A PROFESSIONAL CHRISTIAN FACULTY TEAM
KINDERGARTEN
MICHELLE EVANS
I am honored to be teaching Kindergarten again this year at MLCS. I grew up in Sunnyvale, CA with amazing parents and one younger sister, and we moved to Sonora when I was in junior high (attending Soulsbyville and Sonora High School). I was blessed to spend my teenage years involved in the Sierra Bible youth group, playing soccer, and riding horses. After high school, I attended Fresno Pacific University, majoring in liberal studies and earned my CA Teaching Credential (multiple subject K-8). I played women’s soccer at FPU and relished my summers working on staff at Hume Lake Christian Camp.
After college, I spent five years working as an Assistant Director of Student Ministries at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church in the Bay Area. I have wonderful memories of mission trips, mentoring kids and creating weekly programming for hundreds of students. Afterward, I married my husband, James (Sonora native), and we eventually moved back to our beloved hometown, Sonora. We now have four children, all of whom attend MLCS. I’ve loved being a volunteer over the last decade with Community Bible Study, children’s ministry at church, and at a local preschool co-op.
I love creating a great first experience in school for the children at MLCS where they learn academic skills, socialization, and what it means to be part of the team for Jesus. Here’s to another great year together!
NICOLE SIUDZINSKI
I am so excited and grateful to be working as a Kindergarten Support Teacher this year at Mother Lode Christian School.
I was born and raised in San Jose, CA where I became a Christian in middle school and started working with children with autism in high school. I went on to get my BA in psychology at CSU Long Beach and continued working with children with autism while in school and up until I had my own children.
My husband, Mark, and I got married a year or so after graduating and had our two children about 5 years later. After our first was born, I stayed home to raise and homeschool our children, while serving at our church on Sunday mornings in Sunday school and attending CBS (Community Bible Study).
I have loved this time with my family but started to feel called to serve more outside of our home again. This last year I have been serving as the children and youth director for CBS and have seen God’s goodness and provision through this. I am looking forward to this coming year and what God has in store for our kindergarten class as well as the rest of the school. God is so good, and I see Him working at Motherlode Christian and our family is excited to be a part of this journey.
1ST GRADE
AMBER KARPUS
As a cute little kindergartner I said, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a teacher.” I followed my dreams and goals, and here I am teaching at an amazing Christian school. After graduating from Sonora High School, I went to Columbia College and earned my AA in Liberal Studies with a concentration in Child Development. I transferred to CSU Stanislaus, graduating in 2006 with a BA in Liberal Studies and a concentration in child development. Finally, I completed my credential through an online program called CalState TEACH through CSU Fresno.
While attending Columbia College I met my husband, Paul Karpus. We have two amazing children, Tyler and Kaylee, plus pigs, lots of chickens, a dog and a cat. Our children are very involved in sports, which puts us on the playing field every weekend cheering them on! I was born and raised in Tuolumne County and represent five generations here. So, it is with great joy that I live, teach, and help to raise our children in this small community
I have experience teaching 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 8th grade students. I was hired to teach at MLCS in 2016 and have been joyfully teaching 1st grade the whole time. I love teaching my students about God while also teaching them how read and write. It warms my heart to see how much the children learn and grow during their 1st grade school year, and I feel blessed beyond measure to be a teacher at this amazing school
2ND GRADE
HALEY WARFIELD
3RD GRADE
CHARA REVORD
I was born and raised in Tuolumne County surrounded by good friends, a solid church family, and the constant reminders of God’s handiwork in nature around me. My very first volunteer education job, at the ripe old age of 4, was teaching my younger sister Charity to read. She claims I taught her in self-defense to keep her from pestering me for just one more story. Whether it was self-defense or a heart for teaching, it has become my passion and my profession.
For my own education, I attended MLCS Kindergarten through part of 4th grade and then began homeschooling which continued through high school. High school was a mixture of homeschooling and Mother Lode Christian, including Mrs. Baer’s famous chemistry class. I attended Simpson University in Redding and graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts and a double major in Diversified Liberal Arts and History plus minors in Bible and English. I obtained my CA CLEAR teaching credential from Chapman University, attending classes on their campus in Modesto, while completing my student teaching in kindergarten and 6th grade classrooms.
I have taught primarily 2nd and 3rd grade in classrooms in Patterson, at Columbia Elementary, in Dallas Texas and in several one room schoolhouse settings while also working with homeschool families through a local charter school. As an educator for the past 20+ years, I have taught in public, private, charter and homeschool settings.
My husband Jim and I live in Sonora along with my three children quite near my childhood home. As a parent, my children have been in private, public, charter and homeschool settings for their education.
I am thankful for the wide variety of educational experiences I have had as a student, parent, and educator. I feel this gives me keen insight into education, supporting our children as learners and young people building relationships. I am thrilled to be working with the amazing team of teachers and staff at Mother Lode Christian and rejoice in the precious children that God entrusted into our care each day.
4TH GRADE
DESIREE FEDERMAN
Teaching at Motherlode Christian School has been one of my biggest blessings in life. I started as a substitute teacher and Discipleship teacher to the seventh and eighth grade girls. What better way than to answer God’s calling than to teach the children about His love.
I graduated from San Diego State University with a B.A. in Social Work and began my Master’s Degree in Pastoral Counseling in 2022. I have been a substitute teacher in Tuolumne County for over 5 years and have gratefully called Mother Lode Christian home now. I love living here in the Sierra and enjoying the outdoors with my children and many animals.
THOMAS HIGGINS
I am very excited to be coming back to Mother Lode Christian after all these years. I grew up in Tuolumne County and attended MLCS from kindergarten through twelfth grade. My father taught here for over twenty years, so I am grateful for the opportunity to follow in his footsteps. As I think of the challenges and opportunities facing this generation, I am even more proud to be joining the team at MLCS, providing a Christian education for the families of our community.
My educational background is in church history and social science, and I hold degrees from Simpson University, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and Edinburgh University. Before coming to Mother Lode, I taught at Soulsbyville Elementary School for five years.
5TH GRADE
KAREN McDANIEL
I am so excited to be the 5th grade teacher here at Mother Lode Christian. Each and every child is a gift from God and being able to encourage their academic and spiritual growth is a delight to my soul.
I graduated from CSU Stanislaus with a degree in Business Administration in 2007 and started off my career in business management. When we moved back to Sonora, my husband and I started our family, and I took time off work to raise our children. As my children grew older, I began to seek a new direction for the path of my career and felt drawn to serve in education. For several years, I served as a substitute teacher throughout the county, allowing me to get my feet wet with teaching all grades and see the variety of methods and settings in the public system. I also began enrolling in additional college courses to sharpen my skills as an educator. It was not until I began subbing at Mother Lode Christian School that I knew God was doing something here that went far beyond the public system. My heart was drawn to remain at MLCS in whatever capacity God asked of me. So, it was with great joy that I accepted the position of full-time teacher in the 5th grade classroom in Fall of this year.
My husband and I were both raised in the Central Valley but are thrilled to be back in the beautiful mountains of Tuolumne County. It has been a blessing to return back to the place that we both love so much. We have three amazing children that all attend MLCS, and we love being a part of this community. I am excited to start this journey with you and can’t wait to see what the future will bring.
6TH GRADE
JENNIE RADONICH
I am grateful that the Lord has led me to teach at MLCS, and am excited to join this devoted team. Originally from San Jose, I attended Valley Christian School from K-8, and know firsthand the importance of laying the foundation of faith through a Christ-centered education. I was raised in the Bay Area before earning a BS in Business Administration from Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo. During this time, I served in youth ministry at church, working with both junior high and high school students. Soon after graduating, I accepted a teaching position at Pacific West Christian Academy in Gilroy, where I taught 7-9th grade math, along with other subjects. I met and married my husband, and we are now partners in crime, raising our three sons. In 2012 we moved our young family to the mountains. Prior to enrolling our children at MLCS, we homeschooled our boys for 4 years while serving on the Cornerstone Christian board, and opened our home to foster care for a season.
I now find myself back in the classroom! I love the energy that comes from interacting and problem solving in class. I consider it a great responsibility and privilege to build relationships and teach these middle years that can often be awkward to navigate. I believe that a teacher with a lot of love and a good sense of humor can spark learning and demonstrate to students that they can do hard things. I strive to be that, and look forward to a great year ahead.
7TH GRADE
TANJA JOHNSON
I graduated from Azusa Pacific University with a B.A. in Psychology but realized soon afterward that teaching was what I really wanted to do. After obtaining my certification through Fresno State, I enjoyed teaching at the elementary level before taking a leave of absence to homeschool my own kids.
As my boys progressed through middle and high school, I remained heavily involved in teaching classes to their peers in various educational settings. I loved coming alongside and engaging with students at each stage of their mental, emotional, and spiritual development.
It has been my privilege to join the staff at Mother Lode Christian School, and I am thrilled to be working with 7th graders this year! “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord….it is the Lord Jesus Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23-24
8TH GRADE
LAURA BRINEGAR
- Advanced Band
My name is Laura Brinegar and I have the privilege of teaching Jr. High at MLCS. I graduated from The University of the Pacific and completed my credential with a major in Education and a minor in Music. As a the mother of ten I chose to home school for the years after college which provided me with a unique opportunity to teach all grades and see my students develop year to year.
I have been involved at MLCS on and off for 23 years as a teacher or parent. God called me to teach Jr. High 7 years ago and I have absolutely loved teaching these young men and women. They are funny, creative, talented, interesting, and intelligent young people with an energy and excitement that is wonderful to witness.
We have travelled across the country to Washington D.C., climbed mountains to study glaciers and rocks, and dissected every specimen we could get our hands on. Every day I am challenged and inspired by their love of learning and their willingness to try new things. Learning to succeed, and sometimes fail, but to always learn in the process.
AD / PE K-8TH
DONNIE WRIGHT
- Athletic Director
- Athletics / P.E.
I have coached and officiated multiple sports at the elementary and high school levels for the past 26 years. My most important goal has always been to allow children to enjoy a fun, safe and structured environment to learn more about themselves and God’s glory through exercise and sports. Mother Lode Christian School gives children this opportunity, through God’s glory, to build knowledge and experience through team sports and physical fitness.
RESOURCE SPECIALIST
KIM KNOWLES
Blessings! I am excited to be a member of the Motherlode Christian teaching staff this year, though I am not new to education.
I grew up in Los Gatos, CA and always wanted to be a mom. I am now the mother of 6 and the grandma of 9! I realized early on that I was teaching most of the time, and when my first child went to kindergarten, God called me to become a teacher.
I served as a paraprofessional for 10 years, the last year of which was right here at Mother Lode Christian. I then began my classroom teaching career and taught at Pinecrest School for twelve years, teaching K-2, until the site closed. From there I went to Twain Harte Elementary School and taught several combination classes as well as kindergarten before retiring in 2018.
I wasn’t very good at retirement and soon pursued more schooling for my certification in counseling, but God had other plans. He has obviously called me back to teaching and has blessed me with this position at Motherlode Christian where I can use the many years of educational experience to provide support for all MLCS students in need of academic fine tuning.
This is my passion, what I love, and what I have been called to do, and I believe that doing so in a Christian setting is what God intends: “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6
K-8TH ART
JANNET MARTINEZ
- 8th Grade Spanish
I am both honored and excited to be teaching at MLCS! Sharing with others my love of teaching, learning, the outdoors, being physically active, and “all things Jesus,” is what I love to do and how I roll.
My first year of teaching was at St. Abrahams Classical Christian Academy in Aptos where I fully enjoyed the opportunity to serve as a substitute and was delighted when asked to teach a session of wood shop. In that class I incorporated my affinity for physical activity by teaching students how to build their own version of an Indo Board. They not only learned the technical skills required to produce the boards but also walked away with a tool to help build balance and strength.
I’ve participated in track, softball, dance, gymnastics, and co-ed all-star cheerleading and found that being active was a positive outlet for my seemingly endless energy at the time. As an adult, I’ve maintained an active lifestyle while perusing my many interests outdoors. Basically, it’s rare that I’m not moving! Must be why my favorite verse is Joshua 1:9.
I have been married to my best friend, Calvin, for over 14 years and our wonderfully energetic daughter, Summer, attends MLCS. I grew up in Sunnyvale and Morgan Hill and lived throughout Northern California and Hawaii. We’ve called Mi Wuk home since 2020. Together, our family enjoys camping, hiking and exploring new trails, snowboarding, wakeboarding, visiting family throughout the country, remodeling our home (ok maybe that’s just me), working on our sustainable garden at home and creating new recipes using our veggies.
K-8TH PERFORMING ARTS
K-8TH PERFORMING ARTS
I am beyond excited to be a member of the teaching staff at MLCS this year! I have been an educator for 14 years and loved every minute of working with students to foster a love of learning and a heart for the Lord. Even though I knew from a young age that I wanted to be a teacher, the theater has always been like a second home. Throughout my childhood, there wasn’t a stage I was afraid of and as I grew up, I used the gifts God gave me to help students fall in love with the arts.
I lived in Sonora during my preschool and kindergarten years and attended MLCS. My family moved back to the Bay Area and after high school, I graduated from California State University East Bay with my Bachelor’s Degree in Liberal Studies and a Multiple Subject Teaching Credential. Then in 2010, I married my amazing husband, Mike and we had our beautiful daughter, Lyla, in 2011.
After earning my teaching credential, I taught at various private and public schools in the Bay Area and then had the opportunity to become a Performing Arts Director at a christian school and combined my love for the arts and education. After having my second child, Jameson, God was calling me back to the classroom to spend more time with my husband and my growing family. I taught middle school English and fell in love with teaching writing and working with middle school students.
I loved teaching middle school, but God was calling our family to move out of the Bay Area, so he placed a very familiar location on my heart, Sonora. We have lived here for about five years and have been so blessed by the Lord to live in such a beautiful place. I taught in a public school, teaching middle school English Language Arts, and graduated with my Master’s Degree in Education with an emphasis on Educational Technology from Concordia University. Again, the Lord placed another big change on my heart; to teach at my Kindergarten alma mater, Motherlode Christian School.
I’m thankful to the Lord for opening the door to work at this incredible school. With over a decade of teaching experience and a heart for the performing arts, I am excited to bring my passions together to create the greatest experience for our students. Psalm 30:11
BEGINNING BAND
RACHEL ALLISON
Growing up in a musical family, there isn’t a time I can remember when I didn’t have a passion for music. My grandparents had a passion for both music and the Lord and invested that legacy into the lives of their children and grandchildren. I was blessed to be given violin lessons from my uncle and my grandmother from the age of five, and piano lessons from my grandfather from the age of eight.
My love for music continued through high school where I attended the Connections Performing Arts Academy at Summerville High School. While there, I enjoyed years of dance, choir, theater, and strings ensemble classes. During high school, I also enjoyed leading worship in my church youth group and helping in the preschool Sunday school classes. It was during this time in my life that the Lord began to place a desire to teach and a love for children in my heart.
After high school, I decided to pursue a music degree at Columbia College and graduated with my AA in music in 2015. In the Fall after completing my degree my husband was assigned to his first duty station in Vicenza, Italy as an airborne Army medic. While this changed my plans for continuing my education quite a bit, we were very thankful for this new door God opened for us and embraced the Army life in Italy for 4 years. We also decided it was a good time to start a family and had our two children while living in Italy.
After my husband was injured during airborne operations, he felt God’s calling to pursue a medical career outside of the Army and we packed up our Italian dog and babies and made the transition back to civilian life in our hometown of Sonora, California. While it is now my husband’s turn to pursue his education full time, God gave me the opportunity to apply for the music teaching position at Motherlode Christian School. So, in 2021 I followed God’s call on my life and my passions for music and teaching children and was ecstatic to learn I was accepted for the position! As I have always loved music and children, I am so happy and thankful to be at Motherlode Christian School, teaching a subject I have a passion for, to students within an environment where personal growth in a relationship with Jesus is nurtured and cherished.
