Flex Homeschool Guide

Featured Speakers

Combined Homeschool Experience of 50+ Years

Our featured speakers bring a wealth of diverse homeschooling experiences and educational perspectives. Together, they will share their wins, their setbacks, and the hard-won lessons they’ve gathered along the way. From navigating health diagnoses and diverse learning needs to managing immigration challenges and career shifts, there is very little this dynamic team hasn’t encountered on the journey to educate their children.

Vanessa Lopez is a homeschool mom of over 17 years. Working in a variety of classrooms with students of all ages and vary ability, Vanessa has traveled across the United States meeting educators and learning about the unique needs of Christian Learning environments.

Combining her experience raising five children with her passion for equippping parents and building community, she founded Arbor Academy, a flexible eco-system of services for homeschool families.

Her story combines heartache, faith, and endurance in one fascinating tale of overcoming by simply refusing to give up. Now certified as a Coginitive Brain Trainer, Vanessa seeks to help homeschool familes and students feel equipped and find success as they navigate their learning journey.

Melissa Jenkins holds a Masters Degree in Education and is currently working as a classroom teacher for children with special needs in elementary school. She has taught babies who are Deaf/Hard of Hearing through college age. She spent years at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock in the College of Education, focusing on teaching future educators.

She homeschooled her own children off and on as she and her husband moved around the country thanks to his military career. Additionally, she has created a curriculum for young learners following the Science of Reading and a homeschool support group for parents.

She is passionate about helping others learn to teach and meeting the needs of every student.

Dr. Jennifer Lowry is a Special Education Professor at Campbell University and a 25-year North Carolina educator with extensive experience serving students, families, teachers, and schools while educating her own children in the evenings and on weekends. She founded Monarch Educational Services with the vision of building a trusted, high-impact educational company grounded in faith, excellence, and service.

Her leadership brings together special education, literacy, publishing, assessment, and teacher preparation in a way that is unusually rare and deeply valuable. Monarch is the outgrowth of a lifetime of educational calling, professional rigor, and a desire to create something lasting for families and schools.

Conference Schedule

8:00 am	Registration Begins	Vendor Hall Opens
9:00 am	Conference Begins – Welcome!
9:10 am	Vanessa Lopez: Celebrating Homeschool
10:00 am	Kristin Overman: Anchored in Your Why: Family Mission and Biblical Worldview for Lasting Perseverance	Melissa Jenkins: Science of Reading
11:00 am	Dr. Jen Lowry: Teaching Diverse Learners	Alex Foster
11:45 am – 1:00 pm	Lunch on your own	Vendor Hall Open
1:00 pm	Christie Stafford, Campbell University Admissions: Navigating the College Admissions Experience	Melissa Jenkins: How to Teach Your Child Anything
2:00 pm	Evelyn Reams: Music: The Ultimate FLEX Space: Exploring Music Education, Neuroplasticity, and the Educational Landscape Today	Vanessa Lopez: Moving Beyond Homeschool Burnout
3:00 pm	Homeschool Family Panel with Q&A
3:30 pm	Closing Conversation and Remarks