Kay Drew
Administrator, Registrar

Kay Drew has a BS degree from Valdosta State in Mathematics Education, a MS degree in Counseling from the University of Alabama, a MS degree in School Administration from Virginia Commonwealth University and all the course requirements for a degree in Alcohol and Drug Rehab Education. She has a post graduate license from the Commonwealth of Virginia in Mathematics, Counseling and Administration. She is also certified in Choice/Reality Therapy trained by Dr. William Glasser of the Glasser Institute.

Kay previously worked in Central Administration in the Chesterfield County School System in Virginia. There she was a Substance Abuse Prevention Specialist for four years and was the Coordinator for Student Conduct for five years. Her Mathematics teaching experiences include classroom instruction in Pre-algebra, Algebra I, Algebra II and Plane Geometry in Selma, Alabama and at two private academies in Alabama. She and her husband also team taught Developmental Math and Math for Nurses at John Tyler Community College in Virginia. She also taught Occupational Math and Algebra at the same college.

Pam Torbert
Upper Math

Pam graduated with a B.S. degree in Mathematics from Oglethorpe University with a second major in Business Administration and Computer Science. Before having children she worked as a software developer. She always had it in her mind that she would one day go into the field of education. After having children, Pam pursued this path by passing the state certification tests for middle grades math and early childhood education. She also was on staff as a supply teacher for the hearing impaired students at Dowell Elementary for a semester. Pam currently teaches most of the middle school and high school math classes at WCA .

Pam lives in Marietta with her husband and two elementary age children. She attends Burnt Hickory Baptist Church where she helps lead the worship music for the Children’s worship services. She also volunteers her time to her children’s school and athletic teams. Pam loves spending time with her family and playing tennis.

Mrs. Torbert's birthday is April 17th. Her favorite colors are purple and blue. She loves Reese's peanut butter cups, Mt. Dew, and hot chocolate. Her favorite snacks are brownies, grapes, kiwi and strawberries. She likes to enjoy dinner at Chili's, Chick-fil-A or Viva Mexico. Mrs. Torbert enjoys reading Christian books, listening to Christian music, and playing tennis. Her favorite sport to watch is Braves baseball or anything GA Tech.

Jackie Moore 
Upper English and Literature

Erin Krans
Spanish

A south-central Kentucky native, Erin first discovered her passion for the Spanish language at age 12 while on a church trip to Honduras. One year later, she decided (with encouragement from her Spanish teacher) to tailor her studies in pursuit of a career in Spanish. After graduating high school, Erin attended a bilingual YWAM (Youth With A Mission) discipleship school with students from all over North, Central, and South America. Her outreach was comprised of six weeks’ ministering with Spanish- and Portuguese-language churches in Ogden, Utah, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento, California.

Mrs. Krans holds a B.A. in Spanish from Lee University, where she graduated magna cum laude in 2006. She has served as a volunteer Spanish/English interpreter for Western Kentucky University, Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, and various mission trips to Central America. She is provisionally certified to teach Spanish at all levels, and has full-time experience in both the elementary and high school language classrooms, as well as experience teaching Adult ESL.

Being a self-confessed “language nerd,” Erin has studied Portuguese, French, Japanese, Korean, and Koine Greek in addition to Spanish. Her other hobbies included crochet, home remodeling, bargain hunting, piano, and singing with the Cobb Symphony Chorus.

Mrs. Krans birthday is June 10th. Her favorite color is green and she loves a good 5th Avenue bar with coffee or tea. She likes to eat at Chick-fil-A and shop at Target. Mrs. Krans likes to kick back and read a good creative non-fiction book in the mountains.

Back to Top

Patricia Powers
MS/HS  History/ Government/ Economics 

Patricia Powers has been active in the homeschooling community since 1998, including 9 years as the primary homeschooling parent, continuing the process through high school.  She served 2 years as co-president for CHEC here in West Cobb and then another 2 years as the Kennesaw group leader.  She also served as a board member of ARCHERS for the Lord.  Patricia truly has a heart for parents who have made the decision to remove their children from public school and has been a volunteer counselor and local speaker on that topic.

Mrs. Powers is an avid learner and appreciates a variety of subjects.  In 2005, she returned to KSU Continuing Education to earn her certificate as a Medical Language Specialist and has helped to train others in that field.  She enjoys listening to podcasts and reading.  She really likes coffee and rarely eats pasta.  Her favorite colors are red, orange and fuchsia.  Her birthday is September 24.  Patricia is an Atlanta native and a cancer survivor.  She and her husband Jeff have been married for 25 years and live in the City of Kennesaw.  They have one child, Rebecca, who is a senior at Lee University in Tennessee.  They have two dachshunds, Oscar and Zoe.

John De Bruin
Martial Arts

John received his doctorate from Boston University and was a practicing psychologist for many years specializing in the disorders of childhood.  He has worked with incarcerated 12 - 18 year olds within the California Youth Authority, and also worked as an outreach clinician for at-risk middle and high school students.  John is also the owner of Lost Mountain Martial Arts.  

Back to Top  

Cathy Cox
6th Grade 

Cathy Cox has been active in the home school community since 1995. During this time she has served as a home school support group leader for Christian Family Educators and CHAT, a board member of ARCHER’s for the Lord, an administrator of Timothy Ministry of FBCW, and a substitute teacher for Masters Academy of Marietta. She also has 15 years experience in homeschooling her own children.

A native of Atlanta, Cathy grew up in DeKalb County. In 1983, she married Jim Cox the day after he graduated from Georgia Tech and moved with him to St. Louis. In 1991, they had the pleasure of returning back to Atlanta when Jim accepted a position at Lockheed Martin as an aerospace engineer. They have three children: JL (20), Jessica (16) and Nathan (14). 

Cathy considers it a pleasure and privilege to teach Orchard Academy’s 5th and 6th graders this 2009/2010 school year. She is a delight-oriented teacher, believing that learning is a lifestyle that continues for one’s entire life. The goal of each class will be to introduce the day’s material in a way that demonstrates its relevancy in each of the students’ lives.