Sandy Edwards – French, Physics

Sandy Edwards has been homeschooling since 1999.  Her son, Sam, took two classes at CCA for each of four years, and graduated in May 2010.  He then began studying Computer Science in the Engineering Honors Program at CU Boulder.  Her daughter, Lauren, is a current student.

Prior to her career as a homeschooling mom, she was a Certified Public Accountant for 11 years, after graduating from UC Berkeley with a BS in Business Administration.  She has been married for 28 years to Eric, who used to be a business financial executive, and now runs a senior home care company.

Her philosophy on education is that it's important for students to have well-rounded exposure to all necessary subjects, within a framework of honoring God's design for each student.  She looks forward to partnering with families to see all our kids flourish together.

Lizhi Gao - Mandarin Chinese

Lizhi Gao is the mother of two boys. Her oldest son, Bobby, started at Crossroads in March 2013 and will graduate in 2014.

Lizhi received her medical master’s degree in China. She lived in Japan for five years before coming to the United States. She really enjoys teaching language, and began teaching Chinese in Denver in 2008. She attended the Great Wall Chinese Training Workshop at the Confucius Institute Headquarters in Beijing, China, in 2010.

She has always loved working with students and she is passionate about developing a love for learning in each student. She loves Jesus and is willing to follow Him fully.

Adrienne Hanagan -  Biology

 Prior to becoming a mother, Adrienne obtained a Chemical and Petroleum Refining degree from Colorado School of Mines.  After over two years of working in the aerospace industry, she left to get her Masters' degree in Cell and Molecular Biology from San Francisco State University.  During her Masters' work, she worked at Sandoz Crop Protection.  When she graduated she worked for Synergen, a small biotechnology company in Boulder, then Supragen in Lakewood, and finally at CU Health Sciences Center for the School of Pharmacy.  She worked as a protein biochemist for Professor Carlos Catalano for over two and a half years.  She has 8 years of experience working in the biotechnology area.

When her son was born 16 years ago, she had a very hard time giving her child to someone else to care for.  She thought she would go back to work when her son was a bit more independent, say, at age 3.  Well, it didn't happen.  She home schooled her two sons through COVA for 7 years rather than send them to the local elementary school.  It was a thrill to teach her eldest how to read and to do arithmetic.  She decided to try homeschooling on her own using an umbrella program.  She has been doing this for the past three years.  She enjoys introducing kids to science and math.  God is the most amazing scientist and engineer.  She realized when getting her Masters' degree that God beat engineers and scientists hands down when he created the simplest bacteria.

Melanie Hockley - British Literature, American Government, Physical Education

Melanie Hockley is a homeschooling mom of two boys (16 and 13) and has been homeschooling for 5 years.  Her older son will be attending CCA for his third year.  She and her husband, John, have been married for 20 years and both are native Californians although they have recently moved here from Arizona.  Both have spent approximately eight years in the USAF getting out in 1997 when their first son was born.  Her education is broad and varied having been trained as an Aerospace Medical Technician for the USAF and attending leadership school for advancement within the military.  When she separated from the service she became a stay-at-home mom.   Homeschooling in Arizona gave her opportunities for various homeschooling roles: teaching PE, apologia science classes, and the learning that comes with teaching your own kiddos.  When coming to Colorado two years ago she looked for similar opportunities and learned about Summit Ministries and AiG’s worldview curriculums and taught them at the Aletheia co-op in Aurora.  What a year of learning that was! 

Hilary Osborne – Speech

Hilary Osborne has been married to Marty for 27 years and is the mother of two sons, ages 17 and 15, who both attend CCA. She earned a B.A. in Speech Communications from Wayne State University in Detroit, MI. She has home schooled both boys for 13 years and has taught several home schooling enrichment classes, including a ten-week purity class for teen girls and Speech at CCA. Her passion is a sound education based on the Word of God, and discovering new things about Him along with her students. Her interests are baking, reading, writing, and eating. As a native of Michigan, she will always side with the Red Wings.

Tahla Stephens – Fine Art and Worldview, Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1

Tahla Stephens has a passion for teaching.  Before God blessed her with children, she taught in both public and private schools. She taught as a homeschool mom for 15 yrs, and in all has been a classroom instructor and/or tutor for 30 plus years. She has been involved in numerous homeschool programs, for which she has done administrative work and teaching. Tahla has been teaching math classes at CCA since 2005 and has recently added Fine Art & Worldview to her repertoire. She is a Watercolourist and Fiber Artist but enjoys experiencing the creative process in many art medias. Tahla strongly believes in mastery of mathematical concepts or art techniques, and will work tirelessly to make sure her students thoroughly understand the material she teaches. Tahla has a degree in elementary education from UNC with a minor in special education.