Jack Hummel | Head of School
Jack, a Lansing native, has a B.S. in Economics with a minor in Mathematics from Hillsdale College. Jack has previously worked at the Michigan Senate Fiscal Agency, Cornerstone Schools in Detroit, and Auto-owners Insurance. Jack and his wife, Caroline, began the work of founding Cedar in 2016. They have four children.
Upper School
JR Snow | Upper School Humanities
JR Snow grew up close to Charleston, South Carolina, the oldest of five kids. JR has worked in education since 2016. Most recently, he worked for a start-up classical school in Soldotna, Alaska as a Lead Humanities Teacher before moving back to the southeast in 2020 to attend graduate school at Reformed Theological Seminary and The University of Dallas. JR has taught at Cedar since 2022. JR and his wife, Katie, have three children.
David Shane | Upper School Math & Science
David Shane, originally from the Cincinnati area, has a B.S. in Physics from Truman State University in Kirksville, MO, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Physics from Washington University in St. Louis. Before teaching at Cedar, he taught Physics and Integrated Science (the latter especially for Education majors), and served as faculty chair of the Physical Science program, at Lansing Community College. He was named the 2020 College Science Teacher of the Year by the Michigan Science Teachers Association. He has served on the executive board of the Michigan section of the American Association of Physics Teachers. David first previously served on Cedar's governing board and has taught at Cedar since 2022. David is married to Rebecca, a diagnostic research scientist at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams in East Lansing. They have one child.
Lewis DeGoffau | Upper School Math, Logic, Theology, & Latin
Lewis has a B.A. in Mathematics from Hillsdale College. He is a philomath whose main areas of interest include theology, mathematics, Greek, computer programming, literature, and running. A few of his favorite books are The Horse and His Boy, Watership Down, The Lord of the Rings, Pensées, Augustine's Confessions, and the book of Job. His favorite Greek word is ἰχθύς, which stands for Ἰησοῦς Χριστὸς Θεοῦ Yἱὸς Σωτήρ.
Lower School
Stefan Hull | Dean of Lower School Faculty | 5th-8th Grade Humanities
Stefan has a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Michigan. She has previously worked as a foster care social worker and a publication designer for a non-profit public policy firm. She was a homeschooling mom for seven years, increasingly influenced by a classical philosophy of education, until she joined Cedar as a founding teacher in 2019. Stefan leads Cedar Classical Academy's Latin program. She and her husband, Joshua, have five children.
Mikhaeli Connell | Kindergarten | Lower School Teaching Assistant
Mikhaeli has a B.A. in English literature from Hillsdale College. Mikhaeli grew up in Bloomington, Indiana in a family of eight. While at Hillsdale, she also took classes in art and Spanish, both of which she hopes to continue mastering for the rest of her life. For fun, she loves to hike, paint, and read literature, particularly novels from the mid-19th century.
Maria Berggren | 1st & 2nd Grade
Maria has a B.A. in English with a minor in Spanish from Hillsdale College, where she was a participant in the Teacher Apprenticeship Program. Maria has taught the 1st & 2nd grade class at Cedar since 2020. She and her husband, Vins, live in Lansing.
Kathryn Luke | 3rd & 4th Grade
Isaac Wilhelm | 5th & 6th Grade
Isaac has a B.A. in History from Hillsdale College. He likes playing most all sports, reading, playing piano, and adventuring with friends in his free time.
Sarah DeGoffau | Lower School Teaching Assistant
Sarah has a B.A. in Elementary Education from Hillsdale College graduate with an emphasis and triple minors in English, Science, and Music. Sarah has a wide variety of instructional experience, including teaching ESL in China, tutoring dyslexic students, teaching at a charter school, and leading classes at various homeschool co-ops. Sarah has taught at Cedar since 2022. Sarah and her husband, Corey, have four sons.
Kim Sukta | Lower School Substitute
Kim has a B.S. in Special Education and Early Childhood Education from Central Michigan University. She has previously taught in the classroom for seven years to 4th-6th graders and online to ESL learners for two and a half years. Kim has taught at Cedar since 2021. She and her husband have two children.
Applied Arts
Amy Moll | Art
Amy has a B.F.A. in Art, with a concentration in graphic design and photography, from Eastern Michigan University. She has previously worked as an art teacher for a homeschool tutoring service, as a graphic designer in Buffalo, NY, and as an art tutor in various homeschool settings. Prior to joining Cedar, she was inspired by classical education over the seven years of homeschooling her own children. Amy has continued her love of the arts through freelance graphic design work and various art commissions. Amy has taught at Cedar since 2022. She and her husband, Josh, have five children.
Christin Peng | Music
Christin has a B.A. and M.A. in Music from Pensacola Christian College. She has previously worked at an after-school piano program of Trinity Episcopal Day School in Baton Rouge, LA. Since providentially stumbling upon classical education, she has had the joy of homeschooling her children for the past 10 years and tutoring for Classical Conversations in Lansing. She joined Cedar as a founding teacher in 2019 and is currently pursuing her Kodály certification. She and her husband, Timothy, have three children.
Administration
Emily Zuiderveen | Office Administrator
Emily has a B.A. in Communications from Grand Valley State University. She has previously worked as a secretary at DeWitt Middle School and the director of a day care center before staying home full time and homeschooling. Emily has worked at Cedar since our founding year in 2019. Emily and her husband, Shane, have five children.
Sydney Ackerman | Director of Admissions
Sydney has a B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Early Childhood Education from Hillsdale College, where she played softball and fell in love with classical education. In her free time, she loves to read, write; and play tennis, guitar, and card games with her husband Christopher. Sydney has worked at Cedar since 2020 and has previously served as Cedar's Kindergarten teacher and Dean of Parents. Christopher and Sydney have two children.
Caroline Hummel | Director of Advancement
Caroline has a B.A. in Politics from Hillsdale College in the Honors Program. Caroline has previously interned in grantwriting and education policy at the American Legislative Exchange Council on their Education Task Force and worked in sales and community relations at a start-up Detroit e-commerce school supply company. She and her husband, Jack, began the work of founding Cedar in 2016. They have four children.