Teaching Team            

*All of our teachers go through criminal background checks to ensure the safety of our students.

Program Director & Teacher of Homeroom- Boys, History, Cooking with Chocolate, & Charlie & the Chocolate Factory Play

    Cheryl Rakowski, M.Ed.

Cheryl Rakowski received a Bachelor of Science degree in Early Childhood Education in 1993. She continued her education and in 1995 received a Master of Education degree in Adult Education in order to teach future teachers how to teach most effectively. God had other plans for Cheryl's future concerning teaching.

The idea for Pure Energy came to Cheryl in late 2006 as her two youngest children were approaching middle school age. She saw there was a need for a program for this age group and wanted it to incorporate many learning styles and service projects. She also felt that it can be a burden for parents to take their children to various classes at different locations. Her vision was for academic and elective classes to be offered on one day, in one location, with the same group of friends. This close-knit environment would foster a sense of community for the children and teachers. The name Pure Energy was created to focus on keeping a pure heart for God while actively learning.

For the past 17 years Cheryl has taught in public school, home school, private school, co-ops, and private classes. She also created a pre-kindergarten program in the public schools with a parent educational emphasis and co-founded a homeschool co-op. Cheryl continues to home educate and enjoys teaching a wide variety of classes. Cheryl's oldest child has graduated from high school.

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IPC Goes to the Movies, MythBusters

           Dorothy Bauer   

Dorothy and her husband John moved to sunny Texas from Minnesota in 1996. She has homeschooled her two boys for 10 years. During those 10 years, she has been a leader in the homeschool community. She worked as a homeschool veteran with Smoothing the Way, founded a homeschool support group, co-founded two homeschool co-ops, and has taught many subjects over the years including: History, Science, Latin, and Art.

She has also been truly blessed to be actively involved in her church as a Children's Church teacher and AWANA leader. This will be Dorothy's second year teaching with us at Pure Energy.  

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Homeroom- Girls

   Lisa Heath

Lisa Heath is the mother of three children ages 21, 20, and 13. She has homeschooled for over six years--teaching at homeschool co-ops, acting as president of a local homeschool support group, and facilitating various homschool activities for the community.

This is Lisa's second year shepherding a homeroom class at Pure Energy. Lisa currently homeschools her youngest daughter and helps manage her husband's business.

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                       Cartooning             

                      Keith Howell  

Keith has been drawing all his life and worked in some capacity earning money with his art ever since high school. He worked in newspapers initially as an Advertising Artist and eventually the Art Director for the Waco Tribune-Herald. He currently works as a graphic artist and occasional researcher, writer, and editor for Kamico Instructional Media, Inc. As a freelance artist, he has produced a number of book covers and illustrations for publishers.

His style of art is eclectic and varied. He usually tailors it to the job, but if left to his own devices he will lapse back into cartooning rather than detailed illustration. His experience as an educator began in college when he taught Cartooning at the College for Kids summer program at Temple College, as well as cartooning seminars for scouts. For the last number of years (when possible) Keith has utilized his law school training to teach Paralegal Courses at Virginia College at Austin.

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Geocaching, Photography

  Laura Knowlton

Laura grew up in San Antonio with a love for books, games and learning. She took those loves to Texas A&M, where she graduated with a B.A. in English and minors in math and psychology. While at A&M she met the man who would be her husband, and they eventually got married and moved to Austin. They've called Austin home for almost 20 years now. Early on they decided that Laura would stay at home to raise and homeschool the kids. It’s been a blessing ever since. Kasey and Parker will both be attending Pure Energy in the fall.

Laura has held a variety of jobs in the past, from Disney Store clerk, to state investigator in unemployment fraud, as well as child labor and wage disputes. Over the years, she's also been blessed with leadership roles at their churches and loves serving the Lord. Laura considers herself to be a little bit of a foodie, enjoys travel and has always chronicled her trips, nature, life's milestones, and even daily activities with photography. She's also recently been bitten by the geocaching bug. (You'll have to take the class to find out what that's all about.)

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                                                     Life/Earth Science

                                                            Cathy Hulin        

Cathy Welsh-Hulin received her Associates Degree in Journalism in 2004. After years of teaching Sunday School classes, Cathy found a love for teaching youth. Originally from Dallas, she changed from a business degree and decided to leave the world of finance to start writing for the newspaper and homeschool. She started homeschooling her son in 3rd grade, he is now in High School.

Since moving to Austin in the past 7 years, Cathy has helped lead a local homeschool group; teach classes out of her home (fun experiments!) and at several co-ops, was editor for the CHEACT Chronicles, wrote over 100 stories for a local newspaper, and helped launch a classical education group in the area.

Cathy's oldest child, Stephanie, attended Pensacola Christian College for 3 years. Their family attends Celebration Church in Georgetown, where Cathy and her husband Ken are both certified in Pastoral Care. 

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 Mock Trials

  Helen Monaco

Helen Monaco graduated from Albany Law School of Union University in 1994, after serving as an Executive Editor on the Albany Law Review and a student clerk for the Honorable Richard J. Miner of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. Post-graduation, Helen moved to Beaumont, Texas to serve as law clerk to the Honorable Earl S. Hines of the United States District Court, Eastern District of Texas. Helen returned to New York City, where she began her career as a corporate litigation associate. Upon her retirement in 2002, Helen became an active volunteer speaker, traveling around New York City and its outlying counties to raise awareness for blood and organ donation.

Today, Helen happily lives in Round Rock with her husband and two children.
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*We are still in need of a Sign Language teacher for the spring. Please e-mail the director if you are interested & able to communicate through Sign Language.