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Faculty & Staff

Our caring faculty provides the security and encouragement for students to have confidence in exploring new knowledge.

Ascension Leadership Academy is part of the accredited Presbyterian Home for Children Education System. The school opened to meet the educational needs of the Home and the community in 1997. Ascension Leadership Academy is governed by a Board of Trustees elected in part by the North Alabama Presbytery, Presbytery of Sheppards & Lapsley, and the Presbytery of South Alabama and operated by a Director of Education and the PHFC President and CEO.

Faculty/Staff

  • Linda Harris

    Director of Education

    lgharris@phfc.org

    Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, Mathematics and Psychology
    Jacksonville State

    Master of Arts in Education, Gifted Education
    The University of Alabama at Birmingham

    Master of Arts in Education, Certification in Administration
    The University of Alabama

  • Charles Ponder

    Assistant Principal
    Teacher

    Bachelor of Arts in Secondary Education, Mathematics
    Jacksonville State University

    Master of Arts in Secondary Education, Mathematics
    Jacksonville State University

    Education Specialist, Mathematics
    The University of Alabama

  • Becky Armstong

    Teacher

    Degree in Early Childhood/Elementary Education from Jacksonville State University

    Retired from Talladega City Schools

  • Kendell Creel

    Teacher

    Bachelor of Science in Special Education K-12
    Jacksonville State University

  • Halie Davie

    Assistant

    Attended Gadsden State

    Certified Teacher’s Assistant Talladega and Shelby Counties

    Employed by Alabama Public School System 17 years

    Currently CSL Licensed, CPR Certified

  • Sue Gallahar

    Assistant to the Director of Education

    Central Alabama Community College

    School system bookkeeper and secretary responsible for school’s accounting procedures and day-to-day operation of the school’s office

  • Terry Liner

    Assistant

    Gadsden State Community College

    Resource Development and Administrative Services at PHFC, ten years experience in production at the Daily Home Newspaper

    Substitute teacher, Zora Ellis Middle School

    CPR Certified, Notary Public

  • Kim Long

    Teacher

    Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education
    University of New Mexico

    Masters of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction
    University of Phoenix

    Masters of Business Administration in Healthcare Management
    Liberty University

  • Donna Shivers

    Teacher

    Bachelor of Science in Secondary Education, English and Economics
    Jacksonville State University

    Master of Arts in General Studies
    Jacksonville State University

  • Melba Strickland

    Teacher

    BS degree in Special Education from Middle Tennessee University.

    Taught 7 years at Richard Hardy Memorial School in South Pittsburg, TN. First and second grade, Special Education K-8.

    Taught Preschool at First Baptist Church in Talladega, AL for 19 years.

Presbyterian Educational System