel comfortable in the classroom and confident in their abilities while following children’s interest and fostering their innate curiosity.  

Vanessa is married to Anthony and they have three awesome kiddos (also lots of chickens!) She loves art, reading, podcasts, science, music, and moving through nature as often as possible. She basically loves life…and freshly made sweet tea. 

She is excited to dip her toes back into the world of teaching with a new perspective as a parent of children who are loving the homeschooling lifestyle.

 
 
 
Jamie Sciesinski

K – 3 Science, Tuesdays

 

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.

 
 
 

Olga Spitsa

3 – 5 Art
 
Olga was born in Ukraine and moved to the U.S. when she was nine. She lived all over the U.S. and finally settled in Florida in 2004 after she married her husband Vlad. Putting her physical therapy career on hold, Olga homeschools her three boys, Simon (13), Jasper (8), and Oren (6). She designs wallpaper for a paper company based in Portland, Oregon. Olga enjoys reading, collecting plants, and traveling with her men.

Email Olga

Allana Williams

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 10-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 3 kids and has been homeschooling the oldest for 3 years and the middle joins them this year. Allana and her kids are excited to be a part of the LAF community.

 
Allana taught at a private Christian school for 2 years before staying home with her kids. She has taught online for the past 5 years in various capacities. Allana is also a private tutor both in person and online.
 
 
 
Crystal Yanniccello 

K – 3 Art

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 4 years, and during that time, she moved from Tennessee to Florida. She is mom to 5 children: Macayla, Mariah, Joshua, Andrew, and Elizabeth. She enjoys teaching, homeschooling, being with her family, doing art, reading books, camping, and kayaking.