Our teachers come from a variety of backgrounds, but they all have one thing in common; a passion for encouraging children’s natural curiosities!
Mary Groeschen – Director of Wildflowers Academy
Director@wildflowersky.org
Mary Groeschen has called Kentucky home since her family moved to Louisville when she was 13. She received a BA in Psychology and an MPA in Nonprofit Management from U of L. She spent her professional career in the nonprofit world, event planning and managing volunteers, before becoming a homeschool parent to three energetic sons. She loves cooking and baking, visiting new places, growing as many flowers as she can, and learning about history and the natural world along with her kids.
Mary has been homeschooling since 2018. She believes that the program at Wildflowers Academy fills a valuable niche in the Louisville homeschooling community, which is why she is so excited to continue this work through Kentuckiana Homeschool, Inc.
Rachel Thompson – Kindergarten Teacher
Rachel Thompson was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky and currently resides in Bullitt County with her husband and kids. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education and taught public school for a brief period before her first child was born in 2014. Since then she’s been a stay-at-home parent to her 3 children. Rachel is a homebody through and through. She enjoys thrifting, iced coffee, and sunny days.
Rachel has always found joy learning alongside children, especially her own, so deciding to homeschool felt natural for their family. They are currently in their 5th year of learning at home, with no end in sight to their homeschooling adventure. Rachel feels incredibly grateful to have connected with Wildflowers Academy and to be back in a classroom environment more fitting to her personal teaching philosophy. She’s looking forward to instilling a love of learning in her students that she hopes will carry with them for the rest of their lives.
Abigail Sledge – First Grade Teacher
Abigail Sledge has a passion for learning alongside her students. She grew up a Hoosier and went to IUS on the other side of the river, where she received her bachelor’s in Special Education. Abigail taught elementary students with special needs for three years before joining Wildflowers Academy in 2022. This upcoming year will be her third year at Wildflowers. She now stays at home with her sweet son Alexander. Abigail and her husband are expecting their second little one this upcoming fall, right before Alexander turns 2 years old! Abigail loves exploring new places around Louisville and the world! She loves finding new places to walk outdoors and explore with her son and husband, Nicholas. Her favorite place to retreat to is the beach where you can find her with a book in her hands. She enjoys cooking new recipes and tasting them with family and friends.
Caroline Snyder – Second/Third Grade Teacher
Caroline moved back to Louisville in 2019 after being raised in Nashville, TN. She was homeschooled all
the way from Pre-K to High School graduation, so she loves working with homeschooled students. She is currently going to school for a Bachelor’s in Educational Studies and has been teaching music lessons and classes in Louisville for 5 years.
Caroline is so excited to meet her students this year! She is proud to be part of a homeschool program
that is inclusive and accepting to all students. A few of the most important things in her life are her
husband, her dogs, and teaching. She is looking forward to learning her students’ favorite things as well!
Carly McCallister – Fourth Grade Teacher
Carly has called Louisville home for over 20 years, and adores the eclectic mix of opportunities this city has to offer. With a passion for learning and exploring, homeschool was a natural choice to enable her to continue learning alongside her children.
With a Culinary Arts degree, she spent many years in the service industry before leaving the field for more flexible and varied work opportunities to better support her family’s educational needs. Since then, she has become a registered Accessible Yoga teacher and leads regular adaptive classes. She has also had an instrumental part in the development and running of a summer camp with local nonprofit La Casita Center, providing kids with a fun, safe, culturally appropriate, and engaging experience for the past six years.
When not teaching in her various capacities, she enjoys hiking with her sweet and stubborn hound dog, baking bread, and filling her yard with native wildflowers.
Audrey Littlepage – Fifth Grade Teacher
Audrey Littlepage has worked in Arts and Education for the past 19 years. She holds a bachelor’s degree in studio art from the University of Kentucky and has studied drawing and oil painting with the Art Student’s League of New York and The New York Studio School. Audrey has worked with middle school students at Interlochen Center for the Arts, K-12 students at Jefferson County Public Schools, and the K-8 students at Wildflower’s Academy.
In addition to teaching, Audrey practices art from her home studio and provides ongoing editorial and curatorial support for artists, galleries, and museums in the United States.
Bela Sage – Middle School Teacher (7th/8th Homeroom)
Bela grew up in Wisconsin but lived on the West Coast and in England before moving to Kentucky. She received her BA is History from the University of Puget Sound, her MA in Medieval and Early Modern History from the University of Bristol in the UK, and her MA in Library Studies from Aberystwyth University in Wales. Bela has always loved working with kids and has been a nanny, a before & after school teacher, a site coordinator for the Boys & Girls Club, a camp counselor, and the Education Coordinator at the Conrad-Caldwell House Museum. When she is not running after her five kids, she likes to read and travel. One day, Bela would love to own a cottage in Scotland by the ocean.
Carrie Hembree Torres – Middle School Teacher, Administrator & KHS Board President
Carrie grew up on a mountain in middle Tennessee. She attended Oglethorpe University in Atlanta and then the University of TN in Knoxville for graduate degrees in geography and environmental education. Carrie helped design citizen science programs for several nature centers and university departments , as well taught citizen science design coursework as part of the WI Center for Environmental Education at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. She was involved in several environmental nonprofit organizations and served in various positions including director, grant writer, and community organizer. She ate a lot of cheese and slept in a lot of tents, although she only really enjoyed the cheese. Carrie moved back to Tennessee in 2006 and accepted a position with a statewide solid waste and recycling program. She also worked as a consultant for preschool environmental education implementation and helped design nature-based play spaces and outdoor classrooms. Carrie and her partner and daughter and their too-many cats came to Louisville from Nashville in 2019 and have enjoyed getting to know the area, aside from the formidable Ohio Valley allergy season. They have always homeschooled.
Katie Edwards – Program Coordinator
Katie Edwards was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. Working with kids has been a lifelong passion for her that started at a very young age. After graduating high school, Katie became a gymnastics coach for 5-15 year-old girls. It was during this time of her life that she realized what an easy connection she had with children and the power a positive role model can have. Katie continued to work with children throughout her early 20’s while obtaining a cosmetology license. She enjoyed a fulfilling career as a hairdresser until becoming a mother in 2013. Katie enjoys reading, nature, star gazing and anything that helps “raise up” her friends and family. Changing the mindset of future generations through knowledge and compassion are what she hopes to contribute to the world. Katie has been homeschooling since 2018. Her 5th grade son has benefitted tremendously from his time with Wildflowers; this is just one of the many reasons she is ecstatic to be Program Coordinator for the upcoming year.