TUTORS

Bo Bonner is the Senior Advisor for Mission Initiatives and Spiritual Health, and Director of the Center for Human Flourishing at Mercy College in Des Moines, IA. He is also the Gerber Visiting Fellow of Catholic Studies at Newman University. He has taught for Humanities departments at multiple universities, has published articles for Church Life Journal and The Catholic Herald, and is the co-host of the UnCommon Good on Iowa Catholic Radio. He converted to Catholicism in the midst of Protestant seminary and is now a Benedictine oblate. He and his wife Robyn have been married for 18 years, and they have five children. Bo was born on the feast of St. Blaise, the patron of throats, and he has not stopped talking ever since.

David studied philosophy at Trinity College and then attended Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in the MDiv program while still a fundamentalist protestant. He entered full-time protestant ministry. However, after a years-long search for the answers to thorny theological questions, David and his family entered the Catholic Church. He then studied theology at Holy Apostles Seminary. David has written four books: Born Fundamentalist, Born Again Catholic, Rapture, the End-Times Error, What Jesus Really Said about the End of the World, Loving Baby Louie. He and his wife recently retired and moved to Iowa to be close to four of their eight children. They are expecting their 24th grandchild next year.

Mandie DeVries and her husband Matt graduated from high school together in northwest Iowa. Mandie attended the University of Northern Iowa, where she played volleyball and earned a Bachelor of Arts in history. She has spent her time raising and homeschooling her five daughters and one son. Since 2005, she's served as a Catechesis of the Good Shepherd catechist and spent ten years in catechetical leadership. She earned a Masters Degree in Theology at St. Meinrad (Indiana) with a certificate in Systematic Theology in 2020. She enjoys offering formation courses in Catechesis of the Good Shepherd around the Midwest and sailing at Lake Red Rock whenever the opportunity arises.

Janis was born in Amsterdam, NY and attended The College of St. Rose, Albany, where she earned a degree in English and Writing. She married and moved to Kankakee, IL where she worked as a zoo guide, police and fire dispatcher, historic window restoration shop manager, and part-time journalist. She moved to Des Moines in 1996 and began working as a historical interpreter at Living History Farms where she remained for 10 years before becoming a museum administrator for The Wallace Centers of Iowa. In 2004, Janis discovered the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd and felt called to follow a new path as an educator. She pursued a Masters in Pastoral Studies at Aquinas Institute of Theology, St. Louis and is now the Director of Religious Education at St. Augustin, Des Moines. She and her husband have six children and three grandchildren with one more on the way!

Born in New Jersey, but having grown up in Indiana, Magister Bryan Gonzalez graduated from Wabash College with a Bachelor of Arts in religion and German.  He earned a masters degree in Sacred Theology from the International Theological Institute in Austria, where he met his wife Kilty. They have seven children, four of whom are students of STCA.  A lover of languages, Bryan speaks Italian at home and still enjoys German, and, of course, the universal language of the Church, Latin.  Bryan is the Director of Development for InnerVisions HealthCare, an unplanned pregnancy and STD medical clinic in West and South Des Moines.

Teresa earned her Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts from Wyoming Catholic College. She taught for two years near her home in Colorado before she and her husband Luke were married and moved to Iowa in 2015. They live in Newton with their two boys, John Paul and Joseph. This is her first year as a tutor at St. Thomas.

Elizabeth’s big Irish and Italian family is from Des Moines, although she grew up moving around the country with her parents and younger brother and sister. She then attended Purdue University and graduated with a degree in marketing. Prior to having her children, she worked at Wesley Acres Retirement Community in Des Moines. Elizabeth has three daughters: Sienna is12, Gabriella is10, and Mary Kate is 6. They attend Saint Pius X school, and Elizabeth is a substitute teacher around the metro. This is Elizabeth‘s first year at Saint Thomas Classical Academy as an associate on Thursdays. She is so delighted to work with many of the children.

Tami received her Bachelor of Arts from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, then her Master's in Social Work from OLLU in San Antonio, TX. She traded in her LICSW for mom and Air Force wife duties. Over the 16 years of homeschooling with military moves, Tami has been involved in co-ops and other various homeschool and religious education programs. Her family settled in Norwalk, Iowa, after her husband retired from a 26 year Air Force career. Since arriving in Iowa, she has added Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to her experience. She is trained in Levels I & II and has served as a catechist for three years.

Rachel graduated from University of Nebraska at Lincoln with her Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 2003. Shortly after, she took a job with LMHT Associates in Durham, NC, with whom she is still employed. In the next 13 years after her graduation, she moved around the country with her husband Bud, steadily expanding their family, while he pursued his Ph.D. in Theology. They have 7 children and have recently settled in Des Moines. Rachel enjoys first and foremost being a stay-at-home, homeschooling mother and wife and has been involved in the classical model of schooling for nine years. This is her family’s first year at St. Thomas Classical Academy, and they are parishioners at St. Anthony Catholic Church.

Sarah Noland grew up in Carlisle, Iowa and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Simpson College in Elementary Education and Liberal Arts. Sarah has been married to her husband Bob for 20 years. They have 8 children, and homeschooling and raising them has been Sarah’s vocation for the last 17 years. This is her second year teaching at St.Thomas.

Marguerite O'Meara, a Minnesota native, graduated from Creighton University with a degree in education and has received a masters in theology from the University of Dallas. She taught middle school for twenty years before marrying her husband Mike and moving to Iowa. She and Mike have three children and live in Indianola, where they attend St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church. Marguerite has taught religious education, assisted in Level I and II Catechesis of the Good Shepherd atria, and taught RCIA at her parish. In her spare time she enjoys reading, knitting, and gardening.

David Reising is currently the Director of Faith Formation at St. Luke the Evangelist in Ankeny. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy from the Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum in Rome. He and his wife Rebecca have been married for two years, and they have a little boy named Joseph. In his free time David enjoys photography and working on house projects.

Mr. Smith graduated from the Virginia Military Institute with a BA in Economics. During a 25-year military career he earned Master’s Degrees in Health Care Administration at Western New England University and Finance at Syracuse University, and was a graduate of the Army War College and National Defense University. During his military service he served on four different continents in both command and staff positions leading and mentoring young men and women with an emphasis on their professional knowledge and their leadership and teamwork skills. After retirement from the military Mike served in financial management positions for various for, and not-for-profit organizations, as well as two Catholic Parishes and schools. Mike and his wife Colleen have six grown children and have recently relocated from Lincoln, NE (yes – Go Big Red!) to be closer to seven of their ten grand-children. In his leisure Mike enjoys reading – mostly history, biographies and action adventures; researching and documenting family histories – he’s completed two family history books; and keeping up on current events. He hopes to share the beauty of the world and cultures he has seen with the St. Thomas Classical Academy family.

A native of Minnesota, Kara Storey graduated from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota, where she majored in journalism and Catholic studies and minored in philosophy. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mama, Kara worked as a newspaper reporter for the Diocese of Sioux City and eventually as the program coordinator for Catholic Rural Life. Currently she crams freelance writing into her spare time, with her work being featured in publications such as Catholic Rural Life magazine, Embodied, Verily, Family Foundations, and The Catholic Mirror. Kara has been married to Adam for 11 years and has four children.

Callie Wadle grew up in southern Minnesota and received a Bachelor of Arts In English from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. She has always loved to read and discuss great works of literature. This will be her third year teaching at St. Thomas Classical Academy. She and her husband Jonathan have two young daughters and a son and are members of the Basilica of St. John.