Freedom Mountain Academy: Staff
The Freedom Mountain Academy staff lives on campus, and interacts with the students at every experiential level. Their morning History teacher, also cuts wood with them in the afternoon, and eats supper with them in the evening. Their English teacher bakes bread with them in the afternoon, and plays volleyball with them on the weekend. Their wilderness instructor also instructs them on how to milk a cow, and converses with them in the evening in front of the fireplace. In this way, no teaching or counseling opportunities are missed, and the students' relationships with staff are enhanced by the realization that we ask nothing of them that we do not ask of ourselves.
Kevin Cullinane
Director
Kevin Cullinane has worked in education since 1967 and created the work/study/adventure curriculum at Freedom Mountain Academy in 1972 when he founded Academy of the Rockies in Bonners Ferry, Idaho. He operated Academy of the Rockies until 1982, when he sold the campus to CEDU, and relocated to Spartanburg, South Carolina to run Freedom School Seminars for Milliken and Company. In 1994 he co-founded Carden Academy of Basic Education in Mission Viejo, California, and in 2000, using the successful model of Academy of the Rockies, co-founded Freedom Mountain Academy in Mountain City, Tennessee.
Patricia Cullinane
Director
Patricia Cullinane founded Carden Hall in Newport Beach, California in 1963, shepherding it to becoming the most successful private day school in California. In 1976 she moved to North Idaho to serve as co-director of Academy of the Rockies. In 1994 she co-founded Carden Academy of Basic Education in Mission Viejo, California, and in 2000 co-founded Freedom Mountain Academy in Mountain City, Tennessee.
Margaret Cullinane
Academic Director
Margaret Cullinane served as Curriculum Coordinator and upper grade teacher at Carden Academy of Basic Education in Mission Viejo, California before joining the staff at Freedom Mountain Academy in 2002. She brings a love of teaching and interacting with students to her classes on virtues, grammar, and business math. She counsels students individually and in daily morning meetings, guides them through the college selection and application process, and works with students in the kitchen and in the garden.
Mike Besneatte
Outdoor Director
Mike Besneatte directed the physical education program at Carden Academy of Basic Education in Mission Viejo, California before joining the staff of Freedom Mountain Academy in 2002. An enthusiastic outdoorsman, he directs both the wilderness and farm programs at Freedom Mountain Academy and enjoys more than 50 days in the mountains with students each school year.
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