Directors
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’s 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 24 years and has been in a leadership role for 20 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 Hill Creek Christian (HCC) since they began using Emmanuel Baptist Church facilities in 2009. “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.” He is joining the teaching staff of HCC for the 26-27 school year, teaching a class for high school students on personal financial management that seeks to address the common lament, “If only I had known at 18 what I know now!”
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 18 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. For the past 3 years Emily has taught the Pre-K & Kindergarten class, and co-taught the Early Elementary Homeroom class. Throughout her time at Hill Creek, Emily has really enjoyed learning 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.
Melissa Buchanan
Melissa Buchanan graduated from Bible College in 2003 with an Associate of Arts in Theology. During her studies, she worked in the church offices and assisted as needed at a K-12 Christian school. Upon graduation, she began to pursue a degree in early childhood education while working at another private Christian school. At this school, she managed the before-and-after school program and assisted in the classrooms. During this period, she married her college sweetheart and relocated to his hometown of Mount Vernon, Washington. Once they were expecting their first child, she chose to stay home full-time and homeschool. Twenty-one years and three children later, her two oldest children have graduated, with the youngest currently in high school. She has been involved in and taught at various homeschool co-ops and groups, specifically she enjoys encouraging young families desiring to homeschool. Being at Hill Creek presents an opportunity for her to assist other families in their own homeschooling journeys. In her leisure time, she enjoys spending time with her family, supporting her husband in ministry, and desperately trying to keep her houseplants alive.
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. 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’s 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 Adult Ministries and Biblical Counseling at Emmanuel Baptist Church.
Natalie Gonzalez
Natalie Gonzalez grew up in Mount Vernon and Sedro-Woolley, WA. She was born into a family of seven with three brothers and three sisters. She completed her education entirely through homeschool. She attended Hill Creek Christian School her junior and senior years of high school and graduated through HCC in 2017. Following graduation, she pursued an associates degree in music at Skagit Valley College and spent the following 6 years working as a lead assistant and art teacher at a Montessori preschool/kindergarten. Natalie completed 12 years of classical training in piano. She also taught piano to young students during her later teen years. Additionally, she was also an active participant in multiple choirs and church worship teams, as well as the occasional theatre production. Currently she enjoys playing the piano, singing, and participating in leading musical worship. She is looking forward to returning to HCC, this time as a teacher where she will be able to share her love of music and education with her students. Natalie recently married her husband, Marcos in March of 2026 and they currently reside in Bellingham, WA.
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 in 2025, since it allowed 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 watching her kids play soccer.
Jacob McFarland
Jacob McFarland brings a lifelong passion for food and cooking to Hill Creek Christian, rooted in his upbringing in the culinary world. Growing up in Woodinville, he was surrounded by the restaurant industry through his mother and stepfather, who owned their own catering company. He spent countless hours helping with meal preparation and planning, developing both his skills and his love for creating exceptional food experiences. Jacob served in the United States Marine Corps from 2004 to 2008, where he developed the leadership skills and disciplined approach that he brings to everything he does. He earned an Associate’s degree from Columbia College and has spent over a decade in project management and team leadership roles. His culinary interests focus on French and Italian cuisines, along with open fire cooking techniques. He loves to geek out about the science behind cooking and is passionate about teaching others how to truly feed themselves well. Jacob married his childhood friend Rachel in 2006, and they reside in Mount Vernon with their three children. They are active members of Cornwall Church, where they regularly volunteer to cook for events. They coach soccer and serve on the board of Mount Vernon Youth Soccer. When not in the kitchen or on the field, Jacob and Rachel enjoy gardening, traveling, and music.
Abi McKinney
Abi McKinney is a wife and stay-at-home mom with two boys whom she homeschools, and an illustrator. Abi originally set off for college aiming for a degree in Marine Biology, but half way through finishing her degree she realized that wasn’t the career path God intended for her and made a huge 180 change to studying art. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Illustration and Concept Art from Rocky Mountain College of Art + Design in 2018. Abi has worked as a freelance artist and illustrative designer, private art instructor, and a working graphic designer since graduation. Becoming an art teacher is the highest privilege and peak for her career as an artist so far. When she’s not drawing—both for work and fun—Abi loves reading comics and books, visiting the lake and ocean with her family, studying marine life, history and archaeology for fun (since she never desires to stop learning), collecting rocks with her boys, and baking fresh bread.
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 Hill Creek 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 18 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, Costa Rica, 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 23 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 3rd 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’s of Education degree from the University of Phoenix online. Mandy, as she goes by, has homeschooled her own boys while running her own tutoring business prior to teaching at HCC for the first time last year. HCC is the perfect blend of allowing her to do what she loves, which is teaching, while continuing to homeschool her boys and have the perfect work-life balance. This year, 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 16 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 beginning her fifth year as a teacher at Hill Creek Christian. She is also a homeschool alumna who thrived in the high-quality educational environment that her HCC 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.
Rylan Schubkegel
Rylan Schubkegel is a full-time web developer and software enthusiast. He was homeschooled through high school and competed at the national level in public speaking. He received a Bachelor of Science in computer science from George Fox University and earned the Outstanding Computer Science Student award of excellence in his graduating class. In addition to computers, Rylan is passionate about art, music, and game design. He loves to hike with his wife Alora and play (complicated) board games. If you have new game recommendations, please let him know!
Lorrane Schweizer
Lorrane Schweizer is a Christian educator and mom of four adult children. She has over 25 years of experience teaching preschool through high school in both public and private schools. Lorrane especially loves teaching mathematics and showing how God’s order and beauty are built into creation. She views education as discipleship, partnering with families to nurture both knowledge and character in ways that reflect biblical truth. Outside the classroom, she enjoys listening to history podcasts, making music, doing needlework, and collecting whimsical pigs.
Katie Whyte
Katie Whyte received her Associates of Arts from the Ocean Research College Academy at Everett Community College in 2016. In 2019, she graduated with her Bachelors in Arts in Intercultural Studies from Corban University. While in college, Katie worked with two different refugee ministries, both local and international, tutoring and teaching English. She had spent most of her time since graduating working with her husband who coaches club and college soccer, and runs his own soccer training business. After being homeschooled for middle school and most of high school, Katie has firsthand knowledge of what is required to be a successful homeschooled student. She attended a local co-op and took private classes, in addition to curriculum at home. In doing so, she developed a love for all subjects but mostly English and History. Katie was introduced to HCC through her brother, Nathan Erickson, who graduated in 2022, and a mentor, Karen Schmidt, who had previously taught at HCC. Katie loves to connect and mentor students while sharing her love of learning. She loves to engage with students in challenging and meaningful discussions and to help prepare students for life beyond high school. After living in Salem, Oregon for ten years, Katie moved back to her hometown of Camano Island in April 2025 with her husband, Travez, and three year old son, Mazriel. Most weekends, you can find her on a soccer field or going on random adventures with her son. She also has an ever growing list of hobbies which includes reading, hiking, knitting, crocheting, sewing, and cooking.