Rachel Adamson is a British citizen who has lived in the Chicago area since 2004. Her teaching experience encompasses both public and private schools in Britain, France and the USA. Rachel’s commitment to personalized, passion-driven education led her to homeschooling and in 2023 she graduated the eldest of her 4 children who is now away at college. Rachel’s interests include supporting neuro-divergent learners and developing curiosity, compassion and a love of learning in all her students. She is thoroughly aligned with our desire to be “passive aggressively educational” and she rocks it. Rachel is thrilled to be a part of PPLC and can’t wait to see what the future will hold. Her formal education and experience includes:
- Bachelor of Education, Oxford University
- Master of Education, Oxford University
- Post-Graduate Certificate in Education, University of Brighton
- Head Leader of multi-level Girl Scout troop spanning Daisies through Ambassador (and former Girl Guide in her youth!)
- Former Cub Scout Den Mother and
- Former Cub Scout Pack Advancement Coordinator and Scout BSA Troop Advancement Coordinator
Rachel started teaching elementary level classes for illuminat-ED Coschool at Prairie Paideia Learning Center in Fall 2023 and has been steadily working our educational targets into wonderful learning experiences that feel more like fun than learning.
Founder Heather DeGeorge has been teaching and mentoring all of her life from gymnastics instruction to small children, to coaching and teaching public high school students, up through corporate training and technical school for adults. She moved from corporate management into teaching in the public schools to homeschooling her own children while offering private coaching, education and consulting. Her formal education includes:
- Master of Arts in Teaching with a focus on educational technology
- additional graduate credits in Special Education and Teaching Children with Autism
- Licensed teacher in both IL and NJ with multiple teaching endorsements
- Executive Function training with Rush NeuroBehavioral Center and Executive Functioning Success
- multiple training programs and workshops in Modeling Instruction with American Modeling Teachers Association
- attended Great Books Institute for Foundations & Shared Inquiry training
- attended courses in Paideia Principles, Paideia Projects and Socratic Teaching
- graduate certificate in Project Management
- Bachelor of Science in Business Administration
- Project Management Professional certification since 2003
- diploma in Network Engineering & Data Communications
- multiple certifications in coaching
- educated and participated in student mediation and conflict resolution as a high school student
In addition to founding the illuminatED Coschool, she sat on the board of MAGE (Midwest Academy for Gifted Education in Chicago, IL) from it’s launch in 2018 through it’s expansion in early 2022. She now sits on the board of Prairie Paideia Learning Center and is their lead instructor, coaches both middle and high school levels of the Fox Homeschoolers Science Olympiad Teams and as of the 2025 competition year, will be an Illinois Science Olympiad Regional Director for the College of DuPage Regional.
Personally, Heather has been married to her husband since 1999 and has been a biological, foster and adoptive parent with two permanent children. She has taken on the autism spectrum, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ADD/ADHD, giftedness, anxiety and a long list of physical challenges in the children she has parented.
She can be reached by e-mail at heather@prairiepaideia.org
Candice Gizewski is both an entrepreneur, successfully operating companies within the human services and education sector, and a homeschooling mama! She has been a certified teacher in IL since 2003 and a Board Certified Behavior Analyst since 2009! Candice founded and serves as the Board President for ABLE Academy, an alternative education option specializing in ABA servicing students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and related disabilities. Her formal training and education includes:
- Bachelor’s Degree in Special Education
- Masters Degree in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Applied Behavior Analysis
- Licensed teacher in IL
- Board Certified Behavior Analyst
Candice has 5 children and has homeschooled them during various stages of their education. She is excited to see Prairie Paideia Learning Center to fruition and brings a wealth of experience and insight to our organization that we are incredibly grateful for!