The True North Team

I have been homeschooling my own children for the last 4 years. I live in the Monadnock region with my husband of 14 years, our children, and our crazy chickens on our small homestead.

Art is in my blood and its what I love to do more than anything. My passion started young and carried me into college and my professional life. I studied fine arts all through high school and starting in 2008 attended New Hampshire Institute of Art where I majored in painting and art education.

I am now a homemaker as well as a freelance artist and painter. I teach art classes in my spare time to homeschool students as well as other individuals.

I look forward to bringing art into the lives of our students and am truly blessed by God to have this opportunity!

Mel wears several hats but her favorite ones are

wife to Ivan Rochford, mom to their four children (two of which have graduated homeschool and are grown and flown), and as “Lolli” to the sweetest granddaughter ever. Melody is a second

generation homeschool and has been homeschooling her children for fifteen years.

A recent transplant from Georgia, Melody lives in New Ipswich, NH, with her family in a circa 1785 farmhouse where she likes to imagine the conversations that may have occurred during those four walls when America was brand new and the ink on the Declaration was still fresh. Her love for history and old ways runs deep and she often declares, albeit jokingly, that she was born in the wrong century. With a penchant for all things domestic and antique, Melody’s hobbies include reading, rescuing old things, cooking, baking, and putting up.

With an A.A.S. in Paralegal Technology, Melody’s background includes finance and real estate.

These days, she finds herself learning how to successfully garden in New England’s short

growing season and tending her flock of chickens.

Our homeschooling journey began seven years ago, with our three children… we had a fourth along the way! My husband, Steve, and I were both born and raised in MA, met in high school, and knew we could never be apart! I came from a traditional Christian home, and have been a believer since childhood. When I met Steve, he didn’t know Jesus, but he soon came face to face with Him! Through Steve’s newfound faith, my relationship with Christ began to blossom, and I was truly born again. This chapter of our story is imperative, as nothing would be the same without it. Our purpose for homeschooling has always been rooted in Christ, but our humanly reasons have expanded and evolved so much along the way. This voyage has allowed us to mentally break down the four walls of “school”. It has been a freeing reality, and one that has allowed us to feed each of our children uniquely in how they are educated. God (unexpectedly, as usual!) brought us to Wilton, NH a year ago. Knowing no one, True North and its community of families was an answer to prayer! Here there is a place for me to share the passion God has instilled in me; to help empower the next generation, and the families that come with them!

A homeschool mom of five, received her Bachelors of Science in Nursing from Brigham Young University. She went on to work as a pediatric nurse in the children’s wing of

Timpanogos Hospital. A couple of years after becoming a mom, she left hospital work and decided to open Brainy Days Preschool.

She ran her preschool out of her home for 8 years.

As her children grew, she realized that she would really love to teach science at an Elementary and Middle School level. For the last three years she has been teaching biology, earth science, astronomy,

chemistry, and physics at Huckleberry Center for Learning in conjunction with California charter schools. Her family relocated from California to Massachusetts. She loves teaching, being outdoors with her husband and children, visiting her family farm in Tennessee, and serving in her church.

Rhianna has been homeschooling her children for over 3 years, has her Bachelors in Human Development, worked in the public school system and social work settings with children and adolescents however she feels most comfortable being with her children, being their primary teacher as she feels it was intended. She is so excited to be working with and building the True North cooperative

Mary “Beth” Halbrooks has been homeschooling for over 12 years, and lives at Long Meadow Farm in Jaffrey, NH, with her husband of 20 years (Jacob), their 3 children (Will, Caleb, & Libby), and her parents (Mary & Bill) live next-door.

Beth is originally from Hingham, MA, and received an A.S. in Computer Technology from Fisher College in Boston in 2001. Beth has researched Genealogy for over 20 years for her family and friends, and earned a Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University in 2018. She has always had a love of history and learning about the past. Beth hosted the Little House Homeschool Book Club in Mason, NH from 2010-2019, and has traveled to many of

the Laura Ingalls Wilder home sites around the country. Her hobbies include genealogy,

reading, travel, gardening, cooking & baking keto recipes, antiquing, and caring for her pets

(including 2 dogs, 2 cats, and chickens). She hopes to add goats and/or sheep to the farm soon!

Hi my name is Jessi and my family and I just recently moved to Peterborough. I’m originally from Texas, but have lived in NH for about 7 years. My husband and I have two wonderful children, named Reuben and Leah. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home-mom, I worked in the fashion industry as a Buyer. I have many interests and hobbies including; studying different languages, teaching, creating Bible studies, and all things pertaining to homesteading. I am looking forward to an awesome year with True North Homeschool