ONE SPARK ACADEMY - Key Persons
Carol Schenkler is recently retired, having last served as Vice President for the West Coast of Capstone Hill Search, an international recruitment firm with offices in the UK, New York and Los Angeles. She brings to the Board a background in marketing and outreach, as well as a network of businesses that invest in social responsibility causes. Carol understands the need for unique learning options, having experienced a variety of schools when her son Jules was growing up. She has been a long term supporter of One Spark Academy's mission and vision, and made it official by joining the Board of Directors in 2019. Carol is active in the nonprofit world. Other nonprofits Carol supports and has been affiliated with are Mattel Children's Hospital, where she was Co-Chair for the Party on the Pier annual event, and WeSPARK, which provides cancer support services. Carol currently lives in Sherman Oaks with her husband Phillip, and loves to spend time staying active and being with friends.
Deneen Cienfuegos dove headfirst into alternative education when her boys first went to preschool. At Conejo Elementary's Open Classroom is where she originally met Lori and Laura. As her philosophy of education continued to develop, this naturally progressed to homeschooling her boys for the last five years. Through teaching her sons, she caught a glimpse into the future of possibilities of authentic education. Learning by doing, teaching multiple subjects within a single lesson, encouraging discussion, and elongating lessons for true mastery are a few examples. show more Within that time, Deneen taught several co-op homeschool classes including geography, Spanish, and English. She also co-directed a homeschool co-op. Joining One Spark was the perfect next step to support this passionate endeavor of what education can truly look like. show less
Job Titles:
- Education Specialist / Science
Steve Yoshinaga, Ph.D. is a molecular science researcher turned educator, and rejoins the OSA Team after working with us for nine years prior to the pandemic. He has published dozens of scientific articles, some in the most prestigious research journals in the world. For more than a decade, Dr. Steve has taught foundational homeschool science classes from middle school science to high school physics. His high school classes are accredited for University of California admission standards.
Isabel Snyder was born and raised in Switzerland and Germany, and taught elementary school and art for several years in Switzerland. After that, she moved to New York to become a world renowned fashion and portrait photographer. After many years of worldwide travels, she eventually settled in Calabasas, California and adopted two children, both who joined OSA for their middle school years. Her love and passion for educating the whole child has grown into a deep connection to the staff and mission of OSA, all of whom she feels embody a vision and mission she believes in and wants to support as much as she can! Isabel joined the OSF Board of Directors in 2023.
Jenni Buchanan has always believed that the greatest gift we can give our children (and our society) is a love of learning and a feeling of investment in their own education. In order for this to happen we must respect and educate the whole child: body, mind, and spirit. When she read the first sentence of the One Spark Academy philosophy, she knew her family had found a home. Her daughter Gwenna attended OSA for three years, found her "spark" in writing, and now is a journalist for the Panther Prowler at NPHS. When Jenni joined the OSA Board of Directors in 2015, she had already been involved in educational pursuits for years, including Reading Rainbow with Levar Burton. In 2022, Jenni joined the OSA Team as a teacher's assistant and campus supervisor, while pursuing her love of writing as a freelance Marketing Copywriter and Social Media Writer/Manager. She also serves on the Advisory Board for the Pacific Reentry Career Services, helping previously incarcerated women get jobs. Other charities she supports include PBS of Southern California, the Nature Conservancy, and the National Organization for Women. A firm believer in the value of education as a joyful process that continues into adulthood, the greatest goal for her and husband Rob has been to feed the spark of curiosity and creativity in their children, inspiring them to be lifelong learners. When not reading, writing, or thinking big, Jenni loves to hike and backpack.
Jenni Buchanan has always believed that the greatest gift we can give our children (and our society) is a love of learning and a feeling of investment in their own education. In order for this to happen we must respect and educate whole child: body, mind, and spirit. When she read the first sentence of the One Spark Academy philosophy, she knew her family had found a home. Daughter Gwenna attended OSA for three years (and now writes for the Panther Prowler at NPHS). Jenni also serves on the OSA Board of Directors since 2015.
Jennifer Kerr was raised abroad, in England, Lebanon, and India, as well as the US, and learned that you make your home where you are. In Thousand Oaks, as in Sheffield, England or Taylor, Texas, Jennifer used her 20 years of experience, skill, and determination as an HR professional to advocate and make change in her community. As the mother of three grown children, including Emerson Kerr who attended One Spark Academy for three years, it is perhaps inevitable that she found herself on the One Spark Board of Directors, among those who are as dedicated to education as they are to the larger community. Jennifer attends OSF Board meetings remotely, since she now lives in Louisville, Kentucky, where she is a Director of Human Resources at Humana Pharmacy. Jennifer has served on the OSA Board of Directors since 2012, and brings a keen understanding of the One Spark mission and vision, having been involved with One Spark since its inception.
Jennifer Sayre was born and raised in Texas. She graduated from Texas A & M University and became a project manager at Amgen. But after she and husband Will started their family in Moorpark, Jennifer took on the world's most important job: raising their three active boys. In 2017, they decided to pursue their shared passion as coffee roasters, opening up California Coffee Republic. Online learning during the pandemic proved to Jennifer the need for whole-child educational options, which led the family to One Spark Academy for their youngest son, and OSA is the unicorn whole-child-learning environment they dreamed of. She appreciates the combination of unique hands-on learning opportunities, the dynamic environment of new offerings each session, and teachers who are not only excited about what they teach, but truly believe in helping each child succeed academically and emotionally. After seeing how the magic of OSA helped her child rekindle a love of learning, Jennifer was eager to join the OSF Board of Directors in 2023 and do her part to give back.
Job Titles:
- Founder
- Executive Director & Educator
- Founder, Director, Educator
Lori Peters is the founder of One Spark Academy. She wholeheartedly believes in the principles of teaching the whole child- meeting students' academic, social, and emotional needs- and inspiring students to be healthy, balanced, and globally aware. In July 2011, after 16 years in public alternative education, Lori decided to put her energy into helping students find their spark and enjoy the process of learning with like-minded peers in a truly unique learning environment.
Job Titles:
- Founder and CEO of Muinin Insurance
- OSF Board Vice President
Pattie Scoma is the founder and CEO of Muinin Insurance. which specializes in helping Medicare patients get the most from their benefits. She's also a dedicated supporter of One Spark Academy since its inception, and has served as Board Vice President since 2019. In addition to One Spark Academy, she is a Trustee for Olive Crest in Orange County, which serves abused and neglected children. Pattie is inspired by what she sees One Spark students accomplish and is more optimistic about the future since it will include the leadership of kids from One Spark Academy. When she is not working, volunteering her time, or assisting with fundraising, Pattie loves traveling the world. She's been up close with Silverback gorillas in Rwanda, seen Uluru in the Outback of Australia, explored the Amazon, Asia and Scandinavia, and seen countless countries in between. But one of her favorite places on Earth is Yosemite National Park, and she can't wait to chaperone OSA kids on their annual trip to Yosemite with NatureBridge.
Rachel Ameche loves learning and sharing that joy with students. She has been working in education for eight years, teaching classes at an alternative education program, substitute teaching in public schools, and teaching middle school science. Through raising her four kids and her experience in education, she learned that honoring students as unique, precious individuals is key to inspiring lifelong curiosity. Her two oldest children have experienced the benefit of One Spark Academy's teaching approach and she is eager to be a part of it.
Robin Lindsey loves to talk about anything dealing with how kids grow up, and appreciates the chance to present clear, factual, and honest information to teens. She has taught Our Whole Lives Comprehensive Sexuality Education for more than 14 years to students in grades 6th-12th privately and grades 4th-7th in public school. Besides Body Talk, Robin enjoys teaching kids to enjoy the art of crochet as much as she does.
Job Titles:
- Field Service Engineer
- OSF Board Treasurer
Steve Rodgers is currently a Field Service Engineer of robotics in the Biotechnology field working for Agilent Technologies. He's held different engineering and managerial positions over his career and has interviewed hundreds of recent college graduates to fill entry-level positions. It was through this activity that he witnessed the great need for a different kind of education, one that developed a more thinking, questioning, synthesizing brain in its students. He didn't know it at the time, but whole child education is what he sought and he knew middle school is the best time in a child's education to get their brains moving in that direction. But the biggest inspiration to get involved in education was his loving wife of 39 years, Cyndy, who was a driving force in the homeschool community until her tragic passing in March, 2021. When his children Dylan and Emily attended One Spark Academy, Steve played an active role in their education, including attending three annual trips as a chaperone. Steve joined the Board of Directors in 2019 and hopes that he can give back a little of what his children received. Steve volunteers annually as a guest educator in OSA's science and engineering classes through Agilent Technologies. His greatest hope is to help build this organization to allow more and more kids to benefit from its philosophy and daily practice, as well as carry on Cyndy's devotion to alternative education.
Sue Eaton was a part-time volunteer while her son attended OSA in 2015. She happily joined the Food Fascination family full time in 2016 and found her niche in the kitchen. She has a Culinary Arts degree from South Seattle Community College and is also a proud graduate of Washington State University. Sue thoroughly enjoys her time in the kitchen with the kids and loves interacting with the entire staff - the kitchen is where all the action is! In her free time, you can find her out on the many trails running and/or mountain biking, or at the gym taking a spin class or two.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder
- OSF Board President and Co - Founder
Todd Geist is a co-founder of One Spark Academy. He makes software for small businesses, organizations, and individuals through his company, Proof+Geist, and is well known in the FileMaker/Claris international community. With clients all over the world, he cares deeply about the success of small businesses that incorporate innovation, creativity, social responsibility, and good will to others. He has dedicated countless hours to helping his wife, Lori Peters, build One Spark Academy, and uses his considerable business and technological expertise to keep One Spark's back office needs running smoothly. Todd is a huge supporter of the dedicated team of people at OSA, and of their collective mission to make One Spark Academy an awesome place for kids to learn.