Guys, here’s my story. It’s kinda long, but it’s pretty cool. Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy.

So back in 2020 I was teaching in a 3rd grade classroom. All our worlds were turned upside down when Covid hit. Here came the days of Zoom meetings, video recorded lessons, and scheduled homework drop-offs and pick-ups. Masks, temperature taking, standing 6 feet apart in the hallways, activities cancelled, and many more nightmarish things became the norm. A little voice in the back of my head started asking questions. Like maybe, this is the right time to step away and try something new?

I had two friends, Mandi and Mandy, who had been homeschooling their kids during this time. I had also been hearing a lot about homeschool pods popping up who were looking for teachers. I thought it might be fun to homeschool with a group and maybe Mandi and Mandy would want to join my kids and me.

I remember sitting on the couch with the text written, knowing if I hit “send”, my life might take a new direction. So I did it. I texted Mandy-with-a-y asking her if she might be interested in getting a homeschool group together and I could be the lead teacher.

Long story short, she said yes. She talked to Mandi-with-an-i who also said yes. We got together in March of 2021 and thought, if we are all interested in this, there are probably others in our community too who would be interested. So we spent a mad spring/summer, coming up with a name, filing for our non-profit status, securing a location - Good Shepherd Church, we LOVE it! - sending info out to the community, meeting with our state representative, choosing curriculum, purchasing supplies, and so much more!

We officially opened our own homeschool co-op called Lighthouse Learning! We started with 10 amazing kids. This year, 2024, we have 21 students, three full time tutors plus one part time tutor.