New England Consortium of Classical Educators was founded by Sarah Abbott, Timothy Knotts, and Heatherly Sylvia in 2022 in partnership with Kepler Education. NECCE exists to point New Englanders to the unifying Truth found in Christ and His creation, the Good of fellowship with like-minded individuals, and the Beauty reflected in great works of literature, science, and art, through teaching, conversation, and conferences. Whether you are affiliated with a classical school, are a classical homeschooler, or are a life-long learner interested in redeeming your education alongside fellow New Englanders, the NECCE will have something to support you.

THE CONSORTIUM OF CLASSICAL EDUCATORS IS AN INITIATIVE OF KEPLER EDUCATION TO PROVIDE RESOURCES AND REGIONAL CONNECTIONS FOR CHRISTIAN FAMILIES, TEACHERS, AND EDUCATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO EXPAND THE REACH OF CLASSICAL EDUCATION AND FOSTER HUMAN FLOURISHING FOR GENERATIONS TO COME.

George Harrell grew up in the foothills of northern Idaho, where he immersed himself in the classics, both old and new, as well as the historical worlds that created them. He graduated with an MA in Trinitarian Theology and Letters from New Saint Andrews College in 2013. Since then he has developed and taught online high school courses in the humanities, in addition to writing and public lecturing. Teaching Philosophy One of the greatest gifts we can give our children is a lifelong passion for learning. Teachers should exemplify this mindset, emphasizing that learning is a gift that extends beyond formal education. We need to honor the wisdom of our ancestors, striving to understand their beliefs and not take them for granted or reject them out of hand. Our education should always pursue what is true, beautiful, and good, and should seek out the embedded order and design that God has built into creation, while also creatively exploring its complexity and nuance. Statement of Faith I hold to the historic Christian faith taught in scripture and the creeds. Christ is the unapproachable and everlasting light that guides our understanding, and it is through the love shared in Him, for one another and all creation that we are able to apprehend His love for us. This continually motivates us to apply that love in our study of ourselves, our world, and our Maker as we seek to be conformed to the image of our God. Parent and Student Feedback "George (Mr. Harrell), Just wanted to thank you, as a homeschool mom, for the way that you teach and pour into your online classes. The boys always enjoy having you. Your excitement is what keeps them engaged and trying hard. The way that you get to personally know them is also greatly appreciated because often the 'personal' is lost in online settings. You try to get to know your students a little better which causes them to enjoy the class and look forward to the meeting time each week. You really want them to have fun learning and I think you pull it off very well. It has been a pleasure to have you teach several of our children. I only wish we had found you sooner. We highly recommend your classes. Thanks for everything! Kelly Rietema" "Thank you so much Mr. Harrell for teaching me this year! This class was wonderful! It both stretched and interested me and I am very thankful to have learned US history from you!" - Grace "Definitely the best history class I have ever taken. I’ve never been so invested in a topic, and also so sad to leave a class." - Dylan Podcast Interviews with George Harrell: Kepler Consortium Podcast: Ep. 53 – George Harrell and Our Classical Inheritance More Christ: Episode 128: George Harrell: Idols of American History, Kepler Education & the George Buchanan Forum Kepler Conversations: Kepler Conversations - George Harrell

Tracey Leary is a seasoned educator with more than 20 years of experience teaching in public, private, and homeschool settings. She was born and raised in Panama City, FL, and has lived in Alabama for 30 years, where she attended Huntingdon College on a piano scholarship and graduated with a degree in both Music and English before pursuing a Masters degree in Education at the Auburn campus in Montgomery. She taught at a classical school for four years before homeschooling her three boys. For most of her homeschool years, she was heavily involved in a classical co-op which grew to well over 100 moms and kids, in which she taught, served on the board of directors, and wrote and compiled the humanities curriculum for the secondary grades. Her hobbies are reading, sewing, and baking, and her family enjoys traveling, cheering on the Auburn Tigers, and debating everything from Dante to Star Wars. Teaching Philosophy To paraphrase Charlotte Mason, I believe that what a student knows is not as important as how much a student cares about what he or she knows. To that end, I believe that a quality education for students consists both of reading works that inspire and challenge them and providing a format for them to discuss those works in a group setting with a teacher who is herself inspired and challenged by them. As an educator, my desire is that no student feel intimidated by the Great Books. Rather, I want to help students to see first and foremost, that the reason these books have endured for centuries and are still being read today is not because they are lofty and worthy of being contemplated by the wisest thinkers of our day, although they are that, but because they are at heart Great Stories, which can be read and enjoyed by people of all ages. I provide reading guides for student support as they tackle their focal weekly assignments to help them identify major points and themes in their reading and to formulate questions and ideas they can bring to class discussion. I also pair each literature selection with a selection from history in order to allow the student to simultaneously hear more than one voice from the time period being studied as well as a “living book” which provides a more recent but still valuable exploration of the periods or themes under discussion, all of which are read simultaneously at a moderate pace over several weeks in order to facilitate the student’s ability to ponder the books and make connections among two or three related streams of thought. I also provide an optional assignment drawn from movies, music, and other media that students are encouraged to complete, and which I will use in class discussion, as we explore how the Great Conversation is still taking place all around us. In class, I incorporate a Book of Centuries for chronological understanding as well as other tactile challenges and activities such as map work which dialectic students enjoy, in addition to the discussion that is the heart of our weekly meetings. Statement of Faith I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, that He died for our sins, was resurrected and lives at the right hand of God. I believe this was necessary because mankind’s sin in a historical Garden of Eden irreparably separated him from God, and that from that time we have all been born with a sin nature. Only Christ, who is fully human and fully divine, was born sinless and lived a perfect life, which enabled Him to become the satisfactory sacrifice for sin that God’s justice required. I am a member of an Anglican (ACNA) church in Montgomery and teach with an ecumenical perspective in mind. Testimonials >Mrs. Tracy Leary was a wonderful teacher. She was very helpful when we had questions, very kind in her evaluations, and encouraging to my son. He thrived in this class! *- Cassie Minter, Kepler parent*

Jonathan McIntosh is a philosopher, Tolkien scholar, native Idahoan, and Fellow of Humanities at New Saint Andrews College, where he teaches courses on God, ethics, political philosophy, and economics. He earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Dallas (2009) and is the author of The Flame Imperishable: Tolkien, St. Thomas, and the Metaphysics of Faërie (Angelico Press, 2017). He, his wife Annie, and their four daughters live in Moscow, Idaho. ###Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy is literally to teach philosophy, the love of wisdom, or the knowledge of the order of things, of how to reason back to first principles, and then to reason back again. ###Statement of Faith I believe in the Lord, the origin or first cause of all existence, who eternally subsists in three persons, Father, Son and Spirit, and who reveals Himself in all that He has made and all that He does, in His holy Scriptures, and above all in His Incarnate Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom all things were made and then remade in His Death and Resurrection, and who is the sovereign Lord of History that will return at the Last Judgment and the restoration of all things. The human race fell in Adam and is saved in Christ, whose saving grace is apprehended through faith, which is itself a gift of God. All Christians are called to a life of joyful sacrifice and obedience.

Dr. Karla Memmott is a long-time resident of the Sacramento, California area where she lives with her husband, Kyle and dog, Kona. She home-schooled her children. She continues to support homeschooling parents by teaching online and in-person courses which include history, literature, writing, public speaking, and German. Additionally, she and her husband have coached high school mock trial. Teaching Philosophy My teaching philosophy intentionally focuses on the development of a student’s mind and soul as a human being. My responsibility as a teacher is to interactively guide the student to through literary works which encourage the student toward mature and reasonable thought. Teaching and learning are established based on a relationship mutual respect whereupon the student and I actively work together toward a common goal of student success. I believe that students gain ownership of their respective educational experience by reading participating in interpretive discussions about original source material. Learning becomes a community event within the venue of active Socratic discussion. Statement of Faith I believe that Jesus Christ is God incarnate, who came to earth to interact with and redeem His creation. This act of redemption was necessary due to the fallen, sinful nature of humanity which is the result of the disobedience of our original parents - Adam and Eve. Through the death, burial and resurrection Jesus demonstrates that God is a just, but loving God who seeks restoration and relationship with His people. The invitation is extended to all people. The Church has the privilege and responsibility of introducing people to Jesus by sharing the Gospel with grace, love, and truth. Whereas the Church has the duty to share the invitation of the Gospel, only the Holy Spirit can convict any person. I believe that the triune nature of God is a beautiful mystery that is not fully comprehensible to humankind but is nonetheless experienced by one who walks with God in truth and wisdom. I believe in the unity but diversity of the Church. The unity is based on the core essentials of the Gospel which transcends culture and race. Subsequently the Church unity provides strong testimony in a very divided modern culture. I believe that humans are called to worship the Lord with body, mind, and soul. When the body, mind and soul actively seek and participate in truth, beauty, and goodness genuine worship takes place. I believe that a challenged and engaged mind is a necessary part of worship. I belong to a local church where I teach and participate in adult Bible study courses. Video Introduction [object Object]

Dr. Postma is the president and CEO of Kepler Education. He teaches dual enrollment courses for Kepler in collaboration with Faulkner University and Colorado Christian University. For the past decade, he has lived in the Pacific Northwest with his wife and family. Inspired by the classical and Christian imagination, his passion is to help students obtain a Christian liberal arts education. He formerly served as a minister for 20 years and has served, concurrently, as an educator for nearly 30 years. In the course of his ministry, he helped plant two churches and found two private Christian schools. He earned degrees in the humanities with an emphasis in literature (Ph.D., Faulkner University), classical and Christian studies (M.A.C.C.S., Knox Theological Seminary), religion and English literature (B.S., Liberty University), theology (M.A., B.A., Salt Lake Baptist College), and creative writing (A.A., College of Southern Nevada). Teaching Philosophy I believe the gospel is central to education and the two cannot be separated without compromising human flourishing or diminishing culture. Ultimately, the parents have been given the biblical mandate to bring up their children in the nurture and admonition of the Lord and are, therefore, expected to take primary responsibility for the student’s education. As a teacher, my role is to act as an agent or extension of the home by providing the student with guidance as to the proper resources, a clear set of learning objectives, classroom policies, teacher expectations, timely and effective feedback, and fair and objective assessment of the student’s work. By extension, I am also responsible to provide parents with regular and systematic feedback on their student’s progress. Statement of Faith I am committed to historic Christianity in doctrine and morality and hold firmly to the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds. I am currently a member in good standing at Palouse Fellowship, a reformed CREC congregation in Moscow, ID.

Dr. Christy Anne Vaughan holds an Ed.D. from Liberty University in Educational Leadership. Her doctoral dissertation, published in February of 2020 through the Journal of Research on Christian Education, is titled: DIFFERENCES OF MEAN SCORES ON THE PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST (PSAT) FOR CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS COMPARED TO NON-CLASSICAL CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS. She holds an M.A. Ed. with a concentration in special education from Georgetown College and a B.A. from the University of Baltimore in English, concentration in business and professional writing. She recently completed a 40-hour certificate in Orton-Gillingham method literacy instruction. Dr. Vaughan serves as Secretary and Educational Consultant for Classical Christian Education International, Inc. (www.2CEI.ORG); tutor for students with special needs and private instructor for Schole Academy, Classical Academic Press, and homeschools two of her grandchildren in Ohio. Teaching Philosophy The Classical Christian method encompasses the seven liberal arts of grammar, logic, rhetoric, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music; liberal from the Latin liber meaning “free” meaning the virtuous, wise, and self-controlled man is free toward self- governance. As the Apostle Paul stated in Galatians 5:23, against such there is no law. Our Founding Fathers understood this, as John Jay, First Supreme Court Justice, stated, our system of liberty and self-governance was designed for a Christian nation with elected Christian rulers. Or, as John Adams, the second President of the U.S., stated, our system of liberty and self-governance with the Bible as its basis would be wholly unsuitable for any group other than a virtuous, Christian people. And to that end, a couple of working definitions: The Christian educator believes we are called to teach Truth, Goodness (Godliness), and Beauty. Teaching is a calling to parents first and the church (Ephesians 6:4 and Deuteronomy 6:4-7). Teaching as a profession is a calling (Ephesians 4:11-16). There is Truth, and God’s Word reveals it (John 17:17). Virtue is to be co-taught with knowledge (2 Peter 1:5-8). We are commanded to think on things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely, of good report, virtuous, and praiseworthy (Philippians 4:8). The Classical educator teaches a man to fish by providing the tools of learning and inculcating the joy of learning. The Classical Christian educator accomplishes both--molding the heart toward God and inculcating discernment of Truth, Goodness, and Beauty through tried and true methods of teaching. If we are to recover our nation’s moral compass, we must reignite educational excellence through a rediscovery of the centrality of Truth. There is Truth, and we are called to teach it to the next generation (Deuteronomy 6 and Ephesians 6). Statement of Faith I was baptized in public testimony of my accepting Jesus as Savior and Lord of my life in a Southern Baptist Church. I have been discipled by the local church, Koinonia House, and Liberty University Bible studies. My husband and I are missionaries through Ministers of Victory (Port Saint Lucie, Florida) and currently serve through Classical Christian Education International, Inc. We are members of Victory Baptist Church in Ohio, as well as maintaining membership and distance learning/Bible conferences through Kurt Owen Ministries. My medical expense sharing program, which also is a mission to others, is through Samaritan Ministries.

I was born in Rochester, NY but have spent the majority of my adult life in the south. I do love the south as a unique place in God's creation. I have been blessed to serve at a few different institutions of education. In addition to teaching at a few different colleges and universities, I have enjoyed consulting with numerous Classical Christian schools and being the Headmaster for the past twenty years. I am fully committed to “thinking Christianly” about all that is. To use Paul’s words, I feel God’s pleasure when I take “captive every thought for Christ.” I have been blessed for more than twenty years seeking to honor God with the life of the embodied mind. I have long enjoyed the Great Books. We are a family of readers. Among my favorite authors are Homer, Plato, Cicero, Dante, Petrarch, Erasmus, Christina Rossetti, Flannery O’Connor, George MacDonald, C. S. Lewis, Ray Bradbury, Wendell Berry, and Richard Wilbur. In recent years I have really come to enjoy the novels of Ross MacDonald (detective fiction), Zoran Živković (very unique fiction), and Michael D. O’Brien (contemporary Catholic novelist with the depth and insight of Dickens, Tolstoy, and Dostoevsky). Passionately committed to what C.S. Lewis described as “mere Christianity.” I acknowledge real differences that really matter. I also quickly affirm the truth of the consensus fidelium (consensus of the faithful) and its value against the onslaught of a divided Christendom and an anti-human humanism. My wife and children love camping and spending time with our families in Georgia and Alabama. At home, in North Carolina, we regularly have a seasonal puzzle underway and while loving our two cats, Lois and Lowry, have to discourage them from helping with the puzzle. ###Teaching Philosophy During my years as a student and continuing on as an institutional leader, I have drawn several conclusions that have shaped my philosophy of education. The teachers, and later professors, who influenced me as it specifically related to my convictions about education and the manner in which I conduct myself as an academic leader, were knowledgeable, enthusiastic, and of sound character. Moreover, those same people treated me as a significant person. As a result, I strongly believe that the best teaching transcends techniques and models and is an extension of excellent character. I am a zealous teacher who thoroughly enjoys life in the academy. During my years of service, I have continued to increase my knowledge and fine-tune my teaching skills. Since I have been conscientious about the importance of the leader as a role model, I have attempted to cultivate various qualities most conducive to my sense of calling as a leader/teacher. It has been my experience that the most respected teachers possess patience, clarity, humility, a keen sense of humor, and kindness. As a teacher, I am guided by the principle to consider the perspectives and feelings of others. ###Statement of Faith It was a summer, Sunday evening and the minister had been preaching from I John. He had been speaking about the Love of God and I felt moved by the Spirit that evening to give my life to Christ. I remember being so touched by the depth and breadth of God’s love and that He wanted me as His child and to be part of His family. I went forward that evening and accepted Christ as my Lord and savior and have, by God’s grace and mercy, been growing in the fruit of the Spirit since that time. Over the years, people have spoken to me of the most prominent spiritual disciplines they see in my walk with the Lord. My brothers and sisters in Christ have encouraged me by describing how they have been blessed by my Christ-like service and spiritual disposition. They often describe me in terms of a “humble, patient, and peaceful servant”. It is my hope that my Lord also describes me in these terms. While I have identified with the Restoration tradition (Disciples of Christ/Christian Church/Church of Christ) I am passionately committed to what C.S. Lewis described as “mere Christianity.” I acknowledge real differences that really matter among sincere believers. I also quickly affirm the truth of the consensus fidelium (consensus of the faithful) and its value against the onslaught of a divided Christendom and an anti-human humanism. I readily call all my brothers and sisters who affirm the Apostle's and Nicene Creed within Christendom. Thomas Oden's Systematic Theology has profoundly shaped my theological convictions. ###Video Introduction <iframe src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/572326468?h=1e652b2658&amp;badge=0&amp;autopause=0&amp;player_id=0&amp;app_id=58479" width="640" height="360" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen title="Robert Woods - The Archetypal Student"></iframe>