Mike Hilbert
Mike graduated with a B.S. in economics from Villanova University, and a M.A.T. in secondary social studies from Rivier College. After graduating, Mike spent two years working in the Americorps program City Year, where he taught in the Philadelphia Public School system. Mike also spent a number of summers as Athletic Director for the Eagles Mere Athletic Association, where he ran programming for youth ages 3-18.
In 2005, Mike shifted his focus from working in public schools to working with homeschoolers. Since then, Mike has worked with hundreds of teens, helping them design and implement meaningful educational paths. Mike has extensive experience supporting families through the high school years, including creating transcripts, complying with Pennsylvania Home Education Law, securing internships/apprenticeships, and navigating the college-search and application process. In addition to his role as co-director, Mike is a Facilitator at CA, and conducts private educational consultations and year-end portfolio evaluations.
Mike also sits on the Board of Directors of the Eagles Mere Athletic Association.
Mike is married to Julia Bergson-Shilcock and they are parents of three life-long homeschoolers and CA youth, ages 15, 13, and 10.
Julia Bergson-Shilcock
Julia Bergson-Shilcock is a lifelong homeschooler/unschooler, never having stepped foot in traditional school until college. During her college years at Arcadia University, Julia created multiple Independent Study courses focusing on alternative education. While juggling her full-time course load, Julia also worked part-time at Open Connections, and captained her college soccer team. In 2003, Julia graduated with a B.A. in sociology, and transitioned from a part-time position to a full-time role at Open Connections (OC). In 2007, Julia became a co-director at OC and continued in that role until 2020, when she co-founded Cupola Academy.
In addition to her extensive experience working with homeschoolers, Julia spent 10 years volunteering in the Philadelphia Public Schools, and also ran a small, private summer camp. Over the years, Julia has led a number of workshops in the greater Philadelphia area focusing on homeschooling, natural learning, and Process Consciousness. She has also conducted hundreds of educational consultations for families from a variety of backgrounds, helping them to create meaningful and rich learning journeys.
Julia sits on the Board of Directors for The Rock School for Dance Education, and is the head of their Parent Volunteer Committee.
Julia is married to Mike Hilbert and they are parents to three life-long homeschoolers and CA youth, ages 15, 13 and 10.
Alexandra Barainyak
Alexandra grew up homeschooled and credits this educational experience for her lifelong love of learning. She is grateful to have had Susan Shilcock as her facilitator for many years during her childhood, and credits Susan’s influence for helping her find her voice.
Alexandra graduated from Goucher College in 2012 with a BA in Music (with a double concentration in Vocal Performance and Music History). During her time at Goucher, she studied abroad in Costa Rica, living with a host family, and studying Spanish at the Monteverdi Institute. This was an especially valuable experience for her, as her mother is a Cuban immigrant and Spanish was Alexandra’s first language. Alexandra earned her teaching certificate (Pre-K through 12th grade) from West Chester University in 2014 and in 2016 earned her Master’s in Music from Boston University with a concentration in Music Education.
Alexandra has worked in many different educational environments over the past 15 years, including public and charter schools, as well as with homeschoolers.
At CA, Alexandra is an Executive Assistant, helping with many of the behind the scenes operations of running Cupola Academy. She also Facilitates the CP2 program. In addition to her roles at CA, Alexandra is the Instrumental and Choral Music Director at Central Presbyterian Church in Downingtown, where she directs adult and youth handbell choirs and vocal choirs. During the summer of 2013 she took the handbell choir on a concert tour of East Anglia, United Kingdom. When she’s not at Cupola Academy, Alexandra enjoys singing and playing music (her favorites are violin, piano, and ukulele), creative writing, reading, history, acting in community theater, and spending time with her family and pets.
Lucy Tyson
Lucy has been working with homeschoolers for over 25 years, working both in the States and abroad. In 2000, she graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor's degree in English. During the 1990s, Lucy worked with Peter Bergson and Susan Shilcock, where she received extensive training in the core philosophies that CA is based upon, and has worked alongside CA’s co-founders since 2005.
In 2004, Lucy traveled abroad, where she earned a Master's in Shakespeare Studies from the University of Birmingham, UK. Lucy has also worked in theater education and has directed dozens of plays for the stage. Lucy has facilitated all age groups, and now works primarily with teens. She enjoys introducing young people to Shakespeare and a diverse array of great writers through the modern era. She also takes an individualized approach to writing, helping each student to find their voice, while significantly improving their writing skills. She lives in Philadelphia with her husband and two sons, both of whom attend Cupola Academy. Her hobbies include cooking, listening to audio books, and hiking.
Corinne Greskiewicz
Corinne Greskiewicz, MA, ATR, graduated from Arcadia University with a bachelor’s degree, where she majored in psychology and minored in art. She went on to get her Master’s in Creative Arts Therapy from Drexel University. Over the past twenty years, she has had experience as a registered art therapist in a variety of settings with diverse populations, and has built art therapy programs from the ground up.
Corinne experiences great joy learning alongside young people and has spent the past nine years working with small groups of homeschoolers, including her own two young people (ages almost 16 and 19). Corinne is a faculty advisor for Jr. Model UN and World Affairs Council of Philadelphia’s high school program. She has also coached a FIRST Lego League team for homeschoolers, as well as led weekly sessions for homeschoolers focusing on writing, literature, history and current events. Corinne is always seeking out new and exciting learning opportunities; one of her favorites over the years included candling eggs and hatching chicks as part of a study on embryology. She also enjoys cooking, traveling with her family, and being creative!
Corinne has worked closely with the Bergson-Shilcock family over the past eleven years, enhancing organizational development and fundraising efforts, and as a homeschooling parent and active member of the community. Currently, Corinne is a Facilitator in our Collaborative Pod programs, and serves on CA’s Advancement Committee.
Connor Quesenberry
Connor is an alumnus of Cupola Academy who attended public school for much of his life before making the transformative switch to partnership education; a switch that he credits as one the most defining moments of his adolescence. Connor worked for CA part time in the past, and will now be joining us full time for the 24-25 program year.
In 2023, Connor graduated summa cum laude from West Chester University with a B.A. in History and a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. His undergraduate research mostly focused on studies of antiquity and European History, and his capstone paper “The People’s History of the Peloponnesian War: A Social History of Classical Athens,” which echoed the methodology of famous social historian Howard Zinn, earned him induction into Phi Alpha Theta National History Honor Society.
Currently, Connor is a graduate student at West Chester University studying to earn an M.Ed. in Secondary Education with 7-12th grade Social Studies teaching certification. Prior to Facilitating at Cupola Academy full time, he worked as an assistant teacher and summer camp counselor at an early childhood education facility, and as a graduate assistant at West Chester. In his free time, Connor enjoys listening to and playing music, reading philosophy books, hiking, playing tabletop role-playing games, and caring for his four cats.
Maria Llevat
Maria is so excited to be an "official facilitator" this year, after being a sub for the last couple of years, in the CC and CP1 programs. She has been a member of the community since her own young people were in programs with Julia's parents, Peter and Susan, as well as many of the veteran staff at Cupola.
Maria has always enjoyed learning new languages, and studied Portuguese and French. She then went on to receive her BA in Spanish from the University of Delaware, which gave her the opportunity to delve deeper into her native language.
Maria worked in bilingual customer service and as a Spanish interpreter in the medical field. She then went on to homeschool her two young people, Alexandra and Marcus, for over fifteen years. Currently, when not at Cupola, Maria works with young people ages three and four at Central Community Preschool.
Maria's interests include environmental sustainability, volunteering with local organizations that assist those experiencing food and housing insecurity.
Maria lives in West Chester with her husband, Steve, and enjoys spending time with family and friends, her four cats and two dogs, thrifting, DIY home improvement projects, and going to the river. Her latest project is turning her lawn into a meadow (much to her husband's dismay).
Sarah Himebauch
Sarah has worked with youth in various capacities for over twenty-five years. She graduated from the University of Delaware with a Bachelor of Science in Education and certifications in elementary and special education, and then from the University of Pittsburgh with a Master of Education in reading education and a reading specialist certificate. Later she obtained additional teaching certifications in middle school mathematics and secondary English. Sarah taught in middle and high schools for seven years, designing and implementing individualized education plans. In doing so, she discovered a passion for finding multiple ways to present concepts and facilitate skill development. After leaving teaching to stay home with her own youth, Sarah tutored high school students for several years in academic content areas, executive functioning and study skills, and SAT/ACT preparation.
Sarah was introduced to the world of homeschooling and self directed education by the Bergson-Hilberts when her now 13 year old was still a toddler. Those conversations led her to begin homeschooling her own youth. Over the years, she has enjoyed facilitating in many different co-ops and clubs, and is excited to continue her role working alongside the expert team at Cupola Academy as a Facilitator in Collaborative Pod 3.
Sarah likes to spend time outdoors hiking and exploring with her family, and she has recently developed an interest in learning more about native species and creating beneficial habitats for birds, insects, and other wildlife.
Daniel Zelch
Daniel will join the Cupola Academy team as a Chemistry Facilitator and General Science Facilitator for the 2024-25 academic year. Daniel attended Villanova University, where he graduated with honors, earning a BS in Chemistry with a concentration in Biochemistry. He recently graduated with his MS in Chemistry, also from Villanova University.
While at Villanova, Daniel participated heavily in organic chemistry research. His thesis devised a method to streamline the synthesis of a pharmacologically useful molecule called an azetidine. Daniel disseminated his work through American Chemical Society conferences and research symposiums and is in the review process for publishing his work in the Journal of Organic Chemistry.
Outside of chemistry, Daniel served as a Vice President for Rays of Sunshine at Villanova, a tutoring and social justice organization that serves children from
underserved Philadelphia schools, communities, and afterschool programs. He took this passion for teaching and began part-time roles as a private tutor and golf coach for First Tee Philadelphia. Daniel currently lives in Bryn Mawr and plans to pursue medical school in Fall 2025 to become a doctor. In his spare time, he loves to golf, run, travel, and root for Pittsburgh sports teams. Daniel is excited to join Cupola Academy and share his passion for science with the young people.
Laura Forsberg
Laura is excited to be returning as a facilitator at Cupola Academy, working with the CC and CP1 groups. She loves spending time with young people and supporting them as they learn and explore.
Laura was born and raised in New York City. She graduated from SUNY New Paltz with a BA in English. After college, she spent several years working in various museums as a curatorial assistant. She then went on to get an MS in Historic Preservation at the University of Pennsylvania, after which she spent many years working as an architectural conservator in NYC and Philadelphia restoring historic buildings.
Laura loved being home with her two children when they were young and then spent six years working as a manager at The Nesting House in Mt. Airy where she enjoyed helping new parents and their young children. While not at CA, Laura loves cooking and baking, traveling, all types of crafting, thrifting for treasures, and turning her backyard into a native wildlife habitat. She also loves spending time outdoors with family and friends, especially exploring the trails of the Wissahickon park.
Laura is married to husband Martin and they have two children Maya (13) and Griffin (11). They also have a cat named Pippi.