Rebecca Harrison will our Public Spreaking and Debate instructor for the spring semester. She is currently studying linguistics and French at the University of Texas at Austin. Starting from her freshman year of high school, Rebecca fell head-over-heels in love with speech and debate and dedicated the next four years of her life to competing at the state and national level in a multitude of different events, with her specialty being in public speaking and speech-writing. In her senior year, she was elected to the president of her high school public speaking and debate team, during which time she acted not only as a competitor, but also as an assistant coach.

Through this class, Rebecca aims to teach your children how to communicate effectively, builds strong arguments, and disagrees with one another amicably. The primary goal of speech and debate is not to teach children to win arguments and earn trophies, but rather how to look at the world from different perspectives and understand others’ points of view. By cultivating a classroom environment of positivity and respectful dissent, Rebecca intends to accomplish this very goal. It has always been her personal, firmly-held belief that nothing more perfectly captures the essence of the human spirit than effective and thoughtful communication, so it is Rebecca’s hope and intention to pass along her love of speech and debate to the next generation of leaders.

Khristian will teach "Fundamentals of Critical Reading & Creative Writing" and "Informative and Academic Writing" this spring semester. She earned a B.A. and M.A. in English from Valdosta State University where she received the Graduate of the Year Award. She currently edits for the International Journal of Fracture at UT Austin. In addition, she has worked as the technical editor for the Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly. Khristian has extensive teaching experience including teaching first-year college composition and research and homeschooling for 7th and 8th grade English Language Arts. Khristian encourages critical thinking and describes her teaching style as purposeful and student-centered with an aim to open student minds to various perspectives on different topics, making them better analyzers and more informed human beings. She believes the best way for students to learn is through practicing, communicating, and seeing examples.  

Laura Baker will be the instructor for "Fundamentals of Grammar, Vacabulary and Writing", and "Vocabulary Fundations" this spring semester. She earned B.A. in English Composition and began working in Early Childhood Education at the Open Door Preschool. An avid supporter of the arts, Laura has volunteered with various non-profits supporting poetry and literature. Five years ago, Laura returned work in schools and after-school programs. Laura is also a freelance writer with a long list of publications. She lives with her two dogs, Brother and Sister in Lockhart, “by groves of mesquite and packs of coyotes.”  She enjoys hiking, volunteering and writing plays. 

Chris Baker has taught at ACES since 2013. He understood our community, students and parent objectives and expectations. During the sping break, Chris will teach SAT Intensive workshops.

Many thanks go to Dr. Jeremy Johnson for the success of ACES Physics courses. Dr. Johnson loves physics education and always inspires student’s passion for physics. He has the privilege to access a huge database of high school physics problems and can dynamically generate problem sets which best fit student physics knowledge levels of different topics. During the spring semester, Dr. Johnson will offer ACES Physics I and ACES Physics II courses to our community students.

The ACES Physics I and II courses serve two objectives. First, they are designed for students who would like to join US Physics Olympiad preliminary exam F=ma contest. Secondly, they serve high school AP Physics preparation/review course to better manage student GPA.