Meet Our Staff
Sally Becker- Nursery
Savb2000@yahoo.com
Sally is a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 10. Originally from Erie, PA, she moved to Buffalo at the age of 17 to work at Father Baker Infant Home. Previous jobs have included but are not limited to working in the maternity ward, working as a preschool aide and running an after school program for 14 Holy Helpers School and having an in home daycare during summers. Sally has been a parishioner at 14 Holy Helpers for over 40 years.
Leah Ashby- Nursery Aide
Leahashby@outlook.com
Leah Ashby lives in Strykersville and this will be the Ashyb's fourth year at Holy Family. Leah and her husband have 5 boys: Conner (14) grade 10, Samuel (9) grade 4, William (5) Kindergarten, Henry (3) Pre-k 3 and Phillip 7 months will also be in the nursery.
Leah holds a Bachelor of Science in health and wellness and my Masters in counselor education. She strive to live a lifestyle of all things natural, work on a healthy balance in all areas of life & love learning new things. This will be their 5th year homeschooling and each year gets more exciting. Leah is looking forward to being in the nursery on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the little ones, getting to help them and watch them grow through the school year!
Morning Core Classes (in order of academic grade level)
Brittany Pearson- Pre-K 3 Lead Teacher
brittanymariepearson@gmail.com
Brittany graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a B. S. in Early Childhood Education. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Theology and Catechetics from the same university. Brittany taught at St. Amelia in Tonawanda for four years prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom to her son, Joshua, and has since worked here, at HFLC, in the nursery for the past two years. Brittany is very excited to welcome HFLC’s littlest learners this year in the Pre-K 3 classroom and is looking forward to a wonderful year of hands-on discovery.
Kara Harris-K Pre-K 3 Aide
harriskaralynn@gmail.com
Jen Costanzo- Pre-K 4 Lead Teacher
jLcostanzo@mac.com
Jennifer is currently a homeschooling mother of four children and independent photographer. She graduated from Buffalo State College with degrees in Elementary and Special Education and from Villa Maria College with a degree in Photography. Jennifer has teaching experience at the Science Magnet School in Buffalo and at Maple West Elementary in Williamsville. Additionally, she has experience working with young children through her years as a nanny for a family of seven.
Tamara Sullivan- Pre-K 4 Aide
tamjim12@hotmail.com
Tamara has a Bachelor's being in Elementary Education and Psychology as well as a Master's degree is in Elementary Education Instruction. Her teaching experience includes student teaching at Crownpoint BIA Boarding school and 1st grade at Tse'ii'ahi' BIA school on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. She also has experiencing teaching in the public and private schools in WNY. She and her husband Jim and have been homeschooling for 8 years. They have 2 boys, 11 and 13 years old, who have been competing in the National Ninja League and various Ninja Warrior competitions for 3 years. Tamara's interests include anything relating to early elementary ages and pregnancy and birth related. She completed doula training last year.
Shelley Spadone- Kindergarten Teacher
scappon76@hotmail.com
Shelley is a graduate of Canisius College with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with concentrations in Computer Science and Philosophy. Shelley worked at Independent Health as a Financial Analyst before staying home with her children. She has worked as a Preschool Aide for the past five years and taught Little Flowers here last year. She has two boys who are in their third year of homeschooling.
Nella Smolinski- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 1 and 2)
nellakat@gmail.com
Nella holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics with a concentration in Child Language Acquisition and a Master's in Elementary Education, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the North Tonawanda City School District as well as the Orchard Park Central School District and as a tutor for Huntington Learning Centers. Nella is a homeschooling mom to 6 children and wife to a mad scientist. She and her family are parishioners at St. Amelia's in Tonawanda.
Mary Reibel- Science Instructor (Grades 1-4)
maryreibel89@gmail.com
Mary holds a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education and is finishing up her Master's degree in Special Education, all from Buffalo State College. Mary and her husband live in Alden with their 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter. She has enjoyed teaching the past three years at Holy Family and is very excited for the opportunity to come back again and work with so many great families!
Alisha Mansfield- Spanish Instructor (Grades 1-4)
mansfieldalisha@gmail.com
Alisha holds a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Medaille College. She has spent her teaching years in Preschool classrooms but is very excited to brush up on her Spanish skills and teach the fun language of Spanish this year! Alisha is a homeschooling mom of two young boys, Gibson and Giovanni.
Rachel Barnard- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 3 and 4)
mooneyrac@gmail.com
Rachel Barnard graduated from Buffalo State College with a B.S. in Childhood and Early Childhood Education and an M.S. in Literacy. She teaches grades ¾ History and Literature at HFLC. She lives in Akron with her husband, Brian, and their three boys, Pierce, Daniel, and Lance. Her favorite books are The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen.
Mary Kay Schaub- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 5-6)
marykay1219@yahoo.com
Sara Hogg- Science Instructor (Grades 5-8)
saralynnhogg@gmail.com
Sara is a graduate of Medaille College in veterinary technology and biology where she also taught anatomy and physiology laboratory, science for non science majors, animal behavior and math for the sciences. In addition to educating in the sciences she was a research assistant in a project studying the wild horses of the Outer Banks. Sara and her husband Dan live in Silver Creek with their 1 year old son Emrys and their 3 dogs.
Maria Gehl- Spanish Instructor (Grades 5-8)
mjegehl@gmail.com
Maria received a Bachelor's degree in Theology with a concentration in Religious Education from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Maria learned most of her Spanish while living in Mexico with her family as a missionary with Family Missions Company. She and her husband live in Akron with their 6 children. When she isn't homeschooling, you can find Maria cooking, curled up with a good book, crocheting, enjoying good music, or hiding in the laundry room eating chocolate.
Katie Revai- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 7/8)
revaikn@gmail.com
Katie holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and a Master's degree in Education from the University at Buffalo. She has taught various grade levels in public, private and online school settings in both Mississippi and Buffalo. Additionally, Katie has taught religious education (grades Kindergarten through eight) for ten years and is a parishioner at the UB Newman Center in Amherst. She lives in Williamsville and is eager to join the Holy Family Learning Center family!
Elective Teachers (in alphabetical order)
Alexis Abell- Sewing Instructor
threadabell@gmail.com
Nicole Adams- Assistant Music Instructor/ Conductor
Nicole.r.adams@gmail.com
Amanda Batt- Dance/ Musical Theatre Instructor
ambatt987@gmail.com
Amanda is a homeschool graduate and holds a BS in Mental Health and Human Services with minors in Theology and History from Franciscan University. She and her husband have 6 children. Amanda has danced for 20+ years and continues to study tap, jazz, ballet and contemporary at Nickel City Dance and Fitness in Kenmore, NY. In addition she has participated in master tap classes with Broadway's Kate Bailey from "Something Rotten" (2018) and Jonalyn Saxer of "Mean Girls" (2019) through NCD and Broadway Connection. Amanda directed HFLC's 2018 Musical, Peter Pan Jr and 2019 Musical, Mulan Jr.
Brian Biesik- Self-Defense Instructor
masterbiesik@gmail.com
Kara Harris- Musical Theater workshops
harriskaralynn@gmail.com
Leo Kust- Engineering (Engineering for Kids)
leokust@gmail.com
Leo grew up in Wichita, Kansas then moved to Buffalo for graduate school and has received his masters in industrial engineering from the University at Buffalo. Working with children for over 7 years Leo has been a youth coach for fencing, mentor, and para for children and adolescents with special needs. Knowing that the STEM field offers a wide array of benefits to minds of all ages, he has a passion for providing exposure and education to the importance of the field he works in.
Heather Maher- Art Instructor
mahermagoo@aol.com
Heather Maher has a fine art degree with a concentration in painting and drawing. She has 20 years experience teaching art. She worked for the Arts in Education Instituite of WNY for twelve years, and currently teaches at Albright Knox Art Gallery and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, in addition to Holy Family. She is blessed with 3 beautiful children and a loving husband. She is a parishioner at Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster.
Theresa Shriver- Baking Instructor
Shriverth@gmail.com
Theresa holds a degree in recreational leadership. She has been married 43 years and has 5 children and 14 grandchildren. Theresa has taught cooking to 4H groups over a 15 year time span. She has also been the owner of a home-based business, Chicken Coop Originals, for 20 years and teaches children and adults in garden/art and cooking through the business.
Nella Smolinski- Musical Theatre Choreographer
nellakat@gmail.com
Nella holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics with a concentration in Child Language Acquisition and a Master's in Elementary Education, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the North Tonawanda City School District as well as the Orchard Park Central School District and as a tutor for Huntington Learning Centers. Nella is a homeschooling mom to 6 children and wife to a mad scientist. She and her family are parishioners at St. Amelia's in Tonawanda.
Elizabeth Truesdell- Physical Education and Legos Instructor
truesdell_e@yahoo.com
Liz is a homeschooling graduate, and earned Bachelor and Master degrees in Physical and Health Education, and Religious Studies from Canisius College. Liz taught health, physical education, and religion in various Catholic and public schools. Liz has also worked as a youth minister and coached various sports. In addition to Holy Family, she teaches courses at Canisius College. She lives in North Tonawanda with her husband, Keith, and their 4 children, who are pretty cool to be around, most days. They are active parishioners at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in North Tonawanda.
Savb2000@yahoo.com
Sally is a mother of 3 and a grandmother of 10. Originally from Erie, PA, she moved to Buffalo at the age of 17 to work at Father Baker Infant Home. Previous jobs have included but are not limited to working in the maternity ward, working as a preschool aide and running an after school program for 14 Holy Helpers School and having an in home daycare during summers. Sally has been a parishioner at 14 Holy Helpers for over 40 years.
Leah Ashby- Nursery Aide
Leahashby@outlook.com
Leah Ashby lives in Strykersville and this will be the Ashyb's fourth year at Holy Family. Leah and her husband have 5 boys: Conner (14) grade 10, Samuel (9) grade 4, William (5) Kindergarten, Henry (3) Pre-k 3 and Phillip 7 months will also be in the nursery.
Leah holds a Bachelor of Science in health and wellness and my Masters in counselor education. She strive to live a lifestyle of all things natural, work on a healthy balance in all areas of life & love learning new things. This will be their 5th year homeschooling and each year gets more exciting. Leah is looking forward to being in the nursery on Tuesdays and Thursdays with the little ones, getting to help them and watch them grow through the school year!
Morning Core Classes (in order of academic grade level)
Brittany Pearson- Pre-K 3 Lead Teacher
brittanymariepearson@gmail.com
Brittany graduated from Franciscan University of Steubenville with a B. S. in Early Childhood Education. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Theology and Catechetics from the same university. Brittany taught at St. Amelia in Tonawanda for four years prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom to her son, Joshua, and has since worked here, at HFLC, in the nursery for the past two years. Brittany is very excited to welcome HFLC’s littlest learners this year in the Pre-K 3 classroom and is looking forward to a wonderful year of hands-on discovery.
Kara Harris-K Pre-K 3 Aide
harriskaralynn@gmail.com
Jen Costanzo- Pre-K 4 Lead Teacher
jLcostanzo@mac.com
Jennifer is currently a homeschooling mother of four children and independent photographer. She graduated from Buffalo State College with degrees in Elementary and Special Education and from Villa Maria College with a degree in Photography. Jennifer has teaching experience at the Science Magnet School in Buffalo and at Maple West Elementary in Williamsville. Additionally, she has experience working with young children through her years as a nanny for a family of seven.
Tamara Sullivan- Pre-K 4 Aide
tamjim12@hotmail.com
Tamara has a Bachelor's being in Elementary Education and Psychology as well as a Master's degree is in Elementary Education Instruction. Her teaching experience includes student teaching at Crownpoint BIA Boarding school and 1st grade at Tse'ii'ahi' BIA school on the Navajo Reservation in New Mexico. She also has experiencing teaching in the public and private schools in WNY. She and her husband Jim and have been homeschooling for 8 years. They have 2 boys, 11 and 13 years old, who have been competing in the National Ninja League and various Ninja Warrior competitions for 3 years. Tamara's interests include anything relating to early elementary ages and pregnancy and birth related. She completed doula training last year.
Shelley Spadone- Kindergarten Teacher
scappon76@hotmail.com
Shelley is a graduate of Canisius College with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics with concentrations in Computer Science and Philosophy. Shelley worked at Independent Health as a Financial Analyst before staying home with her children. She has worked as a Preschool Aide for the past five years and taught Little Flowers here last year. She has two boys who are in their third year of homeschooling.
Nella Smolinski- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 1 and 2)
nellakat@gmail.com
Nella holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics with a concentration in Child Language Acquisition and a Master's in Elementary Education, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the North Tonawanda City School District as well as the Orchard Park Central School District and as a tutor for Huntington Learning Centers. Nella is a homeschooling mom to 6 children and wife to a mad scientist. She and her family are parishioners at St. Amelia's in Tonawanda.
Mary Reibel- Science Instructor (Grades 1-4)
maryreibel89@gmail.com
Mary holds a Bachelor's degree in Early Childhood and Childhood Education and is finishing up her Master's degree in Special Education, all from Buffalo State College. Mary and her husband live in Alden with their 3 year old son and 1 year old daughter. She has enjoyed teaching the past three years at Holy Family and is very excited for the opportunity to come back again and work with so many great families!
Alisha Mansfield- Spanish Instructor (Grades 1-4)
mansfieldalisha@gmail.com
Alisha holds a Bachelor's Degree in Early Childhood and Elementary Education from Medaille College. She has spent her teaching years in Preschool classrooms but is very excited to brush up on her Spanish skills and teach the fun language of Spanish this year! Alisha is a homeschooling mom of two young boys, Gibson and Giovanni.
Rachel Barnard- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 3 and 4)
mooneyrac@gmail.com
Rachel Barnard graduated from Buffalo State College with a B.S. in Childhood and Early Childhood Education and an M.S. in Literacy. She teaches grades ¾ History and Literature at HFLC. She lives in Akron with her husband, Brian, and their three boys, Pierce, Daniel, and Lance. Her favorite books are The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen.
Mary Kay Schaub- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 5-6)
marykay1219@yahoo.com
Sara Hogg- Science Instructor (Grades 5-8)
saralynnhogg@gmail.com
Sara is a graduate of Medaille College in veterinary technology and biology where she also taught anatomy and physiology laboratory, science for non science majors, animal behavior and math for the sciences. In addition to educating in the sciences she was a research assistant in a project studying the wild horses of the Outer Banks. Sara and her husband Dan live in Silver Creek with their 1 year old son Emrys and their 3 dogs.
Maria Gehl- Spanish Instructor (Grades 5-8)
mjegehl@gmail.com
Maria received a Bachelor's degree in Theology with a concentration in Religious Education from the Franciscan University of Steubenville. Maria learned most of her Spanish while living in Mexico with her family as a missionary with Family Missions Company. She and her husband live in Akron with their 6 children. When she isn't homeschooling, you can find Maria cooking, curled up with a good book, crocheting, enjoying good music, or hiding in the laundry room eating chocolate.
Katie Revai- History and Literature Instructor (Grades 7/8)
revaikn@gmail.com
Katie holds a Bachelor's degree in Communication and a Master's degree in Education from the University at Buffalo. She has taught various grade levels in public, private and online school settings in both Mississippi and Buffalo. Additionally, Katie has taught religious education (grades Kindergarten through eight) for ten years and is a parishioner at the UB Newman Center in Amherst. She lives in Williamsville and is eager to join the Holy Family Learning Center family!
Elective Teachers (in alphabetical order)
Alexis Abell- Sewing Instructor
threadabell@gmail.com
Nicole Adams- Assistant Music Instructor/ Conductor
Nicole.r.adams@gmail.com
Amanda Batt- Dance/ Musical Theatre Instructor
ambatt987@gmail.com
Amanda is a homeschool graduate and holds a BS in Mental Health and Human Services with minors in Theology and History from Franciscan University. She and her husband have 6 children. Amanda has danced for 20+ years and continues to study tap, jazz, ballet and contemporary at Nickel City Dance and Fitness in Kenmore, NY. In addition she has participated in master tap classes with Broadway's Kate Bailey from "Something Rotten" (2018) and Jonalyn Saxer of "Mean Girls" (2019) through NCD and Broadway Connection. Amanda directed HFLC's 2018 Musical, Peter Pan Jr and 2019 Musical, Mulan Jr.
Brian Biesik- Self-Defense Instructor
masterbiesik@gmail.com
Kara Harris- Musical Theater workshops
harriskaralynn@gmail.com
Leo Kust- Engineering (Engineering for Kids)
leokust@gmail.com
Leo grew up in Wichita, Kansas then moved to Buffalo for graduate school and has received his masters in industrial engineering from the University at Buffalo. Working with children for over 7 years Leo has been a youth coach for fencing, mentor, and para for children and adolescents with special needs. Knowing that the STEM field offers a wide array of benefits to minds of all ages, he has a passion for providing exposure and education to the importance of the field he works in.
Heather Maher- Art Instructor
mahermagoo@aol.com
Heather Maher has a fine art degree with a concentration in painting and drawing. She has 20 years experience teaching art. She worked for the Arts in Education Instituite of WNY for twelve years, and currently teaches at Albright Knox Art Gallery and Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, in addition to Holy Family. She is blessed with 3 beautiful children and a loving husband. She is a parishioner at Our Lady of Pompeii in Lancaster.
Theresa Shriver- Baking Instructor
Shriverth@gmail.com
Theresa holds a degree in recreational leadership. She has been married 43 years and has 5 children and 14 grandchildren. Theresa has taught cooking to 4H groups over a 15 year time span. She has also been the owner of a home-based business, Chicken Coop Originals, for 20 years and teaches children and adults in garden/art and cooking through the business.
Nella Smolinski- Musical Theatre Choreographer
nellakat@gmail.com
Nella holds a Bachelor's degree in Linguistics with a concentration in Child Language Acquisition and a Master's in Elementary Education, both from the State University of New York at Buffalo. She has worked as a substitute teacher in the North Tonawanda City School District as well as the Orchard Park Central School District and as a tutor for Huntington Learning Centers. Nella is a homeschooling mom to 6 children and wife to a mad scientist. She and her family are parishioners at St. Amelia's in Tonawanda.
Elizabeth Truesdell- Physical Education and Legos Instructor
truesdell_e@yahoo.com
Liz is a homeschooling graduate, and earned Bachelor and Master degrees in Physical and Health Education, and Religious Studies from Canisius College. Liz taught health, physical education, and religion in various Catholic and public schools. Liz has also worked as a youth minister and coached various sports. In addition to Holy Family, she teaches courses at Canisius College. She lives in North Tonawanda with her husband, Keith, and their 4 children, who are pretty cool to be around, most days. They are active parishioners at St. Jude the Apostle Parish in North Tonawanda.