Teacher Bios
Co-Director for Academics/Teacher
Amorah Nelson
Amorah Nelson earned a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Biology and minor in Chemistry at Seattle Pacific University. During her years at SPU, she spent two summers conducting marine biology research. Later, she obtained her Master of Science in Biology at Western Washington University. While at SPU and Western, she instructed upper-level biology lab classes. The results of her research work at SPU and WWU have been published in scientific journals. She was an adjunct professor for SPU in 2006. Amorah is a certified teacher through ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International).
Amorah has been teaching at Hill Creek for 23 years and has been in a leadership role for 19 years. Through this time, she has been richly blessed by all her students and her interactions with the parents. This school is truly a ministry for her. Amorah’s teaching style is concrete sequential, and she teaches using a direct instruction approach. All her classes incorporate labs to add a hands-on, creative experience. She has high standards for her students and is very willing to spend extra time with students who ask for assistance.
Amorah is blessed to be a wife and a mother of two girls and a boy. When time allows, she can be found outside trying to create a beautiful garden. Above all, she is grateful to the Lord, who has blessed her beyond measure and has led her to this career and to this school.
Co-Director for Administration
Dennis Weems
Dennis Weems is Co-Director for Administration for Hill Creek Christian. Dennis earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also completed graduate level work with honors with the United States Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He has three years teaching experience in the Military Science Department, Saint Augustine College in Raleigh, North Carolina. He retired from the United States Army with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 1992. Dennis has been an ardent supporter of HCC since they began using Emmanuel Baptist Church facilities in 2009.
As Co-director, Dennis is responsible for the finances, policy making, safety and security, disciplinary issues, and more. He also serves as Chairman, HCC Ministry Team, responsible for Emmanuel Baptist Church oversight of Hill Creek Christian. “It is fun and exciting to be involved with a ministry that God is blessing, and it is a joy to work with the HCC staff and teachers.”
Instructors
Dana Bitto
Dana Bitto earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with an emphasis in English from Seattle Pacific University in 1997. She taught 4th grade at Twin City Elementary for seven years while earning a Master’s in Education in Literacy Development from Western Washington University in 2001.
She has gained many insights while homeschooling her four children over the last 17 years. Dana has developed a new perspective on learning differences, such as dyslexia, while focusing on sharing her love of high-quality literature and history. She has been involved with various homeschooling enrichment opportunities in the Skagit Valley, including Friday School and Valley Christian Music & Arts.
Dana began the next chapter in her education career at Hill Creek Christian in 2019. Teaching middle and high school level English classes has been a wonderful way for her to share something valuable and worthwhile with her students. She enjoys teaching engaging and challenging classes, preparing students for lifelong learning beyond the classroom setting. Dana is a certified Level 1 NILD educational therapist, a multi-sensory educational therapy.
Dana enjoys baking for Schuh Farms during the summer, traveling with family, riding bikes, backpacking, and curating adventures which are added to her collection of stories.
Emily Bridge
Emily Bridge has just recently graduated with her AA in Early Childhood Education in the Spring of 2025. She has a passion for working with young children and loves to share the excitement of learning with them. Despite just completing her degree, Emily has worked with preschool aged children for the past 8 years where she’s really discovered her joy in teaching and sharing God’s Word with young people.
Emily was first introduced to Hill Creek as a teacher’s assistant for the Early Elementary Homeroom class. In the last 2 years, Emily has co-taught the Preschool and Kindergarten Homeroom class as well as the Early Elementary Homeroom class. Over the last 3 years at Hill Creek ,Emily has really enjoyed learning more about homeschooling and plans to continue learning more.
Emily currently resides in Mount Vernon, fulfilling her dream of sharing a cute apartment with her childhood best friend. When Emily isn’t working, she’s probably picking up one of her many rotating hobbies of reading, writing, crocheting, going for a run, or going on an adventure to watch one of the beautiful PNW sunsets.
Tim Drumm
Tim Drumm grew up in Texas where the Lord saved him late in his teenage years, placing him under theologically sound biblical teaching at a local church. At that church, Tim married the love of his life, Katie. They are blessed with four children: Luke, Elizabeth, Phoebe, and Jack.
In 2011, Tim earned a Bachelor of Science in Christian Leadership, minoring in Bible from The College of Biblical Studies Houston. He then earned a Master of Divinity from The Master’s Seminary and completed his Biblical Counselor certification with ACBC. In 2025, Tim earned a Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Counseling from The Master’s University.
Tim is passionate about teaching students the truth of the Bible and encouraging their growth in Christ. Since 2006, Tim has been involved in campus FCA meetings, Sunday school classes, church administration, conferences & camps, youth ministries, and teaching as a professor at The Master’s University. He loves to teach, preach, and mentor students.
In 2018, Tim and his family relocated to Mount Vernon to serve as the Pastor of Student Ministries at Emmanuel Baptist Church where he oversees the junior high, high school, and college ministries.
Elizabeth Gunn
Elizabeth Gunn earned an Associate of Art degree from Skagit Valley College 2018, where she worked as a writing consultant and co-editor for the Cardinal Newspaper. She spent 2019 living in North Africa, where she worked at an English language learning center and studied Arabic. In 2022, Elizabeth earned a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature, minoring in Culture and Religious Studies, from Western Washington University.
Elizabeth was homeschooled and attended Hill Creek Christian while in high school. She has taught at HCC for four years and has enjoyed returning to her roots. She is passionate about teaching students how to be strong writers, introducing them to good literature, and giving them the tools to succeed in other areas of their lives through the foundations of English. As an avid reader and writer, teaching English has been a joy for Elizabeth. She loves sharing her love for ELA with her students and desires to see them grow in their various skills.
In February 2021, Elizabeth married her husband, Walker. They live in Acme and attend church in Sedro Woolley. In March 2024, they welcomed their first child, Tyndale James. When they’re not working, they enjoy getting outside and exploring the outdoors as a family.
Christa Lyford
Christa Lyford earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, minoring in Media & Communication, from Trinity Western University. Christa is beyond excited to bring her love for the arts and humanities to Hill Creek Christian!
As a homeschool student many years ago, she was avidly involved in community theater, speech and debate club, and a variety of church activities. Before attending university, she served as an intern for Stanwood Foursquare Church for two years, where she learned she loves working with kids and teens. At Trinity Western, she had the honor of working for the TWU Student Association Council for two terms. This is where she happened to meet her lovely fiance Simon Shackelford. Together, Christa and Simon enjoy writing poetry, creating art, and having lengthy discussions about silly movies.
After living in Canada for the past four years, Christa is happy to be back in the PNW and to be involved in the local home school community once more. She is marrying Simon this summer and looks forward to teaching at HCC this coming Fall.
Wendy MacDonald
Wendy MacDonald received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with honors from the University of Washington, Bothell in 2014. She then completed a Master of Education degree at UWB two years later. She worked at the campus tutoring center and served as a TA while completing her math degree.
Following graduation, she taught math at Monroe High School for two years before moving back home to Arlington where she spent five years teaching middle and high school math for the Arlington School District. While she immensely enjoyed her students and her career in the classroom, she wished there was a way to continue teaching while still being close to her three young children.
She left public school teaching to homeschool her own children in 2022. She greatly enjoyed the opportunity to be home teaching her kids, while also teaching high school math to students in their co-op. Wendy was so excited to discover HCC since it will allow her to not only be back in the classroom teaching the math she loves, but also to continue homeschooling simultaneously.
Wendy currently lives in Arlington with her husband and children. When she’s not teaching, Wendy enjoys baking bread, gardening, running, sunshine, and is currently learning to crochet.
Jeff Nelson
Jeff Nelson graduated from Seattle Pacific University with top honors from the School of Business and Economics. While at SPU, he met his wife, Amorah. They reside in Mount Vernon with their three children.
Jeff has spent his professional career living out his childhood dreams, first as a police officer and currently as a firefighter/EMT. He teaches in a variety of professional capacities, instructs at the Fire Academy, serves on the Washington State First Responder Wellness Task Force, and coaches running. He is a board member and past president for the Mount Vernon High School Scholarship Foundation.
Jeff enjoys the practical application of biblical study and growing meaningful discipleship relationships. He believes life is meant to be a team sport, and we are called to encourage one another in our ever-expanding pursuit to love God and love people. He is excited to teach and challenge our next generation to develop a growth mindset from a biblical worldview.
Dennis Powell
Dennis Powell earned a Bachelor of Arts in History, with minors in Mathematics and Education, from Seattle Pacific College. While at SPC, he met his wife, Deborah. Dennis continued his education at the University of La Verne in CA, earning a Master of Arts in Education.
He taught 8th grade math, science, and Bible for ten years at Bellevue Christian School. He and Deborah moved to Northern California to co-found Kingswood Christian School in the Placerville area, teaching math and science and serving as administrator in the junior high/high school program for six years. Finally, Dennis taught pre-algebra and algebra in the Coachella Valley for 13 years.
Dennis has other experience in home construction and real estate development. He loves the northwest and enjoys building squirrel & bird feeders, going fishing, and gardening. Dennis has a special passion to help young people recognize and embrace the reality of God’s role in creation and prepare them to defend their Biblical worldview in the years ahead. You may find Dennis on Tuesday mornings in the study hall area where he faithfully sets up a ‘math tutoring’ table, welcoming any student who needs some extra help with their math homework.
Deborah Powell
Deborah Powell received a Bachelor of Science in Biblical Education, with minors in Music and Christian Education, from Multnomah University. She went on to earn a master’s degree in Teaching at Chapman University.
Deborah is trained in SDAIE (Specially Designed Academic Instruction in English), ELD (English Language Development), and Explicit Teaching (“I do. We do. You do.”).
Deborah and her husband co-founded two Christian schools in northern California in the early 1980s, Kingswood Christian School and Placerville Christian School. She has a multiple subject credential for grades K-8 with a RICA (Reading Instruction Competence Assessment) emphasis. She has experience teaching in a structured classroom as well as supporting homeschool parents here at Hillcreek Christian.
Deborah and Dennis are active members of Emmanuel Baptist Church. They have three adult children and three grandchildren. She enjoys making soup, crocheting, playing the piano, and taking naps with her kitty cat. She loves singing in the choir with Dennis. Her desire at HCC is to be led by the Lord to love on students and their parents, helping where they need it the most – academically, emotionally, and/or spiritually.
Lisa Rollins
Lisa Rollins received a certificate of Biblical Studies from Emmaus Bible College in 1998. After completing her Associate of Arts degree at North Seattle Community College, she earned a Bachelor of Science in General Studies with an emphasis in Elementary Education from Western Washington University in 2005.
Aside from homeschooling her five children for the last 15 years, Lisa has worked as a Spanish translator for Bellingham Public Schools, taught elementary age students in a homeschool co-op, directed the homeschool group Classical Conversations, and taught English grammar and writing. She has been teaching at Hill Creek since 2020.
Ever since her exposure to the Spanish language through an inspiring high school teacher, Lisa was motivated to study abroad in Mexico and continued to travel to Guatemala, Argentina, and Bolivia to improve her Spanish language development and to share God’s love with others. She is an exuberant teacher who works to target multiple learning styles in the classroom and gets excited about sharing her love for Spanish and other cultures with students.
A hippie at heart, Lisa enjoys juicing celery, making soup, growing dahlias, and creating silly songs to entertain and embarrass her children and her patient husband of 22 years.
Stephanie Riley
Stephanie Riley earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education with minors in Visual Arts and Reading Instruction from Whitworth University in 2011. She began her teaching career as a kindergarten teacher in the Mount Vernon school district. She continued as an elementary art teacher and sixth grade math, science, and Bible teacher at Rift Valley Academy in Kenya. This will be Steph’s 2nd year teaching at HCC. She loves teaching in a Christian setting while continuing to homeschool her children.
Stephanie has been married to her husband Joe since 2011, and they have three young daughters: Emily, Katelyn, and Sophia. They enjoy getting outside together and enjoying God’s creation by going on hikes, walks, and gardening together. Stephanie especially loves growing flowers and brightening friends’ days with a bouquet from her yard. She also likes baking sourdough bread, making kombucha, and reading a good book.
Amanda Saulness
Amanda Saulness earned a Bachelor of Art in Psychology from the University of Washington in 2009. She then worked as a teacher’s assistant for numerous years in public schools in Everett and Smokey Point while earning her Master of Education degree from the University of Phoenix online.
Mandy, as she goes by, previously taught 5th & 6th grade at Foothills Christian School in Mount Vernon. She loved being back in the classroom but also realized how much she missed homeschooling her own two boys. For the last 5 years, Mandy ran her own tutoring business that focused on helping homeschool families in Skagit Valley.
Mandy is thrilled to combine her love of teaching with homeschooling at HCC this year as she will be teaching Math Fundamentals, Pre-Algebra, and Middle School English/WA State History. Mandy thrives at helping motivate students to develop a love of learning and to feel the satisfaction that comes from working hard at a difficult subject.
Mandy has been married to her husband for nearly 15 years and they have two boys, Eli and Isaac. Her husband and children race dirtbikes competitively, and Mandy is a proud moto-mom who loves being outside with her family. She also enjoys gardening, baking sourdough, all things outdoors, and most importantly, spending time in her Bible each and every day.
Alora Schubkegel
Alora Schubkegel is a former homeschool and Hill Creek Christian student who thrived in the high-quality education and overwhelming support that her teachers provided. As a result, Alora is passionate about engaging the next generation of students to embrace new opportunities, find community, and grow in Christ in all aspects of life.
Alora earned her Pre-Nursing Associate degree from Skagit Valley College in 2019 before working in the field as a Certified Nursing Assistant and Medication Aide in both Washington and Oregon. Her passion for helping others opened the door to an unexpected opportunity at Hill Creek Christian in the summer of 2022. Since then, Alora has shifted focus to being a full-time elementary teacher at HCC with the new goal of providing an environment of excellence and support for the homeschooled students who walk into her class.
Alora married her husband in 2020 and later moved back to Skagit Valley to be close to their community. Alora loves adventuring outdoors, getting coffee with friends, creating needle art, and making music with her husband.
Sarah Slyman
Sarah Slyman earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Religion with a minor in Art from Palm Beach Atlantic University. After graduation, she worked as a full-time tutor in a public high school and later worked in a Christian Montessori school, assisting in math and art. Providing a quality education for her students and her own children has always been a top priority for her.
Sarah and her husband, Patrick, were married in 2000. They are both from the East Coast and moved to Mount Vernon from the Boston area in 2014. In addition to homeschooling her daughters, Sarah is a pastor’s wife and enjoys an active role in church life. She runs an Etsy Shop called Patch Me, offering designer eye patches for those who need vision therapy.
Working with children and teens has been a big part of Sarah’s life. She spent many summers on staff at Christian camps, teaching Sunday school, directing children’s church, volunteering on youth staff, training groups for mission trips, etc. She has a passion for people and a love for the gospel. When it is not raining, she loves to garden and travel with her family. When it is raining, she enjoys crocheting, playing games, watching movies, and reading.
Christina South
Christina South earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Washington State Teacher Certification for Secondary Mathematics. She is also a certified Educational Therapist and Literacy Specialist through NILD.
Christina has been involved in the education of students for more than 25 years: home schooling, teaching classes to various groups, tutoring, classroom teaching, and coaching speech and debate students. She taught in Christian schools for eight years before becoming a home-schooling parent.
Since receiving her NILD training in 2015, Christina has been working with students who struggle with academic learning. She helps students to improve their cognitive skills and advises homeschool parents in ways to support struggling students. Helping students to overcome math phobia is another of Christina’s skills. She enjoys the challenge of making instruction meet the individual needs of her students.
Christina and her husband have six children–two biological and four adopted. She also has six wonderful grandchildren. Christina enjoys reading, gardening, and spending time with her grandchildren.
Shane Stawski
Shane Stawski is an HCC alumni and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music Composition from The Master’s University.
Shane has been working in music for the past couple years doing a little bit of everything, including songwriting, arranging, composing, performing as a multi-instrumentalist, producing, audio engineering, worship leading, teaching, & anything related to sheet music. A recent project highlight was getting to work on assembling the upcoming hymnal for Keith & Kristyn Getty.
Shane is enthusiastic about sharing the joy of music and takes a hands-on and interactive approach to teaching and learning. He is also excited to offer private lessons in acoustic and electric guitar, electric bass, ukulele, and songwriting & composition.
Brandy Vizmanos-Garcia
Brandy Vizmanos-Garcia earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Secondary Education with a major in History and a minor in Political Science from the University of Arizona in 1998. She also earned a middle school endorsement. Brandy later earned her master’s degree in Special Education with an emphasis in emotional behavior from the University of Arizona in 2002. She worked in the public school system for nine years and has been running Calvary Heritage, an Academy Northwest learning center, for the last 18 years.
She has had the great pleasure of working at HCC for the last 12 years. Brandy has taught mainly at the middle school and high school levels. She has taught English, World History, US History, Government, and Current World Problems.
Brandy and her husband, Ed, have been married for 24 years. They moved to Washington State from Tucson, Arizona, 23 years ago. Both of their children were enrolled with ANW in first grade and graduated from Academy Northwest. Their son Kyler graduated from ANW in June 2021 and is a Marine Reservist. Their daughter Sydney graduated from ANW in June 2024 and is pursuing a degree that will allow her to be an ultrasound technician.