Katlyn Cashner – Kindergarten
Katlyn recently graduated from Maranatha Baptist University with a degree in Early Childhood Education. In college, Katlyn worked at an afterschool program through the YMCA looking after children aged 4 years old to 5th grade. She has also student taught at Twin Rivers Elementary. Katlyn has also been involved in many ministries in both her home church and her extension church in college. She has worked in both children’s and teen’s ministries, as well as several music ministries.
Katlyn loves music and books. She plays the cello and the piano and sings. Getting lost in a book is one of her favorite ways to spend a day, and Katlyn would buy a library if she could. Katlyn has a desire to give her students a love for school and books. Katlyn is excited to begin her teaching journey working in a Christian school where she can freely share with her students what God has done in her life.
Tiffany Anderson – Kindergarten
Tiffany is a graduate of Bay City Christian School. She also has a Bachelor’s degree in elementary education with a minor in English from Maranatha Baptist Bible College. Mrs. Anderson began teaching at Bay City Christian School soon after graduating from college and taught middle and high school English classes as well as 3rd and 4th grade. And now she is teaching our five-year-old Kindergarten class!
Mrs. Anderson has been happily married to her husband Pastor Ray for nearly 20 years. He pastors Lakeshore Baptist Church in Kewaunee. They have four amazing children, which of course, doesn’t provide much time for hobbies. What Mrs. Anderson enjoys most is date nights with her husband and family game night around the table with her children.
Jamie Gleason – First Grade
Jamie graduated from Bob Jones University with a degree in International Studies. After being called into Christian education, Miss Gleason returned to BJU and earned a Master of Arts degree in teaching with a concentration in elementary education. She comes to Bay City with three years of Christian school experience in Virginia.
Merilee Strutz – Second Grade
Merilee Strutz has been teaching in Christian education since she graduated from Faith Baptist Bible College with a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education and Bible. She has taught ages from first grade to sixth grade in Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, and South Korea before joining the Bay City team. Merilee enjoys spending time with her family and friends as well as reading or participating in the arts such as plays and symphonies. She stays active in her local church in music ministry and leading children’s church or women’s Bible studies. Merilee desires to be a Christ-like example for her students as she creates a learning environment that fosters a love of learning in each child.
Amy Hager – Third Grade
Mrs. Amy Hager holds a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Maranatha Baptist Bible College. She has years of experience both teaching in Christian schools as well as homeschooling her own three children. She values the importance of a Christ-centered education for her children as well as those in her classroom.
Whether teaching at home or at school, Mrs. Hager takes a hands on approach to education, and she loves it when kids can see and feel what they are learning. Her favorite part of teaching is seeing the joy and smiles on the faces of her students when they get a concept that they’ve been struggling with for a while.
Mrs. Hager remembers her years in school, and feeling like she was the odd one out. When she was in elementary school she moved to a new school and learned a lot because her new teacher took special interest in her. Now Mrs. Hager always tries go the extra mile to make every one of her students feel welcome in her classroom.
Besides being a teacher, Mrs. Hager sings in the church choir, plays the piano in church, works in AWANA, and teaches a ladies Bible study. She and her husband Aaron have been married for over twenty years. They have three children who have all been enrolled in Bay City Christian School. Mrs. Hager enjoys reading, going to school soccer games, and watching her favorite sports teams, the Detroit Tigers and the Green Bay Packers.
Leah Marema – Fourth Grade
Leah graduated from Maranatha Baptist University with a major in English and a minor in TESOL. She has been working as an ESL instructor for Literacy Green Bay for the past year. She taught basic level English to adult and teenage immigrants, refugees, and international students from over 15 different countries. Leah has been involved in music and children’s ministries since high school. In college, she joined the orchestra and Chambers choir, and was also involved in music, nursery and children’s ministries in her extension church.
Leah loves reading, hiking, kayaking, camping, traveling, cooking, and knitting. She also loves cats, coffee, sushi, and tea. Leah hopes to be able to instill a love for reading and the English language in her students, as she loves reading herself. She also wants to foster a love for the Word of God and keep Christ a focus in her class throughout the year.
Debbie Brown – Fifth Grade
Mrs. Debbie Brown is our fifth grade teacher. She has a bachelor’s degree in Music Education from Bob Jones University. The Bible verse that’s really inspired her as a teacher is Ecclesiastes 9:10, “Whatsoever thy hand finds to do, do with all thy might!” Her dad was also instrumental in helping her do what she loves to do. He told her, “I hope you find something you love to do, and then find someone to pay you to do it.”
Besides being the fifth grade teacher, she keeps busy as church choir leader, piano teacher, women’s bible study teacher, mom, grandma, and also wife of Paul Brown, senior pastor at Bay City Baptist Church. Mrs. Brown enjoys bike riding, stamping greeting cards, sewing, and of course, playing the piano.
Amanda Moss – Sixth Grade
Teddy Kincaid – Middle School
Teddy is a graduate of Maranatha Baptist University, where he majored in Physical Education and Health and minored in Coaching. Teddy has worked as a teen counselor at Camp CoBeAc in Michigan and as a youth sports instructor at the YMCA in the past. He has also been involved in music ministry for much of his life. In high school, Teddy led the congregational Spanish music for the Spanish ministry at his home church.
As he began college, Teddy desired to follow his parents’ footsteps and joined a choir at Maranatha. In Maranatha’s Chambers choir, he continued his parents’ tradition, and met his eventual wife, Kate, during his freshman year. During his years at college, Teddy also traveled with the Tonal Defenders, a ministry group consisting of players on Maranatha’s Men’s Soccer Team. During each spring semester, Teddy traveled to various churches in Wisconsin, Illinois, and Indiana to represent Christ through song.
It does not take long for those around Teddy to discover his love and passion for sports. Throughout his life he has participated in soccer, basketball, baseball, and karate. Teddy also loves to watch football and can recite the winners of every Superbowl in order. Teddy desires to build personal relationships with his students to motivate and develop his students to reach their maximum potential as students, leaders, and ultimately, Christians.
Shellee Phillips – English
Mrs. Shellee Phillips has a bachelor’s degree in Interpretative Speech and Psychology from Bob Jones University. She has over twenty years of experience teaching in Christian schools, and her heart for ministry began at a very young age. As far back as she can remember, she’s been actively teaching Sunday School, AWANA, and women’s groups. She is the wife administrator Michael Phillips, and enjoys being able to support him in his ministry by teaching middle and high school English.
All four of her children have or are now attending a Christian school. It was important to her that each of them be exposed to God’s Word so they could learn the truth about the Source of all knowledge whether that’s in science, history, or English. Mrs. Phillips is passionate about helping each of her students better understand their Creator while teaching them the complexity of the English language. She tries to follow the philosophy that God lays out for the Israelites in Deuteronomy 10:12-13: “Israel, What doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all His ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul…” Her goal is to guide the next generation to see what God has done in past generations and what they have to do to continue to receive His blessings on their lives.
Mrs. Phillips encourages her students to be actively involved in their education. She asks a lot of questions so that they have to do the work of thinking and coming up with a reasonable, logical answer. She’s also found through her many years of teaching, that she learns more when she teaches others. For that reason, she often has her students work on several projects throughout the year that help them do the work of discovery and then share or teach their discoveries to others. That process of having to teach, helps her students to learn even more. She has high expectations for her students because she wants them to be well prepared for life and further education.
Mrs. Phillips has been married for more than thirty years. Three of the Phillips’ four children are adults, but their youngest child is here at Bay City Christian. She loves to read historical fiction, as well as some suspense and mysteries. She also enjoys crossword puzzles and visiting museums, battlefields, and other historical sites.
Kelly Hawkins- Science
Kelly Hawkins is actually the mastermind behind the layout of the science lab when it was constructed in 2002. She returns to Bay City after working several years as a chemistry professor at NWTC. Graduating from Bob Jones University with a degree in Science Education, Mrs. Hawkins is anxious to use her love for and knowledge of science in continuing the science curriculum in “her” lab. Mark and Kelly jointly operate a photography business and Hands on Deck, a STEM program teaching boat building.
Lisa Weldy – History
Miss Lisa Weldy has been teaching in Christian schools, internationally in Korea and in the United States, for over ten years. She has a bachelor’s degree in Practical Christian Training with a minor in history from Bob Jones University as well as a Master’s of Science degree in Counseling. She teaches middle school history, Spanish, and speech. Miss Weldy has always been interested in education, partly because her mom was a teacher and an elementary school principal.
Now as a teacher herself, Miss Weldy finds great joy in communicating information to her students in a way that helps them understand it, retain it, and be able to explain themselves to someone else. She also enjoys building relationships and connecting with her students. She believes that one way we can reflect God on this earth is through our commitment to building relationships with other believers and encouraging them in their walk with God. She thinks of her students like her nieces and nephews and cheers them on just like she would her own family. She’s excited for them when they’re excited, sad when they’re sad, and she’ll correct them when they need to be corrected. She likes that as a teacher, she gets brief moments of interaction that could have a lifelong impact on a student. A Bible verse that plays a big role in her teaching style is I Corinthians 14:40: “Let all things be done decently and in order.” Her mom had that verse hanging in her classroom, and whether Miss Weldy has that verse on her wall or not, it’s always hanging in her heart, rebuking her and encouraging her.
A couple of difficult challenges in her life have shaped her perspective as a teacher. Losing her dad to cancer has helped her to be more compassionate about the struggles that her students go through, and given her a better understanding of humanity, down to the individual needs of each of the students in her classroom. Also, living and teaching overseas in Korea has helped her to understand that children, no matter where they are in the world, have many of the same struggles in life. They need the same solid training and kind reassurances, as well as the same encouragement to follow God in everything that they do.
Miss Weldy wears a lot of hats in her ministry at Bay City and at her church. She’s the assistant coach for our girls’ basketball team, and she enjoys watching and cheering for all of the Bobcat sports programs. Miss Weldy is also very active in her church, leading a ladies’ Bible study, participating in the Bay City Counseling Center, and being a part of the chimes ensemble and the adult choir.
One of her favorite things to do in her free time is to play the ukulele and sing. Many of her friends, family, and students enjoy seeing her perform her own creative silly songs for them, or on YouTube. She especially likes “performing” with her mom and seeing the laughter and smiles that her songs bring.
Tara Hinze – Middle & High School
Tara Hinze, a graduate of Bay City, has taught within Christian schools for over 13 years. Since graduating from Maranatha Baptist University with a degree in History Education, Tara has sought to instill high educational standards and a deep love and understanding of God’s Word. She taught at Bay City from 2001-2005 and 2006-2007 as well at Ozaukee Christian School from 2012-2016. Tara lives with her husband and three children, and is heavily involved within Bay City Baptist Church.
Vanesa Pritchard – Middle School & High School Math
Dr. Michael Phillips – School Administrator & Math
As the administrator, Dr. Michael Phillips is dedicated to using his expertise and experience to provide students a solid, balanced education that will push them to achieve educationally, socially, and spiritually. One of his greatest rewards has been the joy of watching students grow into young men and women that are seeking God’s will in their lives.
Pastor Paul Brown – Senior Pastor and Bible
Paul Brown has been involved in Christian education for over 40 years in nearly every role available. Paul currently serves as the Senior Pastor at Bay City Baptist Church. He has received a Master’s in Pastoral Studies from Bob Jones University. His years in Christian education have spanned from South Carolina to Wisconsin. Paul started teaching at Bay City in 2015 and taught a variety of subjects in middle school and high school and currently teaches 7th & 8th grade Bible. His wife Debbie Brown, also teaches at Bay City. Paul’s desire is to see each student grow in their knowledge, understanding, and love for the word of God and have a greater relationship with Jesus Christ.
Pastor Dave Bender – Family Ministries Pastor and Bible
Dave Bender has completed 2 Master’s degrees: a Master’s in Biblical Counseling and a Master of Ministry. He teaches the senior high Bible class at Bay City. He also oversees family ministries and the counseling center at Bay City Baptist Church while being a part of the Three Desires Seminar. Before serving at Bay City Baptist Church, Dave worked at Faith Baptist Church in California. In his free time, Dave enjoys spending time with his family and playing sports. Dave wants to see his students know the Lord and to know and serve Him with all their hearts.
Pastor Aaron Lichtenwalner – Family Ministries/Youth Pastor & Bible
Aaron Lichtenwalner arrived to Bay City in June of 2016 as the Youth and Assistant Pastor after receiving his Biblical Studies degree from Northland International University and Boyce College. As the 9th and 10th grade Bible Class teacher, Aaron enjoys investing into the lives of students to encourage their walk with the Lord, their knowledge of Scripture, and their love for the church. Outside of class, Aaron enjoys spending time with his wife, Meagan, playing ultimate frisbee, and continuing his education as he pursues his Masters of Divinity.
Kellie Luther- Music
Kellie Luther has been heavily involved in teaching music for over 20 years. With a degree in Sacred Music from Northland International University, she focuses her efforts beyond just teaching into church music programs also. She is leads our choir, chimes and band programs. Kellie has a goal to increase her students’ ability and love of music through positive teaching and encouragement while instilling the knowledge of how God can be glorified through music.
Molly Offord – Music
Miss Molly Offord graduated from Bob Jones University with a degree in Piano Pedagogy and in Biblical Counseling. She will be helping with music at all levels. And she is helping students as a resource teacher.
Sarah Ray- Art Teacher/Elementary Aide
Sarah Ray is the art teacher for all our students at Bay City. Mrs. Ray earned a degree in Fine Arts from St. Norbert College, and we are thrilled to have our first art teacher in both the elementary and high school. She also helps out in our first grade classroom as an aide. She is especially suited for her new responsibilities. Sarah’s compassion was also evident when she worked with special needs children when employed by the City of DePere.