Spring 2021

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Our theme for the 2021
Homeschool Iowa Support
Group Leaders Retreat was
“To everything, there is a season...”
taken from Ecclesiastes 3:1. This was
both a reflection of President Joe Bai-
ley’s vision for this and the fact that a
new season of supporting our great
local support group leaders has be-
gun!
Homeschool Iowa values and ap-
preciates our statewide leaders. Be-
cause many of us were once local
leaders, we know what a challenge
it can be to invest so much of your
time and energy into other families
while homeschooling your children,
we wanted this weekend to be a time
of refreshment and encouragement.
We had an A-Team of retreat vol-
unteers who helped plan and imple-
ment this weekend. And thanks again
goes to Rhea and Aaron Bender, Em-
ily Forsyth, Jill Oppman, and Terri No-
wotny for their creativity, ideas and
help. Thank you also goes to Teresa
Ott who served as our greeter and
hostess.
We began the retreat on Friday
night with a time of networking,
meeting new friends, and enjoying
a yummy BBQ dinner. It was fun to
put faces with names or meet new
friends. Our speaker for the retreat
was Darren Jones from HSLDA (he
himself is a homeschooled graduate!)
and he kicked off the evening with a
session that reflected our theme.
On Saturday, our board and key
volunteers were introduced and
spent time worshipping together. We
enjoyed more sessions with Darren,
who challenged us with how to pre-
pare for the cultural changes that will
impact homeschooling, some legal
information that we need to be aware
of, and also heard from a panel of
seasoned support group leaders who
shared many ideas and much encour-
agement, and then….more food!
Our new Homeschool Iowa lobby-
ist, Bill Gustoff, a lawyer and home-
school dad, updated us with Iowa
education issues.
Last on the agenda was a Town-
Hall session where leaders could
ask and answer questions. It was an
amazing time together as leaders
helped leaders and again spent time
networking together. One discus-
sion we will continue to develop is
how Homeschool Iowa can support
our rural homeschooling families and
groups.
We ended the retreat with the men
from the Homeschool Iowa Board
praying the Lord’s great blessing
over our local leaders. Then we sang
the Doxology together and headed
home.
See what you missed?
We pray you can join us next year as
we desire to continue to support YOU,
a local homeschool leader, with the
many resources, encouragement, and
help that Homeschool Iowa offers!
Homeschool Iowa 2021 Support Group Leaders Retreat:
To Everything There is a Season
BY CATHY SORENSEN | HOMESCHOOL IOWA REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES COORDINATOR
R E C A P
Photography By: Anna Owen