Author: steve

Jonathan was born into a family with deep roots in service to the church and Mount Ellis Academy. Even as a potential fourth-generation teacher, he wasn’t sure that teaching was the profession for him. However, after serving as taskforce dean and chaplain at Mount Ellis Academy in 1999-2000, he saw that academy life was in his future.

After completing his degree in Religion/Religious Education at Union College in 2001, Jonathan spent a year at Broadview Academy in Illinois, 10 years teaching religion and social studies at Redwood Adventist Academy in Santa Rosa, California, and two years at Dakota Adventist Academy.

Jonathan is married to Lauren, and the two have a dog, Eva Peace, and two cats, Bartholomew and Ophelia. He likes to read, hike, fish, camp, and spend time outdoors. Every year and each day bring new challenges and ideas for enhancing what Jonathan does in his classroom. He believes in being a student of perspectives and events of history, instead of merely teaching it. Being back at Mount Ellis Academy is a dream come true.

Leisel Rogers graduated from Andrews University in 1999 with a B.A. in music and a minor in biology. She married her college sweetheart in 1996. She has been blessed with two wonderful children. Mrs. Rogers began teaching music at MEA in the fall of 2001 and became a dean in the fall of 2009.

Mrs. Rogers loves making music, reading, coloring, and spending time with people. She also enjoys cross country skiing, being outdoors, and gardening. If that wasn’t enough, she also really likes cooking, baking, and food information.

Carmen was born and raised in NSW, Australia, with her sister and parents. She attended Avondale College where she followed in her father’s footsteps and studied PE teaching and graduated in 2007 with BA/BTEACH in Personal Development, Health, and Physical Education. 

While studying at Avondale, she took a gap year and volunteered as a student missionary teaching first grade in Pohnpei, Micronesia. This is where she first met her husband Chad, who she married four years later. 

Carmen accepted a teaching position at Brisbane Adventist College where she taught P.E., Geography, History, and Bible. She has a real passion for teaching and her students. 

After her first son, Kyson, was born in 2015, Carmen put her teaching career on hold to be a stay at home mom, and she and her family moved to Bozeman. In 2016, she started working at Mount Ellis Academy as the school librarian and student work coordinator. 

In 2017, Carmen and Chad had their second son, Kaden, and after brief maternity leave, she resumed her position at the start of 2018.