The NCHE Leadership Series part 6

Connecting you with other homeschooling families across our state is our mission!

North Carolinians for Home Education separates the 100 counties in our state into nine regions. Each region has an NCHE regional liaison who actively engages with the people in their communities. Liaisons are frequently called to speak at regional gatherings, support group meetings, and community events. They are treasured by the NCHE board for their dedication to practically serving homeschooling families. Here is a list of regions 5 through 9 and their corresponding counties.

• Region 5 serves our capital (Raleigh), the greater Triangle area, and these counties: Alamance, Caswell, Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Granville, Halifax, Johnston, Nash, Northampton, Orange, Person, Vance, Wake, Warren, and Wilson.
• Nestled in the center of our state, Region 6 includes the following counties: Counties: Chatham, Lee, Harnett, Moore, Montgomery, Richmond, Anson, & Stanly.
• Region 7 includes our state’s eastern-most city (Manteo) and these counties: Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Dare, Gates, Greene, Hertford, Hyde, Lenoir, Martin, Pasquotank, Perquimans, Pitt, Tyrrell, Washington and Wayne.
• Region 8 serves military families stationed at Pope AFB and other families in these counties: Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Hoke, Robeson, Sampson and Scotland counties.
• Moving east toward the Carolina coast, Region 9 includes the following counties: Brunswick, Carteret, Craven, Duplin,  Jones, New Hanover, Onslow, Pamlico, and Pender.

In this final post in our series, we will meet the regional liaisons who serve families in these counties.

Vicky Gurganus is the regional liaison for region five. She is married to her high school sweetheart: Tom. They live in Durham and have three children—Kira, Olivia, and Zachary. They opened their homeschool in 2001. Both have volunteered at the NCHE conference for many years. Tom and Vicky are excited to share what they have learned on their homeschool journey with others in Region 5.

Tom Gurganus is a homeschool dad of 23 years. He and his wife, Vicky, have graduated 2 girls and have a son still at home. He is an avid board and card gamer and has been running his website for 11 years where he interviews game designers and publishers, and reviews games. Through this effort, he has developed a large game industry network and has connected with 2 fellow homeschool dads with an interest in the intersection of gaming and homeschooling—gameschooling, to start a site dedicated to connecting schoolers with information and resources to help them use games in their classrooms.

Sarah Merillat serves as our Region 6 liaison.  She is an army wife and homeschool mom to their seven children in Moore County. The Merillats began their homeschool journey in 2010.

April Briley is the regional liaison for region 7. April and her husband, Joe, are high school sweethearts and have been married for twenty years. They live in Greenville, NC, with their three children. Marisa (graduated homeschool), Brandon (now in pubic school), and Makayla (currently homeschooled). SGT Joseph Briley is a full-time soldier serving with the North Carolina National Guard. April enjoys being the full-time teacher of their three children. The family spends time serving in various areas of their church.

Amy Davis is the regional liaison for region 8. She is married to Christian, and they have four children. This is their 13th year homeschooling. Amy serves on the board of her local homeschool group. She enjoys music, theatre, and reading. As the mother of a son with autism, she has a particular passion for advocacy and helping other parents of special-needs children. Fun fact: Amy and Christian have an extensive home library with thousands of books.

Kathy Iandoli is the regional liaison for region 9.

Are you a new NCHE member? We’d love to meet you! Introduce yourself in the comment section below, or email us at nche@nche.com. Thinking of becoming a member? Start here.