Coram Deo Academy teachers
are dedicated to the spiritual and
academic growth of their students.
Neisha Kilkenny - Head Teacher of Grammar School, Teaching in Upper School: Algebra, Health/Nutrition, Literature, Logic, Writing, Scholastics.
Mrs. Kilkenny has 10 years of experience in early childhood education and was the owner/director of Rooted in Christ Childcare and Preschool. She also has experience and training working with children with special needs and disabilities and enjoys partnering with parents to meet the needs of each individual child. Although Neisha frequently moved around as a child, the Tri-Cities has been her home for more than 20 years. Neisha and her husband, Tyler, have three children, all of whom attend Coram Deo Academy.
Throughout the years, Mrs.Kilkenny has served in children’s ministries at various churches, most recently as the lead teacher for a Kindergarten Sunday school class. Neisha’s favorite place to be is at home spending time with her family. She enjoys camping, gardening, and working on home improvement projects. The Kilkenny’s also love animals and have several pets, including a dog, cat, turtles, and sugar gliders. Mrs. Kilkenny enjoys serving the families at CDA by sharing her love for Jesus with her students and encouraging them to pursue and develop a deeper relationship with Christ.
Faculty
We are deeply thankful for all of our teachers, dedicated to the Mission and of Coram Deo Academy.
Katie Christenson - Kindergarten
Mrs. Christenson taught preschool at Jesus Loves Me Preschool in Richland prior to beginning her teaching role at Coram Deo Academy. She has earned her Associate of Arts Degree in Biblical Studies from Gather4Him Christian College in Kennewick, Washington.
Mrs. Christenson and her husband Conrad have two children. Mrs. Christenson enjoys spending time with her family, going on adventures at the park, and thrift shopping. She is actively involved in her church’s children’s ministry.
Mrs. Christenson loves being able to engage with her students through music and finds great joy in guiding them on their walk with the Lord.
Wendy Dammarell - First Grade
Before becoming a teacher for Coram Deo Academy, Mrs. Dammarell previously was a school counselor for several years. She has earned her National Boards in Teaching and Counseling, along with a Masters Degree in K-12 School Counseling.
Wendy and her husband have one daughter who attends Coram Deo Academy. She serves as a Sunday School teacher and Nursery Director for her local church, along with other volunteer opportunities.
Mrs. Dammarell and her family enjoy spending time outdoors, playing games, and hosting family and friends. She loves arts and crafts, silly jokes, Mexican food, and catching up over a great-tasting iced coffee.
Her desire is to help young children understand God’s faithfulness and come alongside them for support as they learn to honor God in all that they say and do.
Elizabeth Iulio- 2nd-3rd Grade
Elizabeth is currently working on her teaching degree at Western Governors University. She has always had a passion to work with kids, and God led her to teaching.
Mrs. Iulio was born in Washington but raised in the southern part of the U.S.. She moved to Washington when she was 15 and it was here, in the Tri-Cities, where she met and married her husband.
Elizabeth and her husband are actively serving in the ministry at their church, Grace Point. She and her husband are currently going through the credentials to serve in the ministry.
She is looking forward to sharing her love for Jesus here at CDA.
Kainoa “Miss Kai” Ynigues - 4th-5th Grade
Kainoa Ynigues has worked for many after-school nonprofit organizations in Seattle and Portland. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in education from Western Governors University and attended the Portland Art Institute for her B.A. in graphic design.
Ms. Kai was born on the Big Island of Hawaii and now lives in Pasco, Washington with her son and daughter. Ms. Kai enjoys serving her church by helping with children’s Sunday school and the middle school youth group.
Kainoa enjoys swimming and kayaking, as long as the water is warm. Kainoa also loves to be creative in any way, shape, or form. This includes painting, drawing, and sculpting.
Ms. Kai loves to share her love of Jesus and his creation with those around her.
Allison Hubbard - Classical Languages & Communication
Allison Hubbard teaches Latin, New Testament Greek, Speech, and Rhetoric at Coram Deo Academy to students ranging from third to twelfth grade. She has been teaching classical languages since 2013 and has been with our school since 2018. She holds a B.S. in Psychology from Colorado Christian University and over a decade of experience with her various subjects.
Allison was born in Virginia and has lived in the Tri-Cities since 2006. As a graduate of classical education herself, Mrs. Hubbard is invested in the school’s teaching methods and vouches for the results. Allison attends Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church in Kennewick and serves in her church’s mentorship ministries and as a member of the vestry.
Allison enjoys reading good books, painting, and exploring new ideas. She is known for her passion for her many hedgehogs and her nerdy sense of humor.
Mrs. Hubbard loves serving CDA students by inspiring them to love learning and challenging them to think for themselves.
Learn why the Latin language is a valued subject in classical education here.
Adjunct Faculty
Neisha Kilkenny - Head Teacher of Grammar School, Teaching in Upper School: Math Logic, Traditio, and Logic.
Mrs. Kilkenny has 10 years of experience in early childhood education and was the owner/director of Rooted in Christ Childcare and Preschool. She also has experience and training working with children with special needs and disabilities and enjoys partnering with parents to meet the needs of each individual child. Although Neisha frequently moved around as a child, the Tri-Cities has been her home for more than 20 years. Neisha and her husband, Tyler, have three children, all of whom attend Coram Deo Academy.
Throughout the years, Mrs.Kilkenny has served in children’s ministries at various churches, most recently as the lead teacher for a Kindergarten Sunday school class. Neisha’s favorite place to be is at home spending time with her family. She enjoys camping, gardening, and working on home improvement projects. The Kilkenny’s also love animals and have several pets, including a dog, cat, turtles, and sugar gliders. Mrs. Kilkenny enjoys serving the families at CDA by sharing her love for Jesus with her students and encouraging them to pursue and develop a deeper relationship with Christ.
Bob Hoffmann - History
While Mr. Hoffmann’s academic record includes construction, business and law, his interests have always included historical biographies. He taught classes at four community colleges, and presently teaches “nines and tens” Sunday School. Before coming to Coram Deo in 2020, Bob served in prison ministry, as chapel speaker at the Mission, and on Pasco City Council.
Bob and his wife Sharon came to the Tri Cities in 1981, homeschooled their five children, and enjoy four grandchildren. He became acquainted with the basics of property management as a child growing up in a duplex in New York City. He has enjoyed using his limited Spanish among Hispanic tenants, and limited French on short term mission assignments in West Africa. Bob and Sharon look after an assortment of cats, dog and bird, tend a garden, and travel to historic places.
Mr. Hoffmann desires to impart the lessons of history to students at Coram Deo so they can think about life in Christian categories, “understand the times,” and experience the virtue of a self-governed life in Christ.
Carolyn Johnson- Long Term Sub for Math Logic and Traditio I
Along with serving administratively at Coram Deo Academy, Mrs. Johnson often finds herself in the classroom, covering a lesson here and there as the need arises. She relishes the opportunity to work directly with students, support teachers, and maintain the larger perspective of discipleship that happens in the classrooms each day.
“How does she manage to Headmaster and teach?” one might ask. Mrs. Johnson would tell you that the process of raising six children has prepared her for most days. Some days require substitutes… and every day requires God’s grace, which he grants in abundance!
Landon Johnson- Algebra I
Born in Minnesota and raised in various locations, Mr. Johnson has called Kennewick home since 2013. He has taught and tutored math as a volunteer at Coram Deo Academy since 2020. After receiving his AAS from Columbia Basin College in 2021, he studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Idaho, in Moscow, focusing on circuitboard design. He returned to the Tri-Cities recently and plans to graduate with his Electrical Engineering degree from WSU Tri-Cities in the Spring of 2026. Along with a love for electrical engineering and for Christ, Landon loves helping others understand a wide variety of math and science concepts.
Landon enjoys running outdoors and challenging himself to conquer new patches of ground around Kennewick. He can often be seen working on his senior project or helping out around Coram Deo Academy, a ministry near and dear to his heart.
Laura Kuperstein - Scholastics
Mrs Kuperstein leads the 6th graders through Scholastics class in the logic school at Coram Deo Academy. Her family roots go back for six generations to a ranch near Enterprise, Oregon, where she has happy childhood memories of vacations, and where she returns each year to hunt elk. Born and raised in Spokane, Seattle and Port Orchard, Laura also has the distinction of having traveled to all 50 states throughout her life.
Laura prepared for an education degree at Eastern Washington University, together with interdisciplinary studies. She especially enjoys math, science and history. She has been a strong foster care advocate over the years and she and her husband have been foster parents.
She and her husband Chris live on acreage with a horse, cow and small flock of goats together with their three children. Laura loves to see her students get excited about learning new things about the world that God created.
Andrew Thomsen - Jr. Traditio
Mr. Andrew Thomsen received bachelor’s degrees in Business Administration and Political Science from Washington State University. For the past 11 years, he has worked in the IT industry and is currently employed at the Hanford site. After two years of training, Mr. Thomsen was ordained last year as Pastor of Counseling at Grace and Truth Community Church. He married his super cute wife, Susie, 10 years ago, and they are blessed with three young boys and a baby girl to raise in the fear and admonition of the Lord. They have certainly learned much about grace in the process!
Mr. Thomsen’s goal is to support parents in grounding their children in a thoroughly Christian worldview that knows no boundaries. His passion follows C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, and others in teaching the power of narrative to shape belief and the power of God’s narrative, the Gospel, to save.
Susie Thomsen - PE &Fitness K-8
Mrs. Thomsen teaches Physical Education for grades K–8 and is passionate about helping students learn to honor God with their physical bodies. Having once been quite frightened by PE as a child, she strives to create a welcoming, encouraging environment where every student can feel confident and capable. She holds a degree in Accounting from WSU and owns a nutrition coaching business, blending her love for wellness with a practical approach to balanced living. She is a NASM Certified Nutrition Coach and PN Master Health Coach - all which essentially mean Mrs. Thomsen really digs learning about how God made our bodies!
Outside of school, Mrs. Thomsen enjoys sunrise hikes with friends, reading biblical marriage & parenting books, and finding creative ways to keep her home running smoothly—often joking that she serves as the Chief Operations Officer of the household. She and her husband have four children—three lively boys and one sweet baby girl—who keep her active and inspired every day. Her goal in PE is to help students move with confidence, laugh often, and build a lifelong love for staying active as an act of worship to our creator, God.
Rachel Valentine - Intro to Chemistry & Physics, Earth Science.
Biography coming soon.
Helen Bernabe - K-5th Music
Helen and her family came from Torrance, California. Before coming to the Tri-Cities area, she worked as a Teacher’s Aide, Care & Recreation Program Facilitator, and Summer Fun Program Facilitator for Valor Christian Academy.
Mrs. Bernabe was born in Los Angeles, California and has now relocated in Kennewick, Washington with her husband (John) and their two sons.
Helen can often be found reading a book, watching a preach, listening to an audiobook, or working out in her garage.
She is looking forward to sharing her love of Jesus, her love for physical fitness, and for praising God with the students at CDA.
“Your Word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.” Psalms 119: 105
Meredith Worden - K-8th Art
Meredith Worden is a long time Tri City resident. Born in Pasco, she attended Pasco schools and received her AA degree from CBC many years ago. She married a farmer and raised seven children on a combination of private school, homeschool and public school for over 28 years before she fulfilled her ambition to complete college, receiving a BS in developmental psychology from Eastern Washington University while in her fifties.
Art has always been an interest, since her mother, who graduated with a degree in art from University of Idaho, taught art in their home. One of her favorite memories is watching her mother paint, something that didn't happen often in a household with four children.
She was in first grade when she first decided she wanted to teach and advocate for children. She taught drama at ECHO homeschool for ten years, and taught numerous children's Sunday Schools through the years. Meredith Worden enjoys anything creative, including drama, sewing, art, and writing. More recently, this summer, her daughter helped her publish her first book on Amazon.
Annie Darby - Librarian
Miss Annie is a retired elementary school teacher. She has taught in public schools in Oregon and Colorado, and in Christian schools in Washington and Oregon, and on the mission field in Brazil and the Czech Republic.
Annie and her siblings have traveled together for many years enjoying the U.S. and each other’s company. She has volunteered at CDA since 2017, first as a PE teacher and substitute, then as a librarian and tutor.
Annie loves the Lord, kids, and reading. Seeing kids become interested in books that she has shared is very rewarding.
Others
These individuals have invested efforts at CDA in significant ways.
The many parent volunteers, men and women alike, who serve at recess, on the security team, as substitutes, participating in events, driving for field trips, sitting with students as they read, playing chess on Thursdays… thank you to the many individuals that make this school a family!