STAC TEACHERS 2025-2026
Melanie Coombs
mel.coombs@gmail.com
Melanie Coombs has three boys - Callum (17), Finn (13), and Owen (10). She never planned on homeschooling until a move in 2021 caused her family to give it a temporary trial run, from which they (almost) never looked back. She "cosplays" as a farmer on her family's 14 acre property in Resaca, and she enjoys reading, sewing, crafting, and generally making a mess. Utilizing her skills from her previous life in marketing and communications, she currently serves on the board and helps get the word out about the awesomeness that is the STAC community.
Libby Mathis
libbyanne76@gmail.com
Libby Mathis has been homeschooling her three children, ages 19, 17, and 13, since her oldest was unhappy with the worksheets in preschool. Her oldest has now graduated and is returning to STAC as a teaching assistant this year. She believes that learning should spark joy in young children and that later is better in regards to academics.
In her life before children, she attended Ohio University where she earned a BS in Chemistry and did graduate studies in Biochemistry. She has also worked at the The Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases (CTEGD) of the University of Georgia. Then her life turned into a frenzy of having her first child then moving from Georgia to Pennsylvania to North Carolina all before baby’s first birthday. Since then, it has been a busy joyful blur of hosting messy art days at her house, exploring nature with her kids, learning so many exciting things she never learned in public school, and rediscovering her artistic side.
Libby was a member of the founding STAC Board of Directors and she has been the co-coordinator of Play Create Learn (formerly CHAOS) since September 2017.
Mel Williams
melwilliams0608@gmail.com
Mel Williams is the mother of 6 children, spanning ages 10 to 22. All have been homeschooled since the beginning and the oldest three are currently in college. She was a member of the founding board of STAC, and has now returned to the board. She has been on the board of several non profits over the years.
When not participating in STAC she and her family spend a lot of time doing Society for Creative Anachronism activities like archery, fencing, heavy combat, cooking, and various other pre-16th century skills.
Kat Jensen
slidingontheice@gmail.com
Kat Jensen is a homeschooling parent of two
children, ages 17 and 12. Their family moved to
Georgia in early 2023 and they love the
community at STAC. Kat attended the
University of Utah, majoring in chemistry with
a business minor and working at the
university affiliated Poison Control Center.
Kat runs a tax preparation business and has
been involved in various volunteer
organizations. In their spare time Kat enjoys
live music, camping with their family,
collecting baseball cards, and playing
community recreational sports such as
softball and volleyball (where enthusiasm
generally outweighs talent).
Kelly Elmore
kellyelmore79@gmail.com
Kelly Elmore has more than 20 years of teaching experience in nearly every subject and at nearly every level (variety is the spice of life!). Her academic training is in English and classical languages, and she taught writing, rhetoric, and grammar at the college level. For every age group, her focus is on learning academic subject matter and executive function skills, while having fun together. Academic skills and joy can and should go hand in hand! She homeschooled her daughter all the way through, and now she's enjoying her dogs, traveling with her husband Aaron, gardening, and being outside.
Diane Overton
firstratemath@gmail.com
Diane is a mom to 2 daughters, ages 16 and 18. She graduated from the University of Notre Dame with a bachelor's degree in Mathematics and a concentration in Computer Science Engineering. She worked as a Computer Programmer and Project Manager for many years, with a long hiatus in the middle to focus on raising her children. She later earned a Master's in Secondary Math Education from Kennesaw State University and taught 7th grade Math at Campbell Middle School in Smyrna. Diane has a passion for teaching students of all ages and abilities and connecting with her students about topics that they love. Over the years, she has coached the King Springs Elementary Science Olympiad team, taught 2nd graders in a Saturday school program in East Point through Hands on Atlanta, and tutored high school math students. She loves working with students to meet them where they are with their math skills, providing lots of encouragement and positive feedback along the way. She especially enjoys creating hands-on math experiences and real-world math tasks for students to explore and learn.
Julianne Robbins
juliannerobbins88@gmail.com
Julianne is a homeschooling mom for her 8 year old son. When she is not being “Mom,” she is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, NLP Practitioner, business co-owner with her husband, actor, and working on her first novel. Julianne received her BS in Chemistry and BA in Mathematics from Converse University, and her Master’s in Physical Chemistry from the Georgia Institute of Technology. She also worked briefly at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). While she loved the world of science and mathematics, she soon discovered a life in formal academia did not provide the freedom and lifestyle she and her family were desiring.
Rachel Berning
mrsberning@gmail.com
Rachel Berning has been homeschooling her two children, both of which are now in high school, since the beginning. She attended The California School of Culinary Arts, Le Cordon Bleu and graduated with Diplôme de Pâtisserie. When she’s not homeschooling her children, she assists her husband with his LLC. She enjoys being outside, birdwatching, cross stitching, training with kettlebells, and is a lifelong learner. Rachel is also a former STAC board member.
Misty Holm
mebholm@yahoo.com
Misty holds both BA and MTS degrees from Emory University, with majors in Interdisciplinary Studies, Religion, and Social Sciences. After eight years working in International Education, serving most recently as Assistant Director of Study Abroad Programs at Georgia State University, she left work to focus on her children. Before resigning, she was very fortunate to be able to study and/or work in Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America. Since leaving the working world, she’s had the privilege of earning several teaching certifications, including Atlanta Audubon Master Birder, Georgia Master Naturalist, Our Whole Lives sexuality education facilitator, and Listening Circle small group facilitator.In addition to homeschooling her two children from Kindergarten through Middle School, she has taught/facilitated various groups from elementary school through college, including teaching at local homeschool co-ops since 2014. The leap from helping lead a university Study Abroad Programs office to being a full-time mom, homeschooler, and teacher was a natural one: it’s all about getting up out of the classroom and venturing out into the real world!
Lisette Ariola
lisetteariola@proton.me
Bio coming soon
Armelle Garner
armellejg@yahoo.com
Armelle is a native French speaker, originally from Paris, France. She has taught French at both the high school and collegiate levels before entering the corporate world. Her child has been attending STAC for the past 3 years. The loving and nurturing community of STAC has stirred her desire to give back to its students. This will be her second year teaching at STAC.
