Rebecca West

My name is Rebecca and I am currently transitioning into the role of Manager, overseeing the dedicated Accelerate Christian Homeschooling Support Services (ACHS) team. What a fantastic team they are too.

For almost 30 years now, I have had the privilege of working with children and teens in different capacities. As far back as I can remember, I have had a strong desire to help young people, of all ages, connect more personally with Father God. I have enjoyed serving in ministries that help cultivate a love for God, a love for and understanding of His word (scripture) and His ways, as well as cultivating a connection with Him, as Jesus had and desired us to have (John 17).

I have worked in childcare and OSHC centres, local primary schools and an international school in supervisory, teaching and head leadership roles. I have also worked as a school chaplain in both a local primary school and Prep-Year 12 special school for almost 5 years.

My work experience in more recent years has involved starting and running my own tutoring business, where I worked with and supported mostly homeschooling families. My experience in space also involved starting and running a weekly meetup for Christian homeschooling families, who were looking for the support of other like-minded families. This is where my desire to support homeschooling families began!

During this time, Father God showed me it was becoming increasingly harder for Christian parents to instill foundational biblical values in their children. It also became apparent that many families were in need of support and encouragement - to not feel ‘alone’ in their endeavour and commitment to 'train up' their children.

When I first started venturing into supporting homeschooling families, there was a scripture Father God placed on my heart quite a few times

In light of this, I am very thankful for this opportunity to come alongside you and your families - to support you in ‘training up’ your children ‘in the way they should go’. By becoming being part of the amazingly supportive and caring team that are already working with you, I look forward to working with them to better support you!

We pray God’s blessing on you and your families this year, as you disciple and educate your children, putting God, His ways and word at the centre of learning, through the use of the A.C.E. curriculum and program, as well as other resources to assist you to that end.

Sheree McManus

Sheree's 20 years of experience in the early childhood profession, leadership skills and pedagogical knowledge aids our families by providing advice and guidance so they can make informed decisions.

She believes in allowing the children to learn and grow at their own pace within a supportive environment with guidelines.  She knows that good quality education can have a positive impact on a child's life. She believes that all children have a desire to learn, and our role as educators, (parents being their first and most important educators), is to pique their curiosity and provide them with experiences and opportunities to develop to their full potential. She has a passion for educating the next generation and is grateful to be able to do so with a resource that aligns with her ideals as a Christian.

She believes that knowledge alone, does not guarantee success, other intangible attributes, such as resilience, persistence, positive attitude and patience are also important. The A.C.E resource provides for this. She looks forward to using her educational research and knowledge to support families provide a biblical worldview educational resource to their children.

Maria Whittaker

Kathryn Smith

Kathryn brings her accounting background to process the Accelerate accounts receivable.

Kathryn comes from an accounting background and has experience in a variety of finance and administration roles. She loves to provide financial and administrative support to help ensure team success, and she has been doing this in both paid and volunteer roles for over 20 years.

Kathryn is married with three teenage children and has a strong desire to pass on her Christian faith to the next generation. Kathryn is excited to be able to use her skills in a Christian education setting, where she can contribute to helping other families instill this faith into their children as well.

Vanessa Nock

Vanessa shares her knowledge of A.C.E as a Supervisor in a school setting and as a home schooling mother to supporting New Zealand families from ​enquiry to enrolment to applying for MOE exemption to beginning their home schooling journey.

For over 8 years, Vanessa has been faithfully homeschooling her 3 children using the A.C.E. resources.  She and her husband Matt believe that when God calls you to it, He will see you through it.

Grace Green

Grace brings her experience as a home schooling mother to support and guide families (focusing on New Zealand) along on their home schooling journey.

Grace has been married to Ian since 1991 and they live in Napier, NZ. They have four adult children, two lovely daughters-in-law, and two sweet granddaughters.

Originally trained as a primary school teacher, Grace taught in Christian schools before homeschooling her own children. Homeschooling was a wonderful 20 years of her life!
She believes strongly in a good foundation of literacy and numeracy being the foundation for other learning. That foundation gives children what they need to study more and more independently as they mature.

During those homeschooling years she found the support of others invaluable and that is what has drawn her to join the Accelerate team. She is keen to provide support to families in their homeschooling journey.  It's a privilege to come alongside parents as they take on this task with its many challenges and joys.

Maria Juwita

Maria brings her knowledge as a teacher and home schooling mother to aid all our families but especially those in Indonesia.

Maria and her family live in Jakarta, Indonesia. She and her husband, Charles, strongly believe that a Christian education, with a strong Biblical foundation is irreplaceable. Maria’s background as a teacher and a principal within Christian schools has aided her to implement the A.C.E. resource to educate her their three children at
home.

Maria hopes to be able to share her knowledge and experience as both an educational professional and a home schooling mother to support parents in Indonesia (and the rest of the South Pacific) to feel confident to home school their children. The A.C.E. PACEs are a great resource in which she believes is the foundation for Christian families to provide a high quality education infused with Christian values within the home.

Erinee Daurewa

Erinee brings her experience as a A.C.E. graduate and home schooling mother to support our families on their home schooling journey.

Bula Vinaka, my name Erinee Daurewa, just celebrated my first year of marriage and I reside in Lautoka, Fiji. My work background is in Early Childhood Education.

My journey with A.C.E began with ABCs with Ace and Christi till year 13 NZ with Christian Outreach College. I participated in student convention regionally and in the South Pacific.  I was able to do student monitoring, the year before I graduated high school, in China and Hong Kong which I benefited from especially before attending university.

Having a background in A.C.E has contributed to my academic, social, and spiritual growth and I would encourage any family interested that it is worth the investment. Having worked with the community mobile service of the ECE school I was in, I saw first-hand how important a good foundation is to a child’s academic journey.