Upper School Faculty
Amanda Bell, Director of Upper School Curriculum, Cross Country Coach, Language Arts Instructor
Education: International Baccalaureate Diploma; Bachelor of Arts, English,Masters of Education.
Colleges: Armand Hammer United World College; Vanderbilt, MTSU, Trevecca Nazarene University
Teaching Experience: Began PCA in 2002
Church Affiliation: World Outreach Church
Family: married to Robert Bell, daughters are Nora and Fiona
Hobbies/Interests: reading, cooking, pretty much anything bookish or historical
Favorite Bible Verses: Rev. 2:17 & 3:12
Favorite Quote: One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. Virginia Woolf
Personal Mission Statement: Rather than a mission statement, I have more of a motto: Logos - Veritas – Virtus
Teresa Miller, Middle School Language Arts
Education/Degrees: B.S. Elementary Education, M.Ed Special Education
Colleges Attended: Middle Tennessee State University
Teaching Experience & Years at PCA: 16 years,began PCA in 2008
Church: World Outreach Church
Family: Husband- Dan; Children – Jessica & Drew
Hobbies/Interests: Scrapbooking, swimming, reading, movies, time with family
Favorite Bible Verse: Jeremiah 29:11
Favorite Quote: “I have come to a frightening conclusion. I am the decisive element in the classroom. It is my personal approach that creates the climate. It is my daily mood that makes the weather. As a teacher, I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous. I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration. I can humilite or humor, hurt or heal. In all occasions it is my response that decides whether a crisis will be escalated or de-escalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.” Hiam Ginot
Personal Mission Statement: To live each day to its fullest potential while honoring God and others.
Bonita Jones, Middle School Math
Education: Bachelors degree in Education
Colleges: Attended MTSU for undergraduate; has attended Trevecca Nazarene and Cumberland University during graduate level studies.
Experience: Began teaching in 1989; Began at PCA in 2004
Church Affiliation: Attends Forest Mill Baptist Church in Manchester, TN
Family: Married with 2 children, both attend PCA.
Hobbies/Interests: reading, watching classic movies and travel.
Favorite verse: For He Himself had said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” Hebrews 13:5b-6
Favorite Quote: Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren’t very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
Personal Mission Statement: “To live each day with humility, patience and compassion so that I may encourage others in their own walk with the Lord.”
Kevin Mayfield, Middle School Latin and History
Education/Degrees: Middle Tennessee State University, Magna Cum Laudein History, Minor: Political Science, Minor: Secondary Education
Teaching Experience: 3 years at PCA
Church Affiliation: My wife and I have been a part of the body of Christ, meeting at Lighthouse Baptist Church, since 1997.
Hobbies/Interests: When time is available I love to read both non-fiction (primarily history and biographies), and fiction. This is one way I can continue in my education and grow in knowledge of the subject areas which I teach.
Favorite Bible Verses: Proverbs 3:5-6, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.” Romans 10:9-10, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses resulting in salvation.”
Favorite Quote: “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” -John C. Maxwell
Personal Mission Statement:“And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.” Deuteronomy 6:5
Doug Smith, High School Math and Science
Education: Bachelor of Engineering
Colleges: Vanderbilt University
Teaching Experience: 7 years, 4 at PCA
Church: Fellowship Bible Church
Family: Wife – Christy, Children – Jacob(21), Luke (20), Heather (15), Kelly(12), Charley(9)
Hobbies/Interests: Restoring VW Beetles
Favorite Bible Verse: Malachi 4:6
Personal Mission Statement: To turn the hearts of the fathers back to the children, and the hearts of the children back to the fathers.
Kent Ingrum, High School Bible, Theology, and History
Education: B.A. Secondary Education and History, Master of Divinity, Doctor of Ministry
Colleges: Dallas Baptist Univ., Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Teaching Experience: 17 as a pastor, Began PCA in 2007
Family: Wife – Kay, Children – 4
Hobbies/Interests: Reading, Scuba Diving
Favorite Quote: “Forgiveness does not make the other person right, it just sets you free.” -Patsy Clairmont
Ryan Garner, Middle School Bible, Logic, and High School Rhetoric
Education:B.A. Communication Arts (Speech/Rhetoric) M.A. Biblical Studies
College: Carson Newman College, Reformed Theological Seminary
Experience Teaching: 3 years, 2 at PCA
Church: Anglican Mission in America
Family: Wife – Angela
Favorite Scripture: Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
Favorite Quote: “We believe things that are true enough, but not big enough.” Richard Pratt
Personal Mission Statement: I am convinced that the truth of the Biblical text shapes our variegated landscape. It shapes our moral habitats, our imagination, and even the space-time realm we dwell in. I also believe this idea to a transforming Word to be a hope and doctrine of historically orthodox Christianity. I want to spend my life making this efficacious WORD sensible and meaningful. I desire this so that the infinite expanse of God’s kingdom can be greatly understood and adored. I primarily seek to perform this reality through the classroom, but I pray that the LORD will allow other avenues for me to participate in. I want to make it on earth as it is in heaven.
Victoria Kukhtuyekov, Upper School Mathematics
Education: Ust’ Kamenogorsk Pedagogical University
Experience: 29 years of teaching Math in U.S.S.R, Began teaching in U.S. in 2005, began PCA in 2009.
Church: Christian Life Church
Family: husband of 40 years, Vladimir, 2 children: Stanislav, a pastor in Canada and Tatyana, designer and dressmake in Murfreesboro
Hobbies/Interests: Reading
Favorite Scripture: Phillipians 4:13, “I can do everything through Him who gives me strength.”
Favorite Quote: “Never stop dreaming. Dreams need works to come true. They also need daring. Dare!” E. Price
Jason Smith, Literature
Education: B.A. in English and Classics
College: Calvin College
Experience: Began PCA in 2009
Church: New to Murfreesboro
Hobbies/Interests: Reading, flyfishing, hiking, writing
Favorite Scripture: Romans 10:9-10
Favorite Quote: ” It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” Charles Dickens, from A Tale of Two Cities
Amanda Parks, Science
Education: B.S.Biology
College: Middle Tennessee State University
Experience: Began taching in 2005; Began PCA in 2009
Church: World Outreach Church
Family: husband, Eric
Hobbies/Interests: Going to Walt Disney World! Outside activities with my family, including swimming, biking, hiking, etc.
Favorite Scripture: 1 Peter 1:8-9
Favorite Quote: “When you’re curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.” Walt Disney
Don McMurry, Bible and Math
Education: B. A. History, UNC – New Market (Carson Newman), M.Div. – Southern Baptist Theological Seminary
Experience: Ministerial Work – 15 years, Began PCA in 2008
Church: Chapel Hill Community
Family – Wife, Heather, Children- Trey, Grace, Zach, Max
Hobbies/Interests: camping, Titans football, Tarheel basketball
Favorite Scripture: 1 Corinthians 15:58
Favorite Quote: “Success is never permanent, but failure is never final.” – My Father
