Past Academic Instructors' Information
Janie Barbosa (Introduction to Rhetoric, Honors High School Rhetoric I, and Honors High School Rhetoric II)
Janie Barbosa hails from a long line of educators and delights in continuing the family (and historical) tradition of teaching. Graduating with her BA in education from Northwest Nazarene University, Janie obtained state certification in both Washington and Idaho and immediately began instructing secondary students in the subjects of English writing and literature in the public school setting. Janie has 16 years of classroom and curriculum-development experience and has worked as an online instructor since embarking on the adventure of motherhood. Aside from WAC, she is currently Master Teacher of AP English Language and Composition for HSLDA Online Academy.
As a homeschooling mother, Janie takes great interest in literacy-based education – its history, its preservation, and its ability to inform truly mature communication. When she is not teaching, Janie unabashedly nurtures her addiction to educational texts, though she reserves her summers for getting lost in poetry and the woods (preferably at the same time). Her favorite authors include Charles Dickens, E.B. White, J.R.R.Tolkien, Emily Dickinson, Langston Hughes, and Rudyard Kipling.
Janie’s non-literary hobbies are music, art, and gardening. She is blessed by a husband who encourages her in these pursuits and a daughter who shares them.
Tracey Barracca (Introduction to English, Middle School Literature and Composition)
Tracey Barracca graduated from the University of South Carolina Honors College with a degree in English Literature, concentrating in Russian Language and Literature. Upon graduation, she served for 11 years with Cru, teaching first on college campuses, then in her role as trainer for Cru’s National Human Resources Department, and later with Chase Bank. From 2014-2016, she served as Director of the Classical Conversations middle school program in Berea, teaching Classical Writing, Literature, Logic, Latin, and Christian worldview. During the 2016-2017 school year, she taught Classical Conversations’ intensive English grammar and writing course to upper-elementary aged children, and middle school Creative Writing at WAC.
Tracey has homeschooled her three children for 13 years. She and her husband Steve and children have lived in Madison County for 12 years, where they are active members of Trinity Church PCA.
Kara Crispin (Intro to English and Intermediate English)
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Kara Crispin graduated with her Bachelors in Science of Nursing from Berea College and worked as a nurse for several years in Oregon and Kentucky. She has taught in the Classical Conversations elementary program and middle school program, tutoring students in Latin, Math, Science, Rhetoric, and Literature and Composition. Living and studying overseas throughout Middle and High School, gave her a deep appreciation for the English language and effective communication. She firmly believes that through the study of language arts, every student is capable of presenting their ideas clearly whether written or spoken.
Kara has been homeschooling her children, ages 12, 10, and 8, for the past seven years. Her family lives in Berea where they love to garden, raise rabbits, read, and remodel their house; not always in that order.
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Mrs. Jessica Duncan (High School Spanish I and High School Spanish II)
Mrs. Jessica Duncan is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a BA in Spanish Teaching. She has a Master of Arts in Teacher Leadership with a concentration in English as a Second Language from Georgetown College. She taught Spanish 1, 2, and 3 to high school students in the Fayette County school system at Tates Creek High School before stepping away to stay home with her three sons- Judah, age 8, Asher, age 6, and Levi, age 3. For the past three years, she has taught Spanish 1 and 2 to homeschool students. Mrs. Duncan is passionate about education, language acquisition, and culture. She enjoys reading, learning, and being with her family.
Originally from Colombia, South America, Mrs. Duncan spoke Spanish as her first language. At the age of 5, her family moved to Georgia (United States) where she was raised. She and her husband, Josh, have been married for 16 years and have lived in Kentucky for almost 15 years working as part of a college ministry team.
Dr. Rod Eisenberg (High School Chemistry)
Rod Eisenberg has taught chemistry at the collegiate undergraduate and graduate levels in the Texas A&M system and Eastern Kentucky University for over ten years. He and his wife Jenny have homeschooled their five children for over 20 years during which time Rod has conducted numerous homeschool coop classes and topics in chemistry and science.
Rod holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Boise State University, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from Oregon State University, and has been a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Zürich, Switzerland. He has recently completed an MA in Theology from Liberty Seminary. Currently Rod runs his own chemistry and analysis company, which prepares chemical standards for the chemical and diagnostic industries, and conducts research and development for the pharmaceutical and chemical industry.
Jessica Evans (MS General Science and MS Earth or Life Science, MS Intro to English)
Mrs. Evans received her Associate's Degree in Healthcare Administration in 2002. She worked in the Healthcare field until 2011 when she pursued her Education Degree. Mrs. Evans graduated in 2012 from Eastern Kentucky University and began teaching at the Lexington Latin School, where she taught for 3 years. She left the Latin School to begin teaching at Trinity Christian Academy in Lexington, where she taught for 3 years.
Mrs. Evans took off a year from teaching to run her nonprofit, Defender of the Fatherless. Through this nonprofit, she is able to support an orphanage in the Philippines from where her oldest son was adopted. She has spent the last year homeschooling her sixth and seventh graders, while her oldest (a sophomore) attends Madison Central.
Jessica Evans and her husband David have been married for 22 wonderful years. They have 3 beautiful children (Noah, Lily, and Rommel), and together they run a nonprofit.
Deborah Jackson (Middle School and High School Physical Education)
Deborah has been a beloved physical education instructor for the Wellspring Homeschool Co-op for over 5 years. She exhibits enthusiasm for the subject and is an excellent role model of living a healthy active life. Deborah has participated on many sports teams including those for volleyball, softball, soccer, and golf. She is also an avid runner, gardener, and volunteer.
Originally from Iowa, Deborah moved to Kentucky to attend UK where she earned her Master's Degree in Sociology with emphasis in social inequalities. Before deciding to homeschool, she worked for the Council on Postsecondary Education (the state college and university coordinating board) during which time she also completed her teaching certification program in Special Education for Students with Mild to Moderate Disabilities. Deborah has also worked for the Kentucky Health Department on the Breast Cancer Research Team and for the United Way of the Bluegrass.
She has twin boys and lives in rural Madison County where she raises them as well as a flock of chickens, handful of barn cats, and a farm dog.
Sarah Hood (MS Intermediate English, Honor's HS English 1/2, and Honor's HS English 3/4)
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Mrs. Hood is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University with a Bachelor's in Middle Grades Education focused in English and Social Studies. Following her first two years of teaching, she completed her Master's in Gifted Education for preschool through 12th grade. She taught 8th grade English Language Arts for three years at B. Michael Caudill Middle School before teaching 7th grade English Language Arts at Estill County Middle School for two years. While teaching, she served as the English Department Leader and the Writing Cohort Leader, as well as serving as the Vice President of the Jesse Stuart Literacy Council as part of the Kentucky Reading Association. Mrs. Hood focuses her instruction to be engaging and scaffolded to meet each student's literacy needs in a way that makes writing, reading, discussion, and grammar more compelling while growing each student's abilities.
Mrs. Hood stepped away from public education to focus on home educating her two children and is happy to bring her knowledge, experience, and love of teaching to the Wellspring community.
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Amelia King (High School Spanish I/II) -
Amelia King is a 2010 graduate of Transylvania University, holding a Bachelors of Arts degree in Spanish Language and Literature. Originally from Lexington, she now lives in Richmond with her husband Aaron and toddler twin daughters. Amelia is a member of Ashland Avenue Baptist Church where she serves as an assistant director of the children's ministry. Amelia and her husband met in Lima, Peru (though they grew up in neighboring Kentucky cities); they now enjoy using their knowledge of Spanish in regular travels to Peru through their church. Amelia has also used her Spanish locally to volunteer at the Salvation Army and help recent Hispanic immigrants adjust to American life. She enjoys building friendships that would otherwise be prevented by language barriers.
Because Amelia fell in love with the Spanish language in middle school, whereas her husband, who hated Spanish classes in school, only became interested in learning the language after a college mission trip to Argentina, she understands the precise differences between analytical versus conceptual language learner personalities. She looks forward to working with students, whatever their learning style may be while teaching Spanish I and II with WAC this year!
Rebekah Nutter (HS Spanish I and HS Spanish II)
Mrs. Nutter is a 1989 graduate of Cornell University with a Bachelor’s in Asian Studies, and additional studies in Spanish language, literature, and anthropology. From 1992 – 1995 she was a Peace Corps volunteer in Costa Rica, where she taught Spanish, English, Math, Social Studies, and Science to students in grades 7 – 12, and Spanish literacy to adults. After her Peace Corps service ended, she entered a graduate program in bilingual education at San Francisco State University. While in California, Mrs. Nutter earned her teaching credential. She taught a bilingual class in Oakland California for 4 years. After her marriage in 2001, Mrs. Nutter continued to teach part time in a community college, as a private tutor, and as a homeschool Spanish teacher for children and adults. Since moving to Kentucky in 2008, Mrs. Nutter has continued to teach Spanish, as well as tutoring for Classical Conversations.
Her teaching philosophy is that students learn best when they work hard and have fun. Her Spanish classes center around constructing stories together in Spanish, with a lot of reading, writing, and Spanish conversation in every class. Students focus on communicating competently in Spanish, while contributing their creative ideas to make each week’s stories truly unique and entertaining.
Mrs. Nutter lives in Wilmore with her husband of 19 years, her daughter (17) and her son (12). They own and operate a martial arts studio in Nicholasville. She is excited to join the Wellspring community and help even more students learn to love Spanish!
Brian Ramsay (Intro to Computer Programming - HS Credit Elective)
Mr. Ramsay received a BS in Computer Science from Taylor University in 2005. He worked for many years as a Software Developer and DevOps Engineer for a healthcare company, and now works for Berea College with their Student Software Development Team. Mr. Ramsay enjoys introducing people to the fun of computer programming and creating something from nothing to solve a problem. Brian Ramsay and his wife Michelle have lived in Berea for 7 years, moving here from sunny (and hot) South Florida to be nearer to family. If you know a Ramsay around here (spelled with an -ay), they are related. Mr. Ramsay and Michelle have 3 kids, 9, 7, and 5 years old, whose main interest in computers so far are games and YouTube, but he is working on them.
Maggie Ramsay
Maggie Ramsay holds a BA in English Teaching (certification for grades 8-12) and an MA in Education (reading/writing emphases, certification for grades K-12). As well, she possesses certification to teach Language Arts for grades 5-8. Mrs. Ramsay has taught at both Model Lab and Berea Community as a long term substitute teacher for middle school language arts. More recently, she taught for four years at Madison Southern High School as a 9th Grade English Teacher.
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Mrs. Ramsay brings understanding to the nuances of writing instruction for middle and high school students. Her experience is solid as well as diverse. She has not only tutored for programs like First Steps and Upward Bound, but she continues to utilize her teaching experience by working and volunteering with the Madison County Classical Conversations and Heritage Homeschool Co-ops where she tutors a Foundations class and teaches High School English.
Maggie Ramsay has enjoyed traveling through Europe, including a summer program at King’s College in London studying women writers in Victorian England. A homeschooling mom herself, she is married with three small children. Brimming with expertise and enthusiasm, Mrs. Ramsay is an asset to the Wellspring Academic Center’s language arts.
Jared Rose (HS Honors English 1/2 )
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Jared Rose received a B.A. in English from Eastern Kentucky University in 2019. During his time at EKU, Jared worked as a Course-Embedded Consultant (CEC) for the Noel Studio for Academic Creativity. As a CEC, Jared provided additional support to first-year composition students in English 101 and 102 courses by consulting with students both inside and outside of the classroom, analyzing student assignments, providing feedback on structure and content, and facilitating the brainstorming, planning, drafting, and revising of student writing assignments.
Jared also worked as the Editor in Chief of Aurora—EKU’s Literary and Arts Journal. For Aurora, Jared managed a staff of editors and a marketing team to successfully get a literary and arts journal up and running from scratch. In addition to managing Aurora, Jared simultaneously volunteered for America Reads and worked with first graders at Glenn Marshall Elementary School in Richmond, KY to help develop and maintain students' reading skills.
Jared lives in Richmond, KY and has a passion for the English language, and for literature in general, which he is happy to have the opportunity to share with the Wellspring Homeschool Community.
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Lisa Rousch (HS Honors American Lit/Comp, HS Honors British Lit/Comp)
2018-2019
Lisa Roush has been an educator for 25 years. She graduated from Towson University with a double major in English and secondary education. She also earned a graduate degree from the University of Baltimore majoring in publication design with a concentration in creative writing. After teaching high school English and theater, then working in marketing and development for Johns Hopkins University, she came home to raise and home educate her four children. She founded the Madison County campus of Classical Conversations and currently teaches adult education classes for EKU. She loves literature (from Shakespeare to Vonnegut) and enjoys helping students become effective writers. She’s been in Kentucky for 12 years and has graduated one child, is about to graduate her next and has 2 high schoolers still at home. She and her family worship at Trinity Church, PCA in Richmond.
Kim Short (Consumer Economics and Personal Finance- HS Credit Elective)
Kim Short received her B.S. in Accounting from EKU in 2009. Before that, she spent four years working for a local bank. In 2008, she became part of the leadership team that formed Wellspring Homeschool Community and has been its treasurer ever since. During that time she has taught many classes for Wellspring in the area of finance, architecture, current events, life skills, and yearbook production.
Kim has been married to her husband for 24 years and they have three children that have all been homeschooled. She has graduated one and the other two are still in high school. She and her family live on a small farm in Waco where they grow vegetables, fruit, dogs, kids, and mosquitoes.
Kimberly Taylor (Honors High School Physical Science, Honors High School Biology, Honors High School Biology Lab, Honors High School Chemistry)
Mrs. Taylor has received a BS in Chemistry and a BS in Microbiology from Alderson Broaddus College. She pursued her graduate work at UK in the field of Microbiology and Immunology. She worked for a private research firm investigating monoclonal antibodies to brain and breast cancer and ran a thyroid cancer lab at UK. She has papers published in Clinical and Experimental Metastasis and Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.
Mrs. Taylor has been married for over 27 years. She just graduated her fourth (and last) child after 20 years of homeschooling. She has taught in multiple homeschool environments and at all age levels. She currently attends Ashland Church.
Carol Woolverton (Intro to English and Intermediate English)