Join us to discover homeschooling in your state!
All individuals wishing to register must personally complete the registration process and create their own account.
Meet Our Speakers:
Sheri Payne:
Sheri is a twenty-three-year retired homeschool veteran and former support group leader, history and government teacher, co-op leader, writer, and speaker. She is currently the Director of Leadership and Military Support for Home Educators Association of Virginia.
She and her husband Jim have been married for 31 years. Jim is a retired Navy veteran who currently works for Naval Special Operations Group Two. They have three children who were always homeschooled. Caty is 29 and a college graduate who is a federal police officer. Mitchell, 27, is a former missionary to Mexico who is currently working to become an electrician. Marisa, 24, is a recent honors graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University.
Sheri taught dialectic and rhetoric level regular and honors history, government, and Constitutional law online at Lampstand Learning Center (now Lucerna Academy), an award-winning online program for homeschoolers, for many years. As Director of Leadership and Military Support for HEAV, Sheri connects with homeschool leaders around the state, hosts the LeaderLife conference every spring, the leaders and military events at the convention, connects with military homeschoolers, and manages the HEAV database of groups, which currently lists over 350 groups throughout Virginia, keeping homeschoolers connected with others in their area. She also enjoys speaking to groups around the state on how to begin homeschooling, how to choose curriculum, how to homeschool high school, and more.
LaNissir James:
LaNissir James is a joyful and energetic individual with a mission to impact people's lives. She understands the challenges and joys of life and is dedicated to helping others live joyfully and fearlessly as they pursue their God-sized dreams. As an author, consultant, and enthusiastic speaker, she loves to inspire people by sharing her own humor and real-life experiences.
She has served the homeschool community for two decades, both nationwide and locally, in her home state of Maryland. LaNissir's subject expertise is homeschooling through high school, and she has launched countless students onto college, career, military, and vocational schools.
She and her husband are celebrating their 30th anniversary of marriage. They have seven children, ranging in age from young adult to eight, who are all homeschooled.
With over 20 years of experience, LaNissir is a certified practitioner using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator®. She offers her clients invaluable insight into enriching interpersonal communication, using her gifts to help people build successful relationships, families, and businesses.
LaNissir is the author of Mom's Manual: Life Doesn't Come with a Manual; It Comes with a Mom, which inspires parents to create an organizational strategy to bring joy to the world's most important responsibility—Motherhood! With a BA degree in journalism from the University of Maryland, LaNissir loves to write, and she is working on her second book, Mom's Prayer Journal, which is dear to her heart.
LaNissir's favorite Bible verse is Psalm 113:9 ~ He maketh the barren woman to keep house, and to be a joyful mother of children. Praise ye the LORD.
Vicki Bentley:
Meet Vicki Bentley, a joyful mother of eight daughters, foster mom to fifty children, and proud grandma to 23 wonderful grandbabies (plus eleven great-grandchildren). Alongside her husband Jim, she’s homeschooled 17 children, and her workshops and articles reflect her understanding of the daily challenges facing homeschooling parents.
Since 1991, Vicki has been an integral part of support group leadership, providing invaluable guidance and support to homeschooling families in Virginia and beyond. Her involvement in the executive board and convention committee of the Home Educators Association of Virginia and her 15+ years of service at HSLDA as an educational consultant and group services director underscore her commitment to empowering parents, students, and leaders on this homeschooling journey.
Vicki blogs at EverydayHomemaking.com and has authored countless magazine articles, as well as such essential resources as My Homeschool Planner, The Everyday Family Chore System, and Home Education 101: A Mentoring Program for New Homeschoolers, and she is a contributor to Help! I Just Pulled My Kids Out of School!
Through her writing and her workshops, she shares practical insights and encouragement and has helped thousands of families to homeschool with confidence.
All individuals wishing to register must personally complete the registration process and create their own account.
