About CHEC

Christian Home Educators of Colorado exists to defend your family’s freedom and help you homeschool with confidence.

Since 1990, we’ve served homeschoolers in Colorado and throughout the world via training conferences and seminars, publications and resources, legislative work, and more.

Vision

We envision families honoring Jesus Christ by embracing home discipleship that is Christ centered, parent directed, and free from government control.

Mission

Christian Home Educators of Colorado motivates parents to disciple the next generation of Christians to impact our state and beyond for Christ and His Kingdom by providing information, leadership, and resources.

Information: Our conferences and activities unify a Christian worldview for parents, children, volunteers, and staff alike to render every thought, word, and action captive to the obedience of Jesus Christ.

Leadership: Our leadership and staff encourage parents to honor the triune God by integrating faith and learning into all facets of home discipleship, using the Bible as our starting point, and heeding the Biblical jurisdictions of family, church, and state.

Resources: Our people, media, and programs assist families in the shepherding of their children to become competent Christian leaders in the years to come.

We’re grateful for God’s faithfulness through the years of homeschool freedom in Colorado! And we look forward with great expectation to the work He will continue to do through CHEC as we invest in the lives of families discipling their children to know and serve Jesus Christ.

Click here to learn the History of CHEC & Colorado Homeschooling

Click here to view CHEC’s annual Honorary Awards

CHEC Board of Directors

Bill Roach, Board President

Bill Roach has been on the board of Christian Home Educators of Colorado for over 25 years and has served as President for a majority of those years. He and his wife Shalyn have been blessed to be able to disciple all five of their children and homeschooled them all since the beginning. Bill and his family work in various family businesses and enjoy the blessing and challenge of working with each other. Even as the older ones get married, the Roaches have been blessed to continue to minister and work together. The Roaches have served in various positions within CHEC including Conference Coordinators. Their heart’s cry is to continue to see more families draw closer together and closer to their church community as they grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Roaches will be moving to Elbert County soon and fulfilling a lifelong vision of living next to most of the children and grandchildren! To God be the glory, great things He has done!

Brenda Kelly

Brenda Kelly joined the CHEC team in 1994 as a board and conference team member. In 2008 she also began working in the office. The Kelly’s formal homeschooling began in 1989 but the fruit of that decision now means working alongside their adult children in a variety of ministries and watching their grandchildren being discipled to know and love God.

Chad Roach

Chad was homeschooled in Colorado his entire life and feels overwhelmingly blessed by the strong foundation his parents and mentors gave him early in life. He is passionate about encouraging and supporting families in discipling their children in the Christian faith. Graduating at age 16, Chad went on to pursue legal education and started several businesses. Now in his 30’s, he now owns numerous companies in the investment, financial, and real estate industries. Chad is married to his beautiful wife Becky – another homeschool graduate – and together they have 4 children.

Sam Rust

Sam grew up in Idaho being homeschooled with his seven siblings. Married to Bekah, also homeschooled, they have 6 kids and are enjoying the process of discipling their children at home as well. Sam is passionate about recovering biblical manhood and supporting families that seek to train and teach their children at home. In addition to his entrepreneurial endeavors in real estate and technology, Sam and his family enjoy a variety of outdoor pursuits including Ultimate Frisbee, hunting, and farming.

George Sechrist

George and Tammy Sechrist homeschooled their four children, and they are now blessed with two grandchildren. They live in South Jeffco, where George owns an Allstate Insurance agency. George also serves as a deacon in his church. Passionate about liberty and godly government, George and Tammy create the Future Statesman program and serve on the Homeschool Day at the Capitol Committee each year. As a family they enjoy camping, hiking and canoeing. George considers himself blessed to have served on the CHEC board since 2000. He is excited to see the next generation building God’s kingdom by home discipling their children and serving as leaders of CHEC.

Ian Serff

Ian Serff has been part of CHEC leadership since 2004, working in and overseeing the creative department for many years.  In addition to serving on the Board, he oversees marketing and design for the AME Program, a ministry partner of CHEC. He is the founder, president, and creative director of the design firm Serff Creative Group, Inc., where he creates company branding and advertising needs for a wide variety of clientele across the nation.  Ian works from home as he and wife, Stephanie, share the vision of keeping Christ at the center in their homeschooling, raising their seven children, and running businesses. With several adopted children, they’ve enjoyed the blessing of being home together within a supportive and loving environment.

Steven Vaughan

Steven Vaughan and his wife, Jennifer, raised their six kids in Colorado. They began homeschooling their oldest in kindergarten, first because of school safety and academic content concerns, and later caught a vision for home discipleship through attending the annual CHEC Conference. Because of the encouragement they received from CHEC, Steven and Jennifer began volunteering for the Conference Committee in 2004, with Steven later becoming a CHEC Board Member. Steven owned and operated a nursing business for 20 years, which he sold in 2019. He currently owns CO-Inspire and Monument Publishing, through which he coaches high school students in speech and debate and publishes speech and debate resources.

CHEC Staff

Steve Craig, Executive Director

Steve and his wife Tara were both homeschooled for all of their primary and secondary school years. Steve’s father, Neil Craig, is the Executive Director of Christian Heritage Home Educators of Washington, making Steve both a second-generation homeschooler and homeschool leader. One of Steve’s primary life goals has been to raise a godly family for the glory of Christ and he has a strong belief in the significance of home discipleship toward accomplishing that end. Prior to moving to Colorado in September of 2014 to take on the leadership of CHEC, Steve lived with his family in Washington State where he worked as the corporate controller for a hotel management company. Steve & Tara live in Parker with their six children, Carson, Christiana, Angelina, Jewel, Ariel, and Michelle.

Kirsten Abbott, Marketing Assistant

Kirsten is grateful for the opportunity to have been homeschooled and discipled by her parents throughout her life. She is passionate about cultivating God-honoring family relationships both within her own family and seeing others do the same. In her free time, you can find Kirsten going on an adventure, enjoying God’s beautiful creation.  

Sarah Bryant, Graphic Designer

Sarah is grateful for how home education prepared her to be part of the advancement of Christ’s Kingdom through the local church body, event coordination, music, and community outreach. She is passionate about seeing the vision of Christ-centered home discipleship passed on to the next generation through the ministry of CHEC. During her high school years, Sarah developed an interest and skill set in creative design, and became CHEC’s graphic designer in 2015.

Tara Clark, Marketing Assistant

As a homeschool mom of 4, Tara is passionate about home-discipleship. She enjoys bringing creativity to all subjects and making Christ the center of each school day. Tara, her husband Kasey, and children live in Oklahoma, where they love adventuring as a family, cooking, and anything outdoors. She is active in the children’s ministry at her local church and supports missions through writing.

Julianna Duerksen, Marketing Assistant

As a second generation homeschool graduate, Julianna Duerksen grew up volunteering at CHEC with her family, and is so grateful for parents who were dedicated to giving her and her siblings a Christ-centered education. After serving as CHEC’s Marketing Assistant and authoring Colorado Civics, Julianna continues to help CHEC with special projects. She is passionate about discipling young ladies one-on-one and online through her site, Julianna-writes.blog. Julianna and her husband Barry are active in ministry in their local church and are excited that baby #1 will be joining them in March 2023!

Josh Erber, Events Coordinator

Both Josh and his wife Abbey were homeschooled by their parents, and are now raising their 5 kids in Calhan, CO. After graduating high school, Josh started a small Audio/Visual company which he still operates today. As a second generation homeschooler Josh is excited to help and encourage other homeschoolers as CHEC’s Event Coordinator.

Chris Galanek, IT Manager

Chris, Jenny and three of their five children live in rural Elbert County, Colorado. When not working for CHEC as IT Manager, Chris works in technology in the financial services industry. Jenny works daily with their three kids at home shepherding them, focusing on Christ as the center of their education, and working to build character and a strong love for their Lord. They have graduated their eldest two children. Chris and Jenny have been serving CHEC in multiple different roles since 2008, including as Conference Coordinators.

Ted Jones, Marketing Director

Ted joined the CHEC team in 2021. He and his wife Erin have been married since the year 2000. They have 7 kids, whom they have homeschooled from the beginning and graduated their oldest in 2021. They are passionate about home education and seeing the family strengthened. Ted’s past work experience has involved serving in the local church, working at a Christian camp in the Sierra Nevadas, and owning a magazine franchise. In his free time, Ted enjoys yardwork, camping, family game nights, and ice cream. Ted and his family live in California’s Central Valley, where they are very active with their local church.

Brenda Kelly, Accounting & Office Administration

See bio above under Board.

Caitlyn Kelly, Homeschool Summits Customer Service Coordinator, CHEC IS assistant, and Office assistant

As the youngest graduate of Les and Brenda Kelly’s six children, Caitlyn is extremely grateful her parents made the decision to homeschool. They taught her to work hard to the best of her ability, but more importantly instilled in her a love for the Lord and His Word that is to be applied to everyday life. Caitlyn started working for CHEC a few months after graduating in 2018 and loves her responsibilities with the CHEC Independent School, Homeschool Summits Customer Service, and various other CHEC projects. She enjoys traveling and is passionate about serving in her local church through AWANA, VBS, in the church office, and loves to help out wherever is needed.

Dalton Lockman, Conference Coordinator

Dalton and Lisa Lockman reside in Elizabeth, Colorado on 40 acres with their cattle and garden. They homeschooled their 2 children from preschool through high school graduation. The Lockman’s believe that there is nothing in this world that is more than praying for and raising their children to have hearts that love and desire to serve God. They know as parents, they will have to answer to God for how they raise and discipled their children. They moved to Colorado in 2016 when Dalton retired from working as a Petroleum Geologist after 35 years. During those years, he organized and coordinated multiple national and regional Geological Association Conventions.

Carolyn Martin, Director of Government Relations

Carolyn, wife to Todd and mother to Grace, Hope and Jesse, lives in Colorado Springs. She homeschooled her children in New York for several years before moving to Colorado in 2004. Carolyn’s interest and involvement in legislative issues has grown as her children grew. Her passion and aim is to help keep our homeschooling freedoms intact in Colorado. Carolyn will also be keeping the watch on attacks to parental rights and religious freedom. Prayer is essential, so please, join us in praying for the Lord’s protection and grace!

Shari McMinn, Advertising Manager,
Homeschool Update Editor, and Conference Exhibitor Chairman

Shari Howard McMinn is a widowed, 28-year homeschool mom to 11 children, now all graduated. After living in Colorado for 45 years, she works remotely for CHEC from her new home in the Fort Myers, Florida area that she shares with three of her adult children. She is the author of four books, Stretched Yet Unbroken: A Family Knit Together Continues Their Faith; Adoption: Encouragement and Advice for a Hopeful Journey; MAKE A MEAL + SHARE A MEAL, and Death Where Is Thy Sting? Recovery from the Loss of our Loved Ones and Preparation for Our Own Final Days, which are each listed on her website, ShariMcMinn.com. Shari is the editor of the CHEC Homeschool Update magazine, serves as CHEC’s Advertising Manager, is the Conference Exhibitor Chairman and Sponsor coordinator, contributes blog posts, and speaks at the annual conference. She has just entered the very fun new season of life, grandparenting!

Kevin Swanson, Generations Director

Homeschooled himself in the 1960’s and 70’s, Kevin Swanson and his wife, Brenda, are now homeschooling their five children. Kevin has 43 years of experience in the homeschooling movement; he served as executive director for CHEC for 10 years before becoming the director of Generations (an affiliate of CHEC) – a ministry he founded to strengthen homeschool families around the country. Kevin’s passion is to strengthen and encourage the homeschooling movement all over the world. Kevin hosts a daily radio program – Generations Radio, and he has authored several popular books including Freedom, Apostate, Upgrade: 10 Secrets to the Best Education for Your Child, and others. Kevin Swanson also serves as a teaching elder at Reformation Church of Elizabeth.

Ashley Vaughan, Independent School Registrar

Ashley is a Gen 2 homeschooler and a Colorado native. She began volunteering for CHEC during her middle school years at the Father/Son retreat, which led to helping at the annual Conference, and eventually coming on staff in 2015. Since graduating from homeschool high school, Ashley has also worked as a dental assistant, coached speech and debate, and pursued a BA in Music through Unbound. She is passionate about building relationships and encouraging others with the truth of the Gospel.

Katie Ward, Homeschool Summits Coordinator

As a homeschool grad herself, Katie is passionate about encouraging parents to intentionally invest in their children through home education and discipleship. She began volunteering for CHEC in high school, eight years before joining the staff team in 2015. Now living just south of Kansas City, Missouri, Katie loves serving her family, church, and community to share the goodness of the Gospel and raise up disciple-makers who know Christ and make Him known.

Katrina Wright, Mentor Mom Program Director

Katrina and her husband, Rich, enjoyed the homeschooling journey with both of their children, starting in preschool and going all the way through high school. The Wrights moved to Colorado in 2017 after a career in the Air Force and love being out in God’s creation any chance they get. In her free time, Katrina enjoys being creative with any art supplies she can get her hands on, gardening, and going to car shows with Rich. As a family, the Wrights consider it a privilege to be active in their church and community, sharing God’s love with others.