2024-25 Mentors
CATECHISM: OLD TESTAMENT
Our family has been part of Aquinas Learning for the past five years and feel very blessed to be part of this community.
I studied Pastoral Studies for four years and spent one year studying in Rome where I fell in love with our Catholic faith. I love teaching the faith and grow in my love for it as I pass it on.
I have been mentoring Alta Catechism two years and I have truly enjoyed the discussions we have had about our Catholic faith and have learned much from the students. I am looking forward to the adventure of diving into the Old Testament this year.
PRIMA I & II BEHOLD SCIENCE
Scott Augustine is the parent of four enthusiastic Aquinas Learning students (plus a toddler) and his family has been a part of the Aquinas Twin Cities Center since its first year. Scott has been the Behold Science Mentor since 2017 for the Prima I and Prima II levels. While he works professionally as a financial planner, he especially enjoys beholding the wonders of science with his family and Aquinas students. Scott loves traveling as a means to appreciate Creation. He recently took his family to the Big Island of Hawai`i for a “homeschool adventure year” where they witnessed countless natural wonders including volcanic eruptions, green and black sand beaches, earthquakes, the 13,000-foot snowy peak of Mauna Kea, humpback whale season, unparalleled star-gazing, and snorkeling with a myriad of sea creatures. The Augustines are parishioners at the Church of All Saints in Minneapolis. Scott has a degree in economics and business from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities and a Certified Financial Planner designation.
DRAMA
Lily Blando graduated from John Paul the Great Catholic University in 2022 with a B.A. in Humanities and Theater. She teaches English and Theater at Unity Catholic High School. She has been involved in many plays as an actor and director and strives to glorify God through the arts.
PARVA
PIANO LESSONS
PRIVATE TUTORING
Catherine Dahl is a lifelong homeschooler and pianist. Herself a graduate of Seton Home Study School, she provides tutoring to homeschool families, as well as mentoring the Aquinas Learning Parva class for the past 7 years. Formerly with the Music Teachers Network, she has taught beginning and intermediate piano for 12+ years. A history enthusiast and card-carrying bookworm, she loves to learn, explore, and share all she can about history and the Catholic Faith. She lives in West St. Paul with her sister and two beagles.
PRIMA II BOYS
My name is Meagan Daoust. Our family has been with Aquinas Learning Twin Cities since 2016. I’m a mother of nine, seven boys and two girls. I have been a mentor with Aquinas for the last seven years, primarily mentoring Prima 2 boys. Our family currently has our five youngest children enrolled in Aquinas Learning.
I have a degree in History, but I have also spent time exploring musical theatre and film. Our family loves traveling the world and adventuring outdoors. Along with my children,I love Disney, especially Disney World. I love planning and organizing events and parties. I love watching great movies and television, eating potato chips and sour patch kids, and taking incredibly hot baths. If I can ever sleep through the night, I have plans to write two books and start an historical research tool website.
I’m excited for another year with Prima 2 Boys. 2024-2025 will be my fourth sons first year of Prima 2!
MATH
Kelsey Eberhardt is a math fanatic! She graduated from the College of Saint Benedict with a degree in math education and computer science. Kelsey worked as a software developer and corporate trainer for 8 years but still did math tutoring on the side just for fun! She has been a math mentor for Aquinas Twin Cities for two years and is excited for another great year. In her spare time she enjoys playing French horn, reading, playing tennis, and learning to crochet. Kelsey resides in Shakopee with her husband and two (soon to be three!) young children.
PRIMA I GIRLS
My name is Mary Michaud, and this is my second year mentoring at Aquinas for the Prima I class. Last year I was working with the Prima I boys, and I am excited to be working with the Prima I girls this year! I was blessed to be homeschooled up to 6th grade and then to receive a classical Christian education in middle and high school. I graduated in 2022, and this will be my second year taking online classes toward an Early Education and Care degree.
When I'm not studying, mentoring at Aquinas, or tutoring, I love spending time with Our Lord, chatting with my family, and going on adventures with my friends.
PRIMA II GIRLS
U.S. GOVERNMENT
Miss Caterina Morales recently graduated from Ave Maria University with a degree in History and a minor in Theology. At Ave Maria, she was a writing and Western Civilization tutor for two years. She has a passion for Catholic education and loves to share her love of learning with others. When she isn’t hanging out with her awesome nieces and nephews, she can be found reading a book, sipping a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with friends.
MATERIAL LOGIC
LATIN I
Mr. Juan Perez first encountered the classical world when he stumbled into a liberal arts degree at a public university in South Florida. Intrigued by the ancients, he dove headfirst into their philosophy, language, and history, which mercifully led to a rejection of Christian synchronism and a total embrace of the Catholic Church. He spent some time studying 20th-century history, in particular, the good work of Pope Pius XII, before graduating from Ave Maria School of Law in 2010.
Now Mr. Perez spends his weekdays working from home for Thomson Reuters where he helps corporate legal departments manage their legal spend. In the evenings, he serenades his beautiful wife and five rambunctious daughters to the tune of the baritone ukulele. In his free time, he participates in a neighborhood confraternity where he gets to study theology, practice beer-brewing, and host traditional processions throughout the liturgical year. Mr. Perez is delighted to begin teaching Schola Alta's Logic, Philosophy and Latin I courses at Aquinas Twin Cities in preparation for teaching these classes to his own daughters when they move into the Schola Alta years.
ANCIENT HISTORY INTEGRATED WITH LITERATURE & COMPOSITION
Once upon a time, Mrs. Karen Perez discovered an American Girl book in her grade school library. From then on, when she wasn't playing basketball, Mrs. Perez always had her nose in a book. Then, in college, she got to study abroad in Toulouse, the medieval city where the Dominican order was founded and Saint Thomas Aquinas is buried, opening her eyes to the beauty of medieval Christendom. So, she dove into the 13th century and earned a liberal arts degree with a certificate in medieval studies from Dartmouth and hoped to begin a career in book publishing.
Instead, the Lord sent Mrs. Perez to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she worked in digital marketing at Google for ten years before happily quitting the corporate world to begin homeschooling with Aquinas Learning in Minnesota. She has delighted in teaching IEW's history-based writing classes at Aquinas Twin Cities since 2017, Schola Alta I Lit/Comp since 2021, and Schola Alta I History since 2022. Mrs. Perez's goal is to motivate her students to know the story of history; to behold truth, goodness, and beauty in literature; and to practice the skills of thinking, speaking, writing, attentiveness, and virtue.
The Perez family worships at the Saint Augustine Oratory in South St. Paul.
PRIMA I & II: BEHOLD ART & MUSIC
My family of six children joined Aquinas Learning in 2018 and I have been the Behold Music and Art mentor since 2019. I currently have a son in his first year of college, a daughter who attends high school, and four children at Aquinas Learning. We love the community and rigor of study that we have found at Aquinas Learning and I am forever grateful that my husband, John, convinced me to join!
I graduated undergrad with degrees in Music Education K-12 and Sacred Music, and I have a Masters of Education with a Montessori emphasis. I taught primary level Montessori and private piano lessons before beginning my homeschooling career.
We are members of the parish at the Cathedral of St. Paul since my conversion to the Catholic faith twenty years ago and we live in Burnsville.