Meet The Tutors

Hi, my name is Deidre Anderson and I have been serving PLA for the past two years and joined the board last year. I am originally born and raised in Vermont. I left Vermont 18 years ago and have lived in Tennessee for the last 14 years with my husband who I meet in the south and now have been married for 16 years. We have four beautiful girls who look forward to our tutorial on Fridays at PLA. 

I was born in Lafayette, TN and lived in Red Boiling Springs for 13 years. My family moved to Nashville in 1963 and I graduated from Donelson High School in 1968. I attended George Peabody College for Teachers and earned a BS in Mathematics in 1972.

I taught in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools for 40 years. My first 19 years were spent at Wright Middle School ...

I am thrilled to be back at PLA! I love teaching, I love ALL children and PLA has been a blessing in my life and my family's. 

I was born in Fairfax, VA and grew up in Chantilly, VA. I've also lived in Texas before moving to Smyrna, TN 16 years ago. 

Poem Bokoles,

Poem has been teaching in the arts for four years now. She loves to perform, sing, and dance just as much as she enjoys teaching the next generation how to express themselves in the same way! In her free time, Poem loves to cook, do karaoke with friends, and exercise both body and mind. She hopes that the main value her students take away from her class is the importance of whimsy. Because life is too short to not give your all, and too valuable to lose your imagination throughout it!

 I am excited to join the PLA Team as the new K/1st Tutor for the 2022-2023 academic year! I love children, and look forward to all the fun and learning that is in store!   I am a wife, mother, foster carer, and home educator. I have over 12 years of teaching experience across a variety of subjects, including the Hebrew language! I have a B.A. in History and Biblical Literature, and a M.A. from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. I have lived in Jerusalem, England and now back in the USA.  

My name is Karen Finchum, and I am incredibly excited to return to PLA this year! I have been married to my amazing husband Michael for 19 years and we have twin boys, Riley and Grayson, who are 11 years old. 

My educational experience began with working in the children’s ministry at my church as a teenager and I moved into a teaching role about 21 years ago.  I attended Middle Tennessee State University ...

 I am excited to be back at PLA and look forward to tutoring again this year.  We have homeschooled our children for the last 14 years.

I have a bachelor’s degree in business administration and marketing, as well as 20 years’ experience teaching and serving children and youth in church.

Shelby is 52 years old, married to Angie for over 20 years and has four children, Logan, Mary, Micah and Chloe. He and his family moved to Middle Tennessee in March of 2019 because he was called to be the Pastor of Parkway Baptist Church, Smyrna, TN, the host church for PLA.

My family was blessed to be part of PLA many years ago, and I am looking forward to returning this year as a tutor!

I am a native of middle Tennessee and earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Occupational Therapy from TSU in Nashville.

I am extremely excited to be returning to PLA for the upcoming school year. This will be my fifth year to be involved with this awesome organization and I enjoy it more and more each year. I have been actively involved in drama and theatre for approximately 30 years. In that time I have had the opportunity to not only act, but also direct, write, design and build sets, and run tech for various productions.

My name is Ruth Meyer. I have been married 31 years to my college sweet heart, Karl.  I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Science In the field of Psychology from Williams Baptist University in Walnut Ridge, AR. We have 7 children, 2 adult biological children and 5 adopted. I have been homeschooling the 5 younger children for the last 4 years. I am thrilled to join the tutoring team at PLA. I love pouring into children and making learning fun!

My name is Laura Motok and I have been a tutor at Priest Lake Academy for the past 6 years. I have been a board member for three years. I have been a homeschool mom for over 30 years.

I have a Bachelor's Degree from Ohio State University in the field of Psychology. I am privileged to be able to teach in such a kind, loving, and Christ-centered environment at PLA.

Colton is excited to teach New Testament Theology for his first year with PLA. He and his wife Joanna have been married for 9 years on August 30th and have three children Abby, Hannah, and Owen. He has been a part of the pastoral staff at Parkway Baptist Church for 10 years and currently serves as the Associate Pastor. 

Colton was born and raised in Middle Tennessee and from an early age felt the draw to dig deep into the Bible and draw near to God. In the summer of his senior year in high school he came to trust in Christ as his Lord and Savior while at youth camp.

Hi! My name is Karie Ramirez! I am from California and recently relocated to Tennessee with my husband Norvin and our two children, Kenny (5) and Ruby (3). I am very excited to be the new Spanish 2 tutor at PLA! I am also the new bookkeeper and look forward to helping in any way I can!

After my dad passed away when I was 24, I moved to a new town to be closer to my mom’s side of the family. I started attending a church and quickly grew a heart for full time missions. In 2012, I moved permanently to Central America to work with YWAM and serve as a missionary. 

Larissa Reed has served as Administrator and lead teacher for the Creative Clash visual art camp for Carpe Artista since its inception in 2011. She has taught art classes in drawing, acrylic, pastel and watercolor for Carpe since 2011.

She received a Bachelor’s Degree from Belmont University with a minor in Art, studying Photography, Painting, Drawing, 2D design and 3D design with emphasis on sculpture.

My name is Jessica Sauer, and I am excited to return to the PLA team again this year!  I have been an educator for 17 years, and the majority of those years were spent teaching at another tutorial school for homeschool students in Nashville.  

Most of my teaching experience has been with middle school and high school English/Literature.  I have also taught Journalism, College Readiness, ACT prep, Wilson Reading Program, S.P.I.R.E., and Creative Writing.