The NCHE Leadership Series part 2

In 1984, North Carolinians for Home Education was organized by homeschool parents to support and encourage home educators and to protect the right to freely home educate in North Carolina. Our name was selected so as to include all who are for home education, not just those who are currently homeschooling.

From the beginning, joining NCHE has been a way that someone shows support for homeschooling in NC and the ministry of NCHE. Our mission is to help parents homeschool with confidence and joy!  We do this by working to:

• Protect the rights of North Carolina citizens to homeschool,
• Equip families with the information and encouragement they need,
• Connect families with other homeschooling families and groups across the state.

When you become an NCHE member, you support our work and mission. Most of the work at NCHE is accomplished by volunteers, including our volunteer board. In this second installment in our series, we will meet four additional NCHE board members.

Barry Bickley is a homeschooling Dad of more than 25 years with four graduated children.  He uses his professional background serving NCHE as our treasurer and overseeing the budget and financial planning processes. Barry is a consultant specializing in helping organizations achieve greater value from, and make better decisions based on, their data, allowing people and organizations to achieve higher levels of personal and corporate productivity.  He has extensive experience in developing internal audit programs as well as proactively planning for and responding to external reviews. Fun Fact: Barry was involved in his company winning both the National and NC state versions of the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Award.

Evelyn Bickley graduated all four of her children from their homeschool. All four are now “adulting.” Evelyn continues involvement in the homeschooling world by serving on our board as the activities director. She also administers end-of-year tests for families, leads a homeschool Gavel Club, and supports many NCHE members via online homeschool support groups. As activities director, she is responsible for things such as statewide field trips, the NCHE Athletic Commission, and the NCHE scholarship program. Fun Fact: In her free time, Evelyn and her husband enjoy travelling— especially to places of natural beauty or historical interest (and taste-testing ice cream from soft serve stands!)

Mike Marshall Mike & Ronda Marshall are the homeschooling parents of 6, and they live in Asheville. Mike serves as an NCHE board advisor.  He has served on the board at NCHE since 2003. and he has also previously served as president of NCHE and as a regional director. Over the past few years, Mike & Ronda have had the privilege of speaking at various support groups and state conferences where they loved having the opportunity to encourage fellow families in this wonderful, yet sometimes challenging homeschooling journey. Fun Fact: He also currently serves on the board with NCHE Athletic Commission.

Ronda Marshall Ronda and her husband, Mike, are in their 26th year of homeschooling, have graduated 5 children, and currently have one at home. Ronda serves as an advisor on our board. She and Mike have established homeschool support groups, email groups, co-ops, enrichment classes and conferences in their area. Ronda is the director of Biltmore Church Homeschool Ministry that serves over 200 families in western NC. Fun Fact: This past year, Mike and Ronda were blessed to welcome their first two grandchildren!

Are you a new NCHE member? We’d love to meet you! Introduce yourself in the comment section below, or email us at nche@nche.com. Thinking of becoming a member? Start here.