MFB PUBLICATIONS - Key Persons
Debora Regnault Hawkins is the owner and primary developer of MFB Publications. She was a missionary kid who grew up in France and went through the French school system until grade 11. At this time she transferred over to a missionary school in Kandern, Germany called Black Forest Academy. There, she finished high school before moving to Canada and attending Trinity Western University in British Colombia where she studied for an education degree in Education with psychology and French minors.Debora married Mark Hawkins in 1993 and now they have two teenage boys. They live in Niagara Falls, Canada where she has taught French at a small Christian school for six years. Debora felt God inspiring her at that time to develop a curriculum that would combine her love of the French language, with her missionary experience and add a Christian perspective to the French classroom.
Janelle Klinsing Groeneweg joined the MFB Publications team in 2010 to help with the development of the Spanish curriculum. Debora and Janelle had been classmates at Black Forest Academy and shared a common love for missions and languages. Having spent her growing up years from 5 to 17 years old as a daughter of church-planting missionaries in Barcelona, Spain, she has incorporated stories from her life and other missionaries' children into our Spanish curriculum.
Janelle's academic preparation includes a bachelor's degree in Middle school education with areas of emphasis in Science and Spanish, and a master's degree in (Science) Education. She also has over 13 years of classroom teaching experience in middle school, high school and college levels. Janelle taught in Ecuador for many years and has a good understanding of the differences between Spanish spoken in Spain and South America.
She currently lives in Minnesota with her husband and, in addition to her work developing curriculum for MFB Puplication, she is an afterschool tutor for elementary and high school students (through Sylvan Learning Centers), and an adjunct instructor of Spanish at Bethel University. We are confident that both students and teachers will enjoy the fun loving stories and anecdotes taught in Mision Mundo by Janelle!