Guest Speakers
MATCHE is very excited to introduce these special Guest Speakers for the
2022 Bitterroot Christian Homeschool Conference
Douglas Bond
Author, Writing Instructor, Speaker, Tour Guide
Douglas Bond, author of more than thirty books, father of six, and grandfather of seven--and counting--is Director for the Oxford Creative Writing Master Class, two-time Grace Award book finalist, adjunct instructor in Church history, recent advisory member to the national committee for Reformed University Fellowship, award-winning teacher, speaker at conferences, copy editor for authors and publishers, and leader of Church history tours in Europe. Learn more about Douglas Bond, including expanded biographical information, credentials, and books available for purchase at his website: www.bondbooks.com .
Michael Donnelly, JD, LLM
Senior Counsel and Director of Global Outreach
Home School Legal Defense Association
As HSLDA Senior Counsel, Mike serves members in seven states and as Director of Global Outreach, coordinates HSLDA’s support of homeschooling freedom around the world. He is also an adjunct professor of government at Patrick Henry College, where he teaches constitutional law.
Mike saw combat as a cavalry officer in the United States Army during the first Persian Gulf War. Before coming to HSLDA he worked in private legal practice and founded a nationally ranked internet marketing firm. He holds a juris doctor with honors from the Boston University School of Law as a Paul J. Liacos Scholar and an LLM with merit in Constitutional and Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics. He is a member of six federal and state bars.
Mike is an internationally published writer and frequent speaker on homeschooling, educational freedom, parental rights, and human rights. His published work includes articles and chapters in The International Journal of Human Rights, Homeschooling in the 21st Century, International Journal of School Choice and Reform, Homeschooling in New View, Balancing Freedom, Autonomy, and Accountability in Education, Religious Freedom in Education, The International Journal of Religious Freedom, and Homeschooling in America and Europe: A Litmus Test of Democracy.
Mike and his wife Patricia are homeschooling parents of seven children.
Faith Berens, MEd
Special Needs Educational Consultant
Homeschool Legal Defense Association
Faith Berens is team leader for HSLDA’s Special Needs Educational Consultants. She also works as a private educational consultant and evaluator.
She has an MEd in reading from Shenandoah University. Her areas of expertise are early childhood literacy, reading assessment, and the identification and remediation of reading difficulties and disabilities.
Faith has over 15 years of teaching experience that includes serving as a classroom teacher in public and private Christian schools, Reading Recovery® teacher, reading specialist, NILD educational therapist, home educator, co-op instructor, and tutor.
She lives in Fauquier County, Virginia, with her husband Matthew, and homeschools her daughter Hailey and son Hayden. Her passions include reading for pleasure, singing, traveling, nature/science, leading Bible studies, and teaching reading to struggling students.
Pam Lucashu, Esq.
Education and Parental Rights Advocate
Pam removed her three children from government schools in 2000 and homeschooled them for the next 12 years. In 2013, she began working with TEACH CT- a statewide Connecticut Christian homeschool organization, first as their legislative liaison and later as a board member.
During her work with TEACH, Pam testified on several bills that would have restricted homeschooling and parental rights, as well as on the removal of the Religious Exemption for vaccinations in the government schools. In 2015 she worked with a coalition group to pass a Student Data Privacy bill.
She moved to Montana in 2020 and continues to advocate for freedom in homeschooling, parental rights and health freedom.