Our (Amazing!) Faculty & Staff

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Upper School Humanities & Logic 

 Milton Wilcox grew up as a military "brat" who moved all over the Lower 48 before joining the US Coast Guard as a ship’s cook in February 2001. During his four year enlistment, he advanced to the rank of E-5 and earned the Coast Guard Commendation Medal for his service onboard the Cutter Diligence. 

When his enlistment ended, he went to college at Belhaven University where he studied Philosophy and Biblical Studies. After graduation he married his wife, Kylie, and the two of them moved to Florida where he enrolled at the University of South Florida’s Ph.D. program in Philosophy and Religious Studies. Upon obtaining his doctorate, he taught Philosophy at USF for 3 years as a Visiting Instructor. His research has focused on the history of the doctrine of God’s changeless nature and what that means for faith and truth.

During their tenure at USF, Milton and Kylie were blessed with four children, and his oldest now attends Kenai Classical. He is proud to be a part of the Kenai Classical faculty and loves to see students mature as they come to understand that “Ideas have Consequences.” Aside from teaching and spending time with his family, he enjoys reading, fishing, journaling, riding motorcycles, and quiet contemplation. 

Upper School Humanities & Science

Jerry Strait grew up on a farm in the Missouri Ozarks listening to Johnny Horton singing “North to Alaska,” reading Jack London, and dreaming of faraway wilderness places. In 1984, he secured a seasonal job in Soldotna with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game that turned into a thirty-five-year-long outdoors adventure. 

Meanwhile, in the off-season from Fish and Game, Jerry traveled doing foreign missionary work (India, New Zealand, and Ukraine) and attending college and university in Missouri and Texas. He holds four degrees: an Associate of Arts in General Studies with an emphasis in journalism, a Bachelor of Arts in History, a Bachelor of Science in Biblical and Related Studies, and a Masters in Christian Ministry with a Christian Education focus.

Jerry and Violetta are blessed with two wonderful daughters: Vitalia and Aleysa.

Jerry is excited at the opportunity to teach at Kenai Classical. This year he has taught HS Bible, Alaska Biodiversity, Alaska History, JH Humanities, and Alaska Outdoor Studies.

 4th-6th Elementary

Karen Stam fulfilled a life-long dream in August of 2022 with a move to Alaska. She grew up in the PNW but always enjoyed visits from her grandpa from Kodiak and his tales of the North. Her passion was reignited a couple of years ago after some friends moved to Nikiski, and she had the opportunity to visit for two summers. After teaching 3rd-5th grade for the past few years at a classical Christian school in southern Arizona, Karen ventured way north and lives with her two cats, a life-sized skeleton named Jeremy, and a ton (literally) of books.

Karen came to appreciate classical education when she was homeschooling her son and has developed that passion ever since. She is furthering her personal education as a full-time student at Liberty University and loves to share her love of reading, grammar, history, and Jesus with the next generation of students. 

When she is not at Kenai Classical, Karen enjoys reading, working at a local youth outreach, BBC British mysteries, playing her guitar and singing, and of course, doing all of the wonderful outdoor things that Alaska has to offer.

1st-3rd Elementary

Becky Craven grew up in a pastor's family in Michigan.  She moved to Alaska in 1996 with her husband, Jon Craven. For 15 years she served as Chief Cook and Bottle Washer at Higher Ground Baptist Bible Camp in Sterling, AK where her husband was Director. In 2016 God moved the Cravens to Soldotna to serve at Soldotna Baptist Church full time. 

God has blessed Jon and Becky with 9 children and 1 grandchild.  Becky has been a homeschool mom for over 20 years. In her free time she loves to read, bake, and hike. 

Interim Director & Calculus

Kenai Classical is blessed to have Gerry Goede as the interim director for the 23-24 school year. Gerry Goede holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering from Virginia Tech and a Master’s Degree in Math Education from Montana State University.

He worked for more than twenty years in nuclear engineering, engineering management, and financial management and has taught Calculus at Montana State University. Mr. Goede started teaching math and science classes at Heritage Christian School in Bozeman, Montana in 2004. Gerry was the Head of School at Heritage Christian School for nine years and is currently teaching and doing administration functions at the school. 

Mr. Goede enjoys each and every student that God places in his classes.

He has a passion for seeing Christians grow through a focus on God’s Word and discipleship.

Gerry and Pat have five sons and seven grandchildren and are blessed to have them all living in the Pacific northwest.

He also has a passion for tandem bike riding with his wife, Pat. They have taken several long bike trips throughout the country and love hosting and talking with other touring bicyclists. To date, they have been able to ride in 27 states and look forward to any new adventures that God has for them. Some of their best memories are taking long bike rides together and being able to see God’s creation from a different perspective.

Upper School Writing & Math  

Vitalia Strait was born and raised in Kenai, AK, but spent a lot of time also growing up in Ukraine, her mother’s home country. She recently earned her BA in English from Colorado Christian University, where she also worked in the Writing Center. Next year, she intends to pursue her MA in creative writing, with the hope of becoming a professional writer and college professor. She has had some works published in various journals, such as The Trouvaille Review and Poetry Potion. Needless to say, words take up most of her time, both for work and pleasure.

This is her third year teaching at Kenai Classical, having begun the year remotely from Lakewood, CO, and now has returned to teach in-person in Kenai. She is thrilled to help KC students improve their writing skills and foster a love of learning!

Upper School Math & Advising  

Anna Lattin is a native Texan who married an Oregonian, and together they continued north to settle in Soldotna, Alaska.  Anna and Jason have four children who all attend Kenai Classical. 

  Anna grew up in a Christian home and had the blessing of knowing the Lord personally at a young age. As a child, Anna was certainly a book worm and continues to love learning. But her greatest joy is seeing the Good News of Jesus Christ changing hearts and lives whether in the classroom or anywhere else in the world. 

   Graduating from medical school in 2004, Anna's professional training is as a physician, but after taking early retirement (to "just" be mom), she cherishes her second career as a teacher at Kenai Classical.  Anna and Jason want to see Kenai Classical be a vibrant educational option for this community and a blessing that reaches the world.

Upper School Biology & Chemistry

Will Boyd lives in the Palouse region of North Idaho with his wife Liz, six sons, and two daughters. Will grew up near the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and attended college at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, where he earned a B.S. in Biology (2000) and minors in Chemistry and Conservation Biology. 

Through his undergraduate years he participated in numerous biological field studies in fun places like the Bering Sea, Alaska’s North Slope, Western North Carolina, Minnesota, Central Wisconsin, and the Cuyahoga River Valley of Ohio. He also interned for the Smithsonian’s Conservation Research Center, where he led an effort studying giant eland reproduction and spent a season caring for and studying wallabies, kangaroos, and other marsupials at the Macquarie University Marsupial Fauna Park near Sydney, Australia.

Will currently also teaches secondary science classes for Logos School. In addition, he works as a STEM Education Consultant and is the founder and board president of the Homeschool Institute of Science (HIS, Inc.).

Advanced Mathematics

Dominic Pineiro grew up in Florida and studied Mathematics at the University of Central Florida. He met his wife in an Apologetics club and married her at R.C. Sproul's church, St. Andrew's Chapel. They had their first child a short 3 months before moving across the country to Northern Idaho where they had their second. Dominic kept his finance job from Florida, working remotely, before deciding to quit and start teaching online. In the short amount of time he has been teaching it has become an easy passion for him.

Dominic started to have an appreciation for math when he took Calculus his senior year of high school. Finally, it all clicked, so much so that he eventually switched his major from BioMed to Mathematics. He loves the certainty of the truths found in mathematics and the consistent rules built into the subject.

Beyond mathematics, Dominic's favorite subjects are world history and political philosophy. He and his wife love the outdoors- camping, hiking, and gardening whenever their house projects and children allow.

 Upper School Latin

Danae is married to Jordan Harlow and lives in Moscow with their son, two cats, and two horses. She grew up in Salem, OR and attended a classical Christian school where she started learning Latin in 3rd grade. However, it wasn't until she had a dynamic Latin teacher in high school that it came alive as a real language. At age 15, Danae felt God's call on her to be a Latin teacher.

With that goal in mind, Danae moved to Moscow, ID in 2010 and attended New Saint Andrews College, where she took every Latin class she could. She taught JH & HS Latin at Logos School (Moscow, ID) for 8 years before switching to teach online from home. She now also helps instruct the Freshmen Latin students at New Saint Andrews College under the tutelage of the Latin professor, Tim Griffith.

Other than teaching and tutoring Latin, Danae's hobbies include teaching horse riding lessons, directing JH & HS plays, acting in community theater, and singing in the church choir.