Our Team

Diana Rudulph, MA, MPH

Founder | Director

Diana has been involved in the field of education for over 20 years.  She worked in public and private schools, teaching a variety of grades including kindergarten, second grade and junior high. Later she worked as a faculty member at Azusa Pacific University for numerous years, teaching undergraduate students in the Kinesiology department and serving as program director for the Physical Education major. With her background in health and wellness, she developed a variety of health promotion programs designed to combat childhood obesity.  Diana is also a wife and mom of 3 young children, who keep her very busy! She entered the homeschool world about 4 years ago, where the nudge to create a program to serve the homeschool community started sprouting as she taught her own children. As a response to the recent pandemic, Diana felt a strong calling to help families seeking alternative educational options, hence the creation of EverGrow Academy. Diana loves empowering youth and parents to thrive holistically and is very excited to utilize her talents and educational training to serve the homeschool community. Outside of directing EverGrow, you can find Diana hiking or working out in some type of way, chasing her kids at all their sporting events, cooking, dancing, at the beach, or spending quality time with her family and friends.

Aileen Ortega, BS

Assistant Director & 1st Grade Teacher

Aileen’s passion for working with children began nearly a decade ago while volunteering for medically ill children and at teaching at a preschool. It pushed her to later graduate with a BS in Child Development, with a specialization in infants and toddlers.  From student teaching and getting her degrees, she knew that educating the whole child was an important focus of hers, specifically being called to work with young children.  She is highly experienced in Conscious Discipline and Child Development which elevates the education of all children, and she is also currently furthering her education, finishing her MS in Child Life. Throughout her teaching career, Aileen gained a sense of passion for adapting and educating others based on their specific learning type and needs. She developed a successful homeschool program, called Wild Willow Academy, where she taught a learning pod of 8 children throughout the challenging times of the pandemic. When she is not handling her duties as Assistant Director or in the classroom, you’ll find Aileen with her head in a book about child psychology, traveling, or out on a fun hike/beach day with her family.

TK

Lauren Kirschke

Lauren has been working and learning alongside children for over 13 years. She first started teaching at different preschools while getting her Bachelors in Early Childhood Development at Cal State Fullerton. While going through her Teaching Credential and Masters in Early Childhood Special Education at CSUF, she worked as a nanny/ house manager in Newport Coast. After graduating, she found a love for alternative schooling and taught at a hybrid homeschool program in Costa Mesa teaching Kinder- second grade. She fell in love with the freedom of homeschooling and began planning her family’s homeschool journey. Lauren is a wife and mother of 2 little boys, who has a love and passion for all things in nature. Her dream is to start her own nature based preschool for the homeschool community and provide a place where children can learn, grow and explore. When Lauren is not teaching, she enjoys going to the beach, camping in Mammoth, fishing, cooking, anything related to holistic living and spending time with her family and friends.

Kinder

Desiree Rudulph

Desiree has been working with kids in the education field for over 20 years. She started out as a music teacher, giving private piano and voice lessons while also getting her BA in music education from APU. There she found her passion and gift for working with special needs children and young adults. She became a Behavior Interventionist and worked in schools, homes, and other community settings. Desiree continued her teaching journey working in a private school setting as a preschool and kindergarten teacher, utilizing her gift of music along the way. Desiree will be going into her fourth year as a kindergarten teacher and absolutely loves her job. She is also a wife and mother of two beautiful young children who she loves spending time with. When she is not in the classroom with her students, you can find her at the beach with her family, swimming, playing piano, or simply having a dance party at home.

Assistant TK/Kinder Teacher

Ruby Paule

Ruby recently left public education to join the EverGrow community. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Communicative Disorders from California State University, Fullerton. She has a background in Behavior Intervention and Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA). Throughout her educational career she has assisted teachers working in behavioral disability and autism programs. She has supported and worked alongside behavior therapist, teachers and students in both general and special education. Ruby also became a registered yoga instructor and taught special needs/adolescent yoga. She excels in behavior management by supporting the whole child. 

Ruby is passionate about helping students achieve goals beyond what they thought possible. Making learning fun and helping each child feel successful are her greatest joys in motherhood and in the classroom. She loves hands-on projects, art, cooking, music, dancing, the beach, trying new foods and spending quality time with loved ones. Her focus is to continue to help create a safe and nurturing learning environment to inspire the “Ever-growing” minds of this community. 

1st Grade

Annie Finlay

Anne “Annie” Finlay holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education with a minor in Music from Brigham Young University. Her formal career in education began as a first-grade teacher in the public schools, where she found joy in fostering young minds and creating engaging and fun learning environments. Along with her full-time classroom experiences she has served as a substitute teacher which has given her valuable insights into various educational settings and adapting to diverse student needs.

Annie has a passion for music education. She also instructs private piano lessons, sharing her love for music with students of all ages. Additionally, she has had the privilege of teaching music and lessons to children at her local church, integrating creativity and expression into their learning journey.

Outside the classroom, she and her husband, Ian, are the parents of three children. They enjoy exploring the world together through travel. Their passion for the outdoors encourages many adventures whether backpacking scenic trails, rafting rivers, or hiking in the local mountains. When they are not in the outdoors, they can be found reading, serving in the community, or cooking healthy meals.

Through these diverse roles, Annie is dedicated to empowering young learners, nurturing their academic growth, and inspiring a lifelong love for learning and music.

2nd Grade

Amber Garcia

Amber has been working alongside children for almost 10 years in both preschool and primary grades.  She worked at her first preschool in 2015 and immediately knew this was the field she wanted to pursue her career in and make a difference in children’s lives. While working on her AA at Mt. SAC, in 2017 Amber brought her first son into this world and continued to push herself to finish her AA and transfer out. In 2020, she found out she was bringing another beautiful little boy into this world and continued her educational studies at Cal Poly Pomona.  While raising her two young boys, as well as working as a TK teacher, Amber successfully graduated from Cal Poly Pomona in 2022 with her Bachelors’ in Early Childhood Studies. Amber’s love and passion for teaching children continues to grow and she’s currently in a Master’s program at the University of La Verne for Education. Over the years of being in this field, Amber strives to encourage independence in the classroom. While she works hard to provide direct instruction and excellent resources, Amber teaches her students to be a resource for themselves. This has allowed her students to foster problem solving, confidence and self awareness.

When Amber is not in the classroom, her second home is at Disneyland with her boys, she loves just about anything Halloween-related, pumpkins, anything pink, coffee runs, shopping, being outdoors, and most of all spending time with her family and friends. 

3rd Grade

Leticia Tufenkdjian

Leticia discovered her passion for teaching at a young age when she became a teacher’s aide for a special needs classroom. After attaining her B.A. in Music, her love of teaching led her to become an educator. Over the past 20 years, she has worked with a wide range of age groups, teaching a variety of subjects including music and visual/performing arts, health and fitness, and AP Psychology. She also worked as a school administrator for six years where she also organized social, cultural, and educational events among other things. Leticia is married and has two amazing children whom she has chosen to homeschool from the time they entered school in 2020. This homeschool journey has taught Leticia the many joys and challenges of being a homeschool parent and has now led her to become a part of this beautiful EverGrow community.

Leticia’s experience working with students of all ages, her studies in the field of education and psychology, and her travels to over 40 countries have given her a unique understanding on how to be tolerant, accepting, and appreciative of personal differences and has taught her to identify and be sensitive to individual needs. Leticia is a lifelong learner and aspires to share that love of learning with her students.

When Leticia is not in the classroom, you can find her spending time with her family and friends, singing, dancing, doing a puzzle, or learning about natural healing modalities.

4th Grade

Amanda Herrera

Amanda Sevold Herrera received her B.A. in Theatre Arts from Cal State Fullerton in 2008 and her teaching credential in 2015. She has spent more than a a decade coaching and teaching students, both in the public and private sector as a theatre teacher and as a vocal coach. Her main area of expertise is musical theatre, as she spent several years coaching high school students for theatre competitions in the musical theatre category, as well as having performed in musicals since she was 10 years old. When she is not teaching and coaching, she is a mama to her three children and wife to her husband Alex. Empowering students to realize their full potential is one of her greatest passions in life and she hopes to continue to do so for many years to come.

5th Grade

Stephanie Ryczek

Stephanie Ryczek is a lifelong Glendorian who comes from a long line of passionate educators. She received her Bachelor’s Degree at Cal Poly Pomona in English Education. She has always found it her mission to grow students’ passion for reading and writing. She thought her calling was to be a high school English teacher, however after pausing her professional career to be a stay-at-home parent she discovered the joy of early education. This passion was solidified over the last 8 years as she has been an active part of the La Fetra Elementary PTA most notably serving the last 2 years as PTA President. She enjoyed building meaningful relationships with the students and teachers while creating and growing enrichment programs for students and their families. 

She has been married to her highschool sweetheart Matt for 14 years and they have two sons, Liam (12) and Kaine (10). On the weekends you can find Stephanie sitting on the sideline of a football field, soccer field or baseball field cheering on her boys and beaming with pride as they do what they love. If she’s not cheering on the sidelines you can find her with her nose in a book or listening to a podcast at a relaxing campsite with her friends and family. 

Stephanie is excited to foster a supportive, family-like atmosphere in her classroom, where students can discover the joy of learning and let their creativity flourish. On top of the academic success of her students she places emphasis on fostering a strong sense of self and emotional awareness in her students. Through the use of Growth Mindset she hopes to encourage resilience and confidence both in the classroom and out.

6th-8th Grade

Sarah Nickenig

Sarah has always had a passion for art and teaching. From a young age, she knew education was in her future. Throughout her schooling, she realized her love for math, history, and reading, eventually leading her to tutor her friends and younger family members in these subjects. Her love for art became prevalent early on in her life, sparking her creativity and thirst to discover new and exciting ways to draw inspiration from the stories she’d read and the history. Sarah graduated with a B.A. in Studio Art and M.A. in Art History. During her Masters program, she combined her love for art and her childhood dream of teaching by working as an art teacher for students ranging from preschool to 6th grade. During this time, Sarah also began teaching math, history and art to the homeschool community. Sarah strives to apply her knowledge to encourage younger generations to take their skills to the next level, educationally and artistically.

When Sarah is not in the classroom, you can find her coaching her younger sister’s soccer team, walking around local art museums and galleries, painting in her studio, or spending time with her friends and family.

7/8th grade math teacher

Lindsay Merrill

Lindsay Merrill has both Bachelor of Science and Master of Arts degrees in Mathematics Education from Brigham Young University with a TESOL K-12 (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) minor. She has spent most of her career teaching developmental math at the community-college level and has also developed secondary-level mathematics curriculum. She is excited to teach secondary-level students and help them develop quantitative literacy and mathematical confidence they can take into their future schooling and their lives. 

Lindsay loves to teach math by providing students with the chance to engage in productive struggle as they work individually, in small groups, and as a whole class. After spending her graduate school years working on a grant funded by the National Science Foundation that studied teachable moments during classroom discourse, Lindsay regularly teaches by identifying and building upon these teachable moments that occur during whole-class conversations. She is mindful of the precision of her own language and helps students learn to use precise mathematical language. She creates a learning environment where students feel comfortable asking questions and where mistakes are used as opportunities to better understand important mathematics. As a result of her thesis work during graduate school, Lindsay skillfully teaches students how to use mathematical “objects” like graphs and gestures to communicate mathematics in a way that supports English Learners’ use of English as they communicate mathematically.

Outside of the classroom, she and her husband Bryan are the parents of three boys. Her boys are all in Spanish-immersion school programs and Lindsay has been diligently studying Spanish on Duolingo for the last 4+ years. She looks forward to challenging herself to practice in-person Spanish more and is looking for opportunities to be pushed out of her comfort zone to improve. Her favorite creative outlets are cooking (and eating) and music (piano and singing). Lindsay also loves to read books and listen to audiobooks. She loves to exercise; her favorite form of self-care is weight lifting and doing HIIT workouts like Tabata.

PE Teacher

shannon michelle

Coach Shannon believes activity and physical fitness are imperative to learning and development of the whole student. She grew up playing any sport her parents would allow her to which developed a true passion for soccer. Ultimately, Shannon received a soccer scholarship from Cal State San Marcos where she would graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development and Social Services. You can often find Shannon on the field coaching one of her three sons, in the stands of a Citrus College Basketball game where her husband coaches, or you might see her running the streets of Glendora. No matter the activity Coach Shannon aims to bring enthusiasm, encouragement, and an “all out” effort to Physical Education for the students of Evergrow!

School Nurse

Michelle Vasquez

Michelle grew up in West Covina and has always had a passion for health and helping others. She has been a nurse for 12 years with experience in adult critical care. Currently, she works at Queen of the Valley Hospital as the unit manager for critical care and emergency service. She is interested in all things health related, with an emphasis on holistic, natural and preventive health.

Michelle is also a mother to one spirited, creative and kind boy who will be starting kindergarten this year at EverGrow.  Although we began homeschooling two years ago, she knew this would be their path since he was born. Michelle enjoys the flexibility, opportunities and community she has found through homeschooling.

When she is not working, she likes to spend time with family and friends. Michelle also enjoys cooking, baking and outdoor activities. She looks forward to promoting a safe and healthy EverGrow community.