Our academies serve homeschooling families anywhere in the U.S. or abroad. Please browse our Administrative Staff, Contact Teacher, and Family Representative bios below to learn more about the people who serve you!
WorldWide IDEA in the news
- Parents explore homeschooling options, USAG-Yongsan, Republic of Korea
- Advantages of homeschooling for military families (4.8M news video), Seoul, Republic of Korea
- Homeschool News Link
Administrative Staff
Rod Svee, Superintendent
Rod is an experienced educator with more than 30 years working as a teacher, principal, and superintendent in the public school system. As an Assistant Superintendent for the State of Montana, he supervised the accreditation of nearly 800 schools, along with teacher and administrator certification, Adult Basic Education, General Education Development and External Diploma programs. In addition to serving as WorldWide IDEA's Superintendent, Rod also serves as Executive Director of the Tumbleweed Runaway Program in Billings, Montana, that helps at-risk youth earn their high school diplomas.
Rod specializes in facilitating, planning and organizing; establishing an environment of progress; formulating ideas; securing the cooperation of others; and, anticipating and analyzing problems. These skills have served him especially well as a member on several prestigious boards, such as the National Study of School Evaluation and the Human Rights Commission for the State of Montana. Rod also served about six years as Vice President for the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges and served as chair for that organization's Commission of Schools, leading a revision of Commission governance and development of its performance-based accreditation mode.
Jennifer Lutey, Director of Student & Business Services
Jen was an integral part of the development of the Alaska IDEA and IDEA International programs from 1998 to 2003. After obtaining her law degree, Jen helped establish and develop WW IDEA, a K-12 educational nonprofit, to further spread the IDEA model for the benefit of other homeschooling families living in the U.S. and worldwide. Jen applies her knowledge, passion, and experience to help families find the best solution in providing a high-quality, customized education for their children.
Contact Teachers
Terri Beede
Terri completed her undergraduate degree with a double major in Elementary and Special Education, emphasizing in Supportive Employment from Montana State University-Billings. While living in Glasgow, Montana, she taught 3rd grade and Special Education before moving to Billings. She later earned a Master's Degree in Elementary Level Leadership from the University of Montana. Terri has been with WorldWide IDEA for the last 7 years expanding her role from teaching to assisting our organization's nonprofit goals to provide educational solutions helping school districts to enhance learner achievement. Following a busy family and high school athletics doesn't leave Terri with much spare time, but she enjoys the outdoors and volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and church. She loves receiving advice about gardening and food preservation! Terri will tell you that her greatest accomplishment is her marriage of over 25 years and raising 3 children. She gets great satisfaction in providing support to and collaboration with home-educators and working with the innovative staff of WorldWide IDEA.
Tanya Korta
Tanya lives in the rural village of Galena, Alaska, with her husband, Jon, and three children, Dylan, Kaleb, and Kiana. She enjoys spending time with her family outdoors, cruising down the Yukon River, camping, snow shoeing, and dog mushing. She also enjoys music and reading. She and her husband own a small bed and breakfast and a sled dog kennel. Tanya was a classroom teacher for 11 years and has a love and special interest in early literacy development.
Melinda Lewis
Melinda has lived in various places in the United States, but she has spent most of her time in Ohio, Montana, Utah, California, and Alaska. She has been a teacher for the last 10 years. During five of those years, she taught students from Fort Irwin, California, and she has also taught in a small Eskimo village in Alaska. She has provided services to home-school families for the last 4 years including creating computer-based math courses. Melinda and her teenage daughter live north of Anchorage in a converted barn. They enjoy spending time outside in the beautiful state of Alaska and traveling.
Mark Pope
Mark traveled west to attend college after growing up in the suburban Midwest. He worked in the Black Rock Desert as a soil geologist upon graduation in 1977. After his tenure in the desert, Mark decided to apply his education degree and see what opportunities teaching would present. He soon found himself in the arctic taiga and tundra of the Kobuk River Valley, where he built his first dog sled and was mushing a 12-dog team. He married his wife Ruth 14 years ago, and they are raising and homeschooling two amazing people, Raven and Ciel. After teaching in the public school system for 20 years, Mark discovered the wonderful world of homeschooling and has enjoyed working as a Contact Teacher for the past eight years. As a Contact Teacher, Mark says, he does whatever it takes to help homeschooling parents provide their children with the finest educational opportunities possible.