Our Leaders
Brigitta Powers, Headmaster
Mrs. Powers holds a B.A. in Ancient Mediterranean Religions from UNC—Chapel Hill. She has spent the past decade researching and implementing the classical model of education. Mrs. Powers has taught middle and high school classes for the past 10 years, including such courses as Latin, U.S. History, Western Cultural History, British Literature, Formal Logic, and Rhetoric. Her five children attend St. Benedict’s.
Mrs. Powers currently teaches Latin.
Rebecca Dauby, Assistant Headmaster (Upper School)
Mrs. Dauby and her husband have four children. She has a B.A. in mathematics and writing from the University of Evansville. While at UE, she was a contributor and an editor for the Evansville Review. She worked as a program analyst at NSWC Crane before becoming a full-time mother for 11 years. In 2016 she joined the teaching staff at St. Benedict’s, where she has taught Latin, mathematics, science, and upper school literature, geography, and composition. She and her family are active parishioners at St. John the Apostle Parish.
Mrs. Dauby is currently teaching: elementary mathematics, and upper school Latin, literature, geography, and classical/faith formation.
Our Teachers
Christain Craney (Preschool)
Chris and her husband have three sons. The oldest two sons are grown and live in North Carolina and Carmel, Indiana. Their youngest son lives with them in Spencer and attends St. Benedict's. The trio have lived in Spencer for 2 1/2 years and are proud members of St. John the Apostle Church. Prior to teaching at St. Benedict's, Chris worked for MCCSC as the assistant manager in the cafe at Summit Elementary School. Before moving to Spencer they lived in Noblesville, where she drove a school bus for Noblesville & Hamilton Southeastern schools for 10 years while also caring for fellow bus drivers' children during the day. Chris also owned and operated a licensed home daycare business in Illinois for over a decade and completed yearly continuing education courses in childhood development. She enjoys working with kids and finding the best way for them to learn.
Melissa Courter (Kindergarten)
Stephanie Wagner (Second Grade)
Patti Siebert (Third Grade)
Meagan Worland (Third Grade)
Elise McGorrey (4th Grade)
Sierra Megel (4th Grade)
Ugonna Ahumibe (Literature and Geography)
Amy Barco (Latin)
Edward Castronova, Ph.D. (Western Civ., U.S. History)
Dr. Edward Castronova, Ph.D. is a professor at Indiana University with more than 30 years of teaching experience in the college classroom, focusing primarily on economy and government. His research addresses the impact of new technology, especially games, on these subjects as well as society at large. Raised as an atheist, he entered the Catholic Church in 1995, and is now a Benedictine oblate of Saint Meinrad Archabbey. Dr. Castronova and his wife, Nina, have two sons, Luca (19) and Malcolm (16). Luca is currently attending Wyoming Catholic College and Malcolm is being 16. Professor Castronova sees his time as St. Benedict school as the fulfillment of a lifelong dream to teach in a truly classical, fully Catholic environment.
Jason Dauby, Ph.D., P.E.
Jason is the Chief Technology Officer at a local data communications company. He has a Ph.D. in systems engineering and is a licensed professional engineer in the state of Indiana. Jason has served as an adjunct professor in systems engineering and gives guest lectures at local universities. He and his wife have four children and are parishioners at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church.
Landon Lehman, Ph.D. (Pre-Calculus)
Landon Lehman works in technology as a data scientist. He has a Ph.D. in physics and has taught physics at both the college and high school levels. Landon and his wife have five children and are parishioners at St. John the Apostle Catholic Church.
Marina Lehman (Literature, Math)
Bill Montgomery (Faith Formation)
Bill Montgomery is retired from Merck Pharmaceutical Company with more than 20 years of sales experience. Mr. Montgomery has an undergraduate and graduate degree from the University of Arkansas—Fayetteville in education. He is an active member of St. John the Apostle parish.
Melissa Noll (Literature, Composition, U.S. History, Classical Studies)
Melissa Noll grew up in Kokomo, Indiana and received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Purdue University. She and her husband, Mike, were married in 1989 and spent a year living in Japan, where she taught English conversation. Upon returning home they began to have a family, and now have 5 children. Melissa began homeschooling them fifteen years ago and now only has two students of her own. The family moved to Bloomington just a year ago, and are parishioners at St. John’s. Melissa has been writing for fun since she was 12 and now is a published author for a small homeschool publishing business. She looks forward to helping St. Benedict’s students gain confidence in their writing through classical teaching methods.
Jerome Quigley (Faith Formation)
Jerome Quigley is a retired civil engineer, having served the U.S. military both at home and abroad. He has been a CCD teacher for various parishes within the U.S. and at military bases overseas throughout his 30-year career and since his retirement. While living in Germany, Jerome and his wife Barbara were inspired by the European tradition of erecting Catholic wayside shrines along road sides and travel paths. For the past 25 years, Jerome and his family have made wayside shrines, which has become a full-time internet-based business and devotion. Jerome and his family are parishioners of Holy Name and St. Peter parishes in Greene County.
Kimberly Schneidt (Classical Studies, Literature)
Kim Schneidt is a homeschooling mother of five children ages 4-12 and a recent convert to the Catholic faith. Kim has been homeschooling for five years, and after exploring many different philosophies of education, has found the classical method to be the best fit for her family. Kim holds a B.S. in Athletic Training and an M.S. in Physiology, both from Ball State University. She also obtained an M.S. in Physician Assistant Studies from the University of Iowa Medical College. Prior to becoming a stay-at-home mom, Kim practiced as a certified physician assistant for 10 years in various fields and enjoyed part-time employment as an adjunct faculty instructor in anatomy and physiology at numerous junior colleges during her time as a Navy spouse.
Michael Schneidt (Physics)
Michael Schneidt is a retired U.S. Navy surface warfare and engineering duty officer, specializing in ship engineering and maintenance overhauls. He currently works for NSWC Crane Division as the military administration officer. Mike holds a B.S. in Liberal Arts and an M.S. in Information Systems. He studied art education for two years prior to joining the military. Mike and his wife have five children and have been homeschooling for the past five years.
William Sokol, Ph.D. (Geometry and Chemistry)
William Sokol holds a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Wayne State University in Detroit and continued study as a post-doctoral associate at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. In addition to conducting research, William taught undergraduate courses in analytical and organic chemistry. Subsequently, he worked for 26 years as an analytical chemist at Pfizer Inc., a pharmaceutical company in Groton, Connecticut. William and his wife, Anita, established and operated a certified organic farm in Connecticut for twelve years before moving to the Bloomington area in 2017. William looks forward to sharing his enthusiasm for farming, science education, and his faith with all the people associated with Saint Benedict’s.