About our instructors
David Harris, Ph. D.
Dr. David Harris is an Associate Professor in the Economics Department at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. After obtaining his undergraduate degree from Benedictine College in 1997, he earned his M.S. from Iowa State University in 1999 and his Ph.D. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 2008. His areas of research interest are Catholic Social Teaching, the history of economic thought, and social economics. After spending time as a full-time volunteer working with the poor and under served population of Milwaukee, he taught personal finance classes before coming to Benedictine. Dr. Harris and his wife, Jackie, live in Atchison with their three children.
Dr. Harris teaches economics.
He is the editor of the Ignatius Critical Edition of Romeo and Juliet and author of the forthcoming book, Shakespeare on Love: Seeing the Catholic Presence in in Romeo and Juliet (publication by Ignatius Press in Fall 2012). He is also the author of The Quest for Shakespeare: The Bard of Avon and the Church of Rome and Through Shakespeare’s Eyes: Seeing the Catholic Presence in the Plays, both published by Ignatius Press. He has hosted two 13-part seasons of “The Quest for Shakespeare” for EWTN and has also edited the Ignatius Critical Editions of The Merchant of Venice, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, King Lear, and Macbeth. Writer in residence and associate professor of literature at Ave Maria University in Florida, Pearce has also authored books on great Christian writers such as G.K. Chesterton, J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
Mr. Pearce teaches literature.
Monica Ashour, M.T.S., M.Hum.
Having had 18 years of experience in the classroom, 3 years of experience working at St. Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M University as one the Campus Ministers and holding 2 Masters Degrees in Theological Studies and in Humanities from the University of Dallas, Monica Ashour comes to us with a breadth and depth of vision that will electrify high school students and solidify their knowledge of the faith. Orthodox, passionate, and pedagogically adept, Miss Ashour reaches youth, especially in the areas of Christian Anthropology, Moral Theology, Social Ethics, and Sacramental Theology. Her former students often contact her to thank her for preparing them to face the various onslaughts they experience in college which question Catholicism. As the Executive Director and national speaker for The Theology of the Body Evangelization Team (TOBET), Miss Ashour has been named by the National Catholic Register as one of the top speakers on Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body. She is author of a pamphlet called, Social Networking: How to Plug in Without Tuning Out, and of the Parent’s Guide to the Theology of the Body for Teens: Middle School Edition, both published by Ascension Press.
Miss Ashour can be reached at mashour@tobet.org. See www.tobet.org.
Ms. Ashour teaches theology.
Ed Rivet has a B.S. in Pre-Law and Public Policy and a Master’s in Public Administration both from Michigan State University. He served three years as a legislative aide in the Michigan House of Representatives. For 21 years Ed has served as the Right to Life of Michigan’s Legislative Director. He has written and helped enact dozens of laws, including the nation’s first complete ban on human cloning, and banning assisted suicide in the face of the assault on human life by Jack Kevorkian and Geoffrey Fieger. Ed was the director of the state of Michigan’s largest all-volunteer citizen petition drive which also was the state’s most accurate petition drive ever, 97.3% valid signatures. Ed has done countless media interviews, appearing in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, USA Today, plus live interviews on CNN and Good Morning America.
Mr. Rivet teaches government.
Henry Russell, Ph. D.
Dr. Henry Russell is Headmaster of the St. Augustine’s Homeschool Enrichment Program founded with his wife Crystal. The program began in Fall 2005 with 20 students in two living rooms and now tutors more than 70 students. He is also the President of the SS Peter and Paul Educational Foundation, dedicated to founding an orthodox Catholic Liberal Arts college in southeast Michigan.
A graduate of Princeton and South Caroline (M.S.), Dr. Russell completed his graduate work at Louisiana State University. Formerly the Chairman of Ave Maria College’s Department of Literature, he has also been a professor at Franciscan University of Steubenville and Wake Forest University. He is a founding faculty member of the St. Robert Southwell Creative Writing Workshop held in Mahwah, New Jersey.
Dr. Russell’s works include The Catholic Shakespeare Audio Series. He was the Associate Editor of The Formalist from 1990-2004 and his writings have been published in various journals. He was honored to edit Dr. Alice von Hildebrand’s groundbreaking volume, The Privilege of Being a Woman.
Dr. Russell teaches literature.
Robert Gotcher, Ph. D.
Dr. Robert F. Gotcher most recently served as Associate Professor of Systematic Studies at Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He and his wife, Kathy, are raising their seven children in Franklin, Wisconsin. Dr. Gotcher has been actively involved in the homeschooling of his children, especially in the junior high and high school years. He has taught Latin, literature, physics, astronomy, and religion to homeschooled students. He has a special devotion to the classical trivium of grammar, logic and rhetoric, especially as they pertain to the written arts.
Dr. Gotcher graduated from the University of Notre Dame in 1981 with a B.A. in the Program of Liberal Studies. He received his M.A. in Theology of the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul in 1991 and his Ph.D. from Marquette University in 2002.
Dr. Gotcher teaches literature, theology, writing and logic.
Kris Correira, M.H.P.E.
Kris Correira is a home schooling mom of three boys with a special interest in science. Her blog, At Home Science (http://AtHomeScience.blogspot.com), is a resource for teaching science at home without reliance on textbooks or curricula, but rather by creating individual, flexible science programs through a variety of books and other resources. She also has a unique approach to nature study which she blogs about at A Private Eye Nature (http://APrivateEyeNature.blogspot.com).
Kris has a long background in medicine and teaching. She is a physician assistant who worked in a busy emergency department for sixteen years. She has been teaching in the paramedic program at Quinsigamond Community college since 1993, and now also teaches a lab in Human Biology for Non-Majors at Eastern Connecticut State University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Biological Sciences and Computer Science from Wellesley College, and her Physician Assistant Certificate and Masters of Health Professions degree from Northeastern University. She is currently working towards her Doctorate degree in Educational Leadership and Higher Education online from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Mrs. Correira teaches science.
Jean Rioux, Ph. D.
Dr. Jean Rioux is a professor and chair of the philosophy department at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas, where he has taught for 25 years. A graduate of Thomas Aquinas College, he completed his graduate work in philosophy at the Center for Thomistic Studies in Houston, earning the M.A. in 1984 and the Ph.D. in 1990. Specializing in the thought of Aristotle and St. Thomas Aquinas, Dr. Rioux has published textbooks in logic and natural philosophy, as well as articles on the philosophy of mathematics in the Thomist and the Aquinas Review. He came to Benedictine with a love for the study of primary texts, as well as a keen interest in what computers might bring to that study. His contributions to the philosophical life of Benedictine College range from Great Books Sequences in philosophy and theology to 3D software for students of logic.
He and his wife, Maria, raise their nine children in a farmhouse in rural Kansas. They have been designing their own curricula and educating their children at home for over 20 years.
Dr. Rioux teaches philosophy.
Derek Prentice
Mr. Prentice is a graduate of Hope College with a B.A. in Communications, Business and Art. An accomplished and integrity-driven professional with over 14 years of business success with Fortune 500 organizations and start-up companies, specializing in technology, automotive, powersports and consumer electronics.
Phillip Campbell
Phillip Campbell holds a BA in European History from Ave Maria University and is pursuing graduate studies in education at Madonna University. He is a Youth Director at Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Ann Arbor, MI where he also teaches history for the St. Augustine Homeschool Enrichment Program. Mr. Campbell and his wife of eight years home school their three children.
Mr. Campbell teaches history.
Dayspring Brock, M.H.
Dayspring Brock has been teaching in private schools since 2004 in the Dallas area. She grew up a Dallasite, and though experimented with northern living by moving to Baltimore for a year for her first teaching job, discovered that the Texas life was indeed superior. Her undergraduate degree is in history and philosophy from Dallas Baptist University and she holds a Masters of Humanities in Literature from the University of Dallas. Dayspring is a current candidate to enter the Catholic Church (an Anglican rite church) and can’t wait to take her first Eucharist at Easter. She has a passion for books, current events, films, fashion, pop culture, coffee, and music. She loves Junior High students and the opportunities to show how reading and writing can open up a whole new dimension to a student.
Ms. Brock teaches Junior High literature.
Gary Michuta
Gary Michuta was born into a devote Catholic home. In the late 1980’s, many of Gary’s friends fell prey to anti-Catholic Fundamentalist Protestants and left the Faith. For him, the Catholic Faith was something to be believed, but it didn’t have anything to do with “real life” (i.e. philosophy, reason, sports, et al.). All that changed, when in 1989, Gary struck up a friendship with an anti-Catholic Fundamentalist when Gary discovered that there is a rational, biblical, and historical case for Catholicism that is both compelling and exciting.
Ministry In 1992, Gary formed Thy Faith, Inc., a lay-run 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to promoting Catholic apologetics and evangelism. Through exciting parishes and conferences, Thy Faith, Inc. helped hundreds of Catholics learn and explain their Faith in a confident, competent and charitable fashion. Gary’s talks attempt to break through the typical “talking head” approach. He gets the audience involved in the talk. For conferences, Gary often includes mock debates so that his audience will learn not only what to say in a dialog, but how to say it. Gary was also the contributing editor of its bi-monthly publication Hands On Apologetics Magazine. Books After a two-part radio debate against anti-Catholic James McCarthy, Gary decided to author his first book that refutes McCarthy’s anti-Catholic work The Gospel According to Rome. The book is called The Gospel According to James McCarthy (Grotto Press, 2002). Today, McCarthy’s book has become a play book for anti-Catholic evangelists. Gary’s response has been a top selling antidote to McCarthy’s cavils.
In 2004, Gary participated in The Great Debate Series in Long Island, New York where he debated Dr. James White on the topic “The Dueterocanon / Apocrypha is Scripture.” The material for the debate involved four years of intensive research on the subject of the Deuterocanon. The fruit of this research is his upcoming book Why Catholic Bibles Are Bigger: Did the Catholic Church Add Books to the Bible? (Grotto Press, 2007). Gary’s latest book is How to Wolf-Proof Your Kids: A Practical Guide to Keeping Your Kids Catholic (Grotto Press, 2010). This unique book gives Catholic parents and educators valuable insights into the deceptive tactics used by anti-Catholics and concrete suggestions on how to combat these methods. Radio and Television Gary Michuta was also the co-host of the local radio show Hands on Apologetics Live (Michigan Catholic Radio: WCAR, 1090 AM). He is also a frequent guest on various Catholic radio shows such as Catholic Answers Live (EWTN), Searching the Word (Relevant Radio), and the Son Rise Morning Show (EWTN). He gave his “inversion story” on The Journey Home (EWTN) and he also worked as an uncredited consultant for Steve Ray’s Footsteps of God video series (Ignatius Press). Instruction Since 2003, Gary has developed apologetic material for the Eastern Church Re-Evangelization Commission (E.C.R.C) to aid the Chaldean Catholic Dioceses. Gary currently offers classes on Apologetics to Catholic parishes around the country.
Mr. Michuta teaches Catholic Apologetics.
Catherine Alvis
Ms. Alvis is a graduate of the University of Dallas with a BA in Politics and is currently obtaining her Masters in Humanities from UD as well. She has been teaching English and Latin for 5 years at a home school co-op in Dallas, TX and has tutored various levels of Latin throughout her teaching career. She enjoys reading, tennis, spending time with her family, volunteering at various events with her Thomas Aquinas parish, organizing events with Young Catholic Professionals of Dallas and playing fetch with her boarder collie.
Ms. Alvis teaches Latin.
Laurie Gill, MS Ed
Laurie Gill is an English and journalism teacher in St. Louis, Missouri. She holds bachelor’s degrees in journalism and history, with an emphasis on Church history. She holds a master’s degree in secondary English teaching, and has taught English, social studies and writing at home and in Catholic schools in the St. Louis area for the past 16 years. She is a mother of six children.
Mrs. Gill teaches Advanced Placement English.
Martin Harold, MBA
Mr. Harold is Vice President of Admissions and Adjunct Professor at John Paul the Great Catholic University. He holds a BA in Political Science and an MBA in Management from Franciscan University. Martin joined JP Catholic in May of 2006 –four months before the start of the inaugural school year. In four years, Martin increased enrollment from eleven students to one hundred and sixty, while overseeing the launch of two new graduate programs and five concentrations.
Mr. Harold teaches Business and Marketing
Jean Hoeft, MA
Jean Hoeft has been a math and algebra teacher for 22 years. She has a BA from the University of Michigan and a MA from Marygrove University. Jean has taught the confirmation class at her Catholic parish for 27 years. She loves gardening, sudoku puzzles, raising chickens, reading, knitting, and everything Catholic.
Mrs. Hoeft teaches math.
Jason Negri, MS, JD
Jason Negri is the Assistant Director of the Patients Rights Council, a think tank dedicated to opposing the spread of doctor-prescribed suicide and euthanasia. He earned his BA in history & French, and his MS in education administration from Franciscan University of Steubenville, and his JD from Ave Maria School of Law as a member of its inaugural class. Mr. Negri is a practicing attorney in Michigan, where he lives with his wife and 4 children.
Mr. Negri teaches law.
Irma Luz Schmitt, MA
Irma Luz Schmitt was born in Ciudad Victoria, Tamaulipas, Mexico. She graduated from the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (Monterrey Institute of Technology) in Monterrey, Mexico with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 1986 and a Master’s Degree in Education in 1999. In 2005, she earned a certification from Cambridge University in England to teach English as a second language.
From 1987-1999, Mrs. Schmitt worked as an accountant at Catepillar, Cedetel and Sorteo Tec. In 2000, she worked at Universidad Virtual del Tec de Monterrey as part of a team that initiated online courses in Accounting. From 2002-2004, she taught accounting, humanities and Latin American Studies at Universidad LaSalle in Ciudad Victoria. In 2003-2005, she taught English as a second language in the Centro de Lenguas de la Universidad Autonoma de Tamaulipas in Ciudad Victoria. While there she also participated in a distance learning program to train teachers who teach English in elementary public schools in neighboring cities of Tamaulipas.
Mrs. Schmitt and her husband live in Bear, Delaware where they homeschool their 5 year-old-daughter.
Mrs. Schmitt teaches Spanish.
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