Mrs. Nicole Brock (Math Literacy 3rd-5th) The class will be led by an experienced multiple subjects California credentialed teacher who has taught multiple subjects to grades K-6 in private and public education for over 12 years. The majority of her teaching career was in 4th grade and she now continues to educate by homeschooling her own son with special needs.
Mrs. Andrea Camarena (Biology 3rd-5th) I'm an alumni here at Coastal. I have a BA in Theatre Arts from Cal State Fullerton. I was an art teacher for a private school in Palos Verdes for 2 years. What does Art have to do with science? Actually, mixing paints to get the right shade is a science. I started homeschooling my 4 children 3 years ago. I have also taught a few elementary science classes at Coastal's Academy Day program. I brought this amazing science curriculum that was easy for students to understand, hit different types of learners and of course, had a ton of hands-on experiments that explained the lesson even more.
Mrs. Rachel Herrera (Sign Language 6th-8th) I have been signing since I was 9 years old. During high school, I was able to take sign classes at El Camino. I have my AA in ASL interpreting. I went on to get my Bachelor's degree and I finished with my Masters in Education of Deaf and Hard of Hearing. For the past two years, I have been teaching both middle school and after-school ASL classes at Valor Christian Academy. ASl has been a passion of mine since I was a kid and I am excited to share my passion with your children.
Pastor Ethan Michael (Christian Worldview 6th-12th) Associate Pastor Baycities Church Lomita Ethan has been in the church and has loved the Lord his whole life. He gave his life to the Lord when he was 9 years old during one of his school’s chapel services. Ever since, he has made it his mission to preach the gospel by word and deed. He has years of experience with street evangelism and striking up gospel conversations with strangers. He is very excited about this course to not only teach kids to think, but to think with the Word and Spirit of God. He is a graduate of the United Air Force Academy, class of 2015, and was a U.S. Air Force officer for 7 ½ years. Through his experience as an officer and leader, he has learned many skills on communicating with people in their various walks of life to create a bridge to be able to have meaningful gospel conversations. He currently leads the youth at Baycities Church Lomita and was a youth leader at his previous church too. He is excited to help the kids to see further how God uses our thinking to really capture the hearts and minds of people to show them the grace of God in our lives.
Mrs. Barbara Nannini (Language Arts Classes) Mrs. Nannini was a professional who chose to leave her profession when her children were born and focus on raising and homeschooling them. She has homeschooled her children for the last 17 years. She has participated in, tutored, taught, and directed both Classical Conversations and Branch of Hope Enrichment classes. Having always loved learning, her focus had been on the sciences before beginning her homeschooling journey. Her love of writing and grammar began as she homeschooled her children and began to recognize the joy of writing well. She has taught Literature and Composition at Branch of Hope Enrichment Classes for four years. Her love of literature and learning have made this a labor of love for her. It is among her greatest joys to have her students learn to love reading, English grammar, and writing!
Mr. Bert Sharpton (Pre-Algebra 6th-10th, Math Literacy 3rd-5th) Born in Santa Monica and lived in South Bay from 1956 to 1991 then moved to Fresno area and Chico in Northern California. Moved back to Manhattan Beach in 2022. Born again around 1972 and have been a servant of the Lord Jesus ever since.
Education - B.S Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 1978 in Construction Engineering, M.S University of Southern California 1991 in Computer Science
Career - I worked in several companies and industries as a programmer, consultant, teacher, IT manager and web developer. Specifically in the education realm I was the IT Manager for Fresno Pacific University, programmer for the Sungard K-12 division (Powerschool as well), and educator at community colleges as an adjunct teaching computer and programming courses (Kings River Community College, Butte College, Fresno Pacific University).
Homeschool Experience - In the homeschool realm, my wife Lynnde and I taught (some) for our four children K - 12 as well as tutored a friend's daughter in Algebra 2. At Branch of Hope classes in the school year 2023-24, I tutored some students in different levels of math and taught a Computer Programming class and a Computer Technologies class.
Ms. Carla Shaw (Ancient History 5th-9th) I am so excited to teach classes for Coastal Academy this school year. I was homeschooled from 6th-11th grade and knew without a doubt I would want to homeschool my future children. Now I am two years into homeschooling my 6 year old son and so in love with it. I have my Bachelors in Liberal Studies and my Multiple Subject teaching credential. Teaching is my passion! After teaching physical education at First Lutheran for 7 years, I returned to Branch of Hope to teach some homeschool classes. This last year I taught Kindergarten, Bible, middle school medieval history, and high school ancient history. I am looking forward to teaching ancient history once again, this time to middle school students!