We are grateful to share with you God’s remarkable provision for Miss Bierman’s classes for the remainder of the semester. Following are short biographies of the teachers who will help to fill the gap that Miss Bierman’s homegoing has left at BJA. The need for three teachers is a tribute to Miss Bierman’s array of skills and willingness to use them all for the service of the Lord!
By the Lord’s great kindness, each of these teachers is highly credentialed and has close connections to BJA—they are already part of our Academy family. In another wonderful kindness, the Lord has provided in each of these teachers a dear personal friend of Miss Bierman.
These teachers began in the classroom on Friday, February 5, giving them a chance to make an initial assessment of where the classes were in their instruction before beginning to teach them more formally.
Mr. Phil Adams, MA
Mr. Phil Adams will teach German I and German II. He has degrees in Foreign Language Education and German. He began his professional experience at BJA, teaching German and English. After six years at BJA he transitioned to teach German at BJU, a decision he struggled with because of how much he enjoyed being at BJA. It was actually when Mr. Adams transitioned to BJU that Miss Bierman began teaching German at BJA. Mr. Adams’ experiences with German and Germany include living in Germany for a year and leading BJU’s summer mission team to Germany for about 20 years. Mr. Adams is currently working at BJU’s Academic Resource Center (ARC) as a first-year advisor/academic coach. We are very grateful for the ARC’s willingness to allow Mr. Adams to teach at BJA for the remainder of this semester–and for Mr. Adams’ willingness to add these teaching hours to his daily schedule.
Mr. Adams and his wife, Valerie, have three adult sons—Derek, and twins Ben and Andrew—as well as two grandsons. They are looking forward to visiting Germany this summer, this time for Andrew’s wedding to his lovely German bride!
Mrs. Rachel Fisher, MA
Mrs. Rachel Fisher will teach Introduction to Speech. She has degrees in speech education and theater. She has taught at both the high school and college levels, including such classes as Fundamentals of Speech and Drama with Children. She has also directed, choreographed, and acted in a variety of dramatic and video productions at BJU and BJU Press. Mrs. Fisher is currently a part-time presentation coach for BJU Press Advertising and Promotions.
Mrs. Fisher and her husband, David (former principal at BJA’s high school and currently BJU’s Chief Administrative Officer and Vice Provost), have three adult children—Lorna, Doug, and Ryan. Mrs. Fisher is a loving “Mimi” to her 10 grandbabies, all age 8 and under!
Mrs. Buffie Payne, MS
Mrs. Payne will teach Current Events. She currently teaches two sections of Economics at BJA. She has taught at BJA for 34 years, both a school-year class primarily for seniors (Economics) and a summer school class primarily for rising freshmen (World Geography). Mrs. Payne has degrees in social studies education and personnel services. In addition to teaching, she has written and edited textbooks for BJU Press and has worked with children at BJA’s summer day camps.
She and her husband, Mr. Brad Payne (assistant principal at the middle school), have one adult son, Aeryk. Their family has the remarkable distinction of having traveled to Georgia each weekend for 26 years! It was there that they assisted at a small church where Mrs. Payne taught Sunday school and in children’s church to children of all ages.
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