Board of directors

Christopher Bechtel is the pastor of Evergreen Church, a PCA congregation in Salem, OR. He also teaches regularly for Covenant Theological Seminary in St. Louis and Reach Training Institute in Salem. He holds a PhD in Hebrew Bible from the University of Edinburgh and formerly worked in research for the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics. With his wife Jackie and five children, he lives in Salem in an old house that has been moved on two occasions. They have an (overly) affectionate golden retriever named Penny and a cat that once was lost but now is found.

Jessyca Yang has been involved in education for over 25 years–a short time in the classroom and 19 years homeschooling her four children, leading co-ops, teaching with Classical Conversations, and volunteering in a Team Policy Debate league. With her husband, Jay, she co-owns a local restaurant. She is also the Children’s Ministry Director at Evergreen Church in Salem. Jessyca earned her B.S. in Elementary Education from Corban University.

Sonja Elzinga is passionate about classical Christian education after having received transformative courses in Latin, literature, history, and logic during her own middle and high school years. She has a Master of Arts in counseling with a focus in child and youth counseling from Western Seminary and a Bachelor of Music in vocal performance from Oklahoma City University.  She and her husband Steve live in Salem with their four young children. In her free time, Sonja enjoys reading, knitting, growing dahlias, and visiting her backyard chickens.