Meet the Montana Hybrid Academy Team
MHA's teachers/facilitators join us from around the globe. They have years of experience teaching online and are passionate experts in their respective fields.
All of our teachers go through MHA's Edu-Scrum teacher training and have experience creating engaging learning spaces for tweens and teens.
Linnea Carlson deRoche
Carlos Sunza
A native Spanish speaker with 6 + years of experience teaching Elementary and Middle School.
His career began while still in high school, and he discovered his love for teaching while tutoring 5th and 6th grade.
In 2017 he started a project to help disadvantaged kids, teaching them English and music in his community.
Paz Chentnik
After moving her family to China to work as a founding teacher of an early education startup, Paz has been a part of multiple educational institutions in 5 countries.
MHA is the collaboration of all the things she experienced that worked for students across the globe.
Using technology, Edu-Scrum techniques, hands-on activities, and meeting children where they are, are some of the pieces that Paz is most passionate about.
After moving her family to Montana, Paz saw the multitude of benefits that outdoor experiences provided for tweens and teens.
Paz worked with world-renowned Bushcraft teachers and education specialists to develop the Bushcraft Kid™ curriculum.
Director Bushcraft and High School
Linnea has a Masters's in Education and has spent summers traveling to Thailand, New Zealand, and Europe while teaching in Philadelphia.
Linnea‘s teaching experience extends to giving tours as a National Park Ranger. In addition to international travel, Linnea, along with their partner and three children, have spent several winters visiting National Parks in a minibus that they converted into a camping castle.
Linnea believes that learning happens everywhere and works with various groups of people to create self-directed learning opportunities, always with a focus on social justice and playful self-inquiry.
Philadelphia
Social Studies, Science, Dramatic Reading, Life Skills, and SEL
Spanish
Montana
Indiana
Indiana
Teacher - Spanish
Youssef Kamel
Canada
Artificial Intelligence & Finance
Youssef Kamel brings the cutting edge of the tech and financial sectors directly into the classroom. As a Senior Data Scientist, he specializes in building and deploying complex machine learning architectures. Youssef’s academic foundation is rooted in Computer Software Engineering, with degrees from the Mohammadia School of Engineers and the University of Sherbrooke. He is currently expanding his expertise in high-level business strategy as an MBA candidate at HEC Montréal.
In his courses, students don’t just learn theory; they engage with the exact tools, programming frameworks, and financial strategies. When he isn't developing innovative software solutions or analyzing market trends, Youssef can usually be found staying active on the soccer pitch.
Montana
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Mia Panado
Originally from Clearwater, Florida, Mia has been living in Montana and Wyoming for the last 4 years, working in Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. She began her journey in youth education in 2020, teaching earth sciences to middle schools throughout Portland, OR. With a degree in Natural Resource Management and Sustainability, she enjoys working outdoors with people of all ages and strives to open younger generations' eyes to the importance of the natural world. She loves to share her passions of birding, music, and hiking with others!
Florida
Language Arts, Electives, Homeroom
Hannah Miller
Hannah Miller brings a lifetime of global learning and a decade of classroom experience directly into her language arts courses. As a travel writer and a trained educator in the IEW writing framework, she specializes in helping students find their voices, build confidence and joy in their writing, and tell their own stories.
Hannah’s teaching style is inspired by real-world applications, including her role as head editor of BootsnAll, the world's longest-running digital magazine, where she managed over 200 content submissions a day, and as creator of the travel blog EdventureGirl. At MHA, students engage with the same storytelling techniques, writing frameworks, and creative approaches that professional editors and writers use in their own work.
When she isn't guiding students through their next essay or story, Hannah can usually be found chasing her next big adventure - camera in hand, notebook ready.
Canada
Language Arts, History, Art, and SEL
Rachel Vanace
Rachel holds a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science with a focus in Environmental Economics and Management from the University of Georgia, along with a minor in Environmental Law and a certificate in Sustainability. She is currently pursuing her Master of Science in Nutrition at Tufts University’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, specializing in Climate and Sustainable Food Systems.
Outside of MHA, Rachel works as an Environmental Specialist, where she conducts field research and works with federal and local environmental regulations. Her previous work has included developing community sustainability programs, drafting recycling and zero-waste ordinances, environmental education, and coastal resilience research.
Rachel brings to MHA exactly what we value in our instructors: deep knowledge of her subject, real-world experience, and the ability to help students understand how what they are learning connects to the world beyond the classroom.
New Jersey
Electives, Math, Life Skills
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Missy Jonson
Missy has been a math teacher since 2001. Teaching students from diverse backgrounds in an inner-city high school and teaching in one of the most prestigious public schools.
Missy earned her Master's degree in Counseling (Secondary Education) to help guide her while in the classroom. After starting her family, she founded her own private math tutoring company, Valley To Peak Math Tutoring. Missy has been a private tutor since 2008 and has since partnered with different private schools.
Montana
Math
Melanie Totten
Melanie grew up exploring and packing in the mountains of Northwest Montana and began learning the skills of backcountry horse packing through the Northwest Montana Back Country Horsemen and 4-H Trail and Packing program. As a teenager, she progressed from student to skilled packer, eventually planning and completing her own backcountry packing-support trips.
Her experience has taken her deep into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where she has packed horses and mules in support of trail crews, volunteer groups, the Forest Service, and other wilderness organizations. In 2021, Melanie was recognized by the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation as a Packer of the Year for her work supporting projects in the wilderness.
At just 19 years old, Melanie was elected President of the Northwest Montana Back Country Horsemen, becoming the youngest chapter president in the organization’s history. She has also helped teach the next generation of young horsemen and women through the same packing program where she began.
Melanie brings students something that can’t be learned from a textbook alone: practical knowledge of the backcountry, horsemanship, wilderness travel, outdoor skills, stewardship, problem-solving, and the confidence that comes from learning how to take care of yourself and others in wild places.
Her experience embodies an important part of MHA’s approach to education—connecting students with people who don’t simply teach a subject, but live it.
Montana
Bushcraft
Climbing
Kerrie Lillie
Kerrie Lillie brings extensive outdoor experience, wilderness safety knowledge, and years of community leadership to MHA’s Bushcraft and Outdoor Education program.
Kerrie is a Search & Rescue Team Lead here in the Flathead Valley, where she puts outdoor skills, preparedness, teamwork, and sound decision-making into practice in real-world situations. Her experience includes search and rescue, river and water safety, rafting, camping, wilderness preparedness, and navigating the challenges that come with spending time in Montana’s backcountry.
Kerrie is also the Team Manager and Treasurer of Crown Gravity Collective, Northwest Montana’s largest competitive downhill, enduro, freeride, and freestyle mountain bike team. Through Crown, she helps support young athletes while promoting many of the same qualities we value at MHA—hard work, good judgment, safety, stewardship, and confidence in the outdoors.
At MHA, Kerrie brings those experiences directly to our students. As one of our Bushcraft instructors, she helps students develop practical outdoor skills while also teaching something equally important: how to think clearly, prepare well, assess risk, work as a team, and make good decisions when conditions don’t go according to plan.
For Kerrie, being capable outdoors isn’t about being fearless. It’s about developing the knowledge, judgment, and confidence to take care of yourself and the people around you.
Her experience embodies an important part of MHA’s approach to outdoor education: students learn from people who don’t simply teach outdoor skills—they actively use them.
Montana
Bushcraft, Capstone Projects
Lupita Chentnik
After graduating from Montana Hybrid Academy, Lupita earned her Associate degree in Business and continued her culinary education in Paris, France. Today, she continues to develop her culinary skills working in the kitchen of a fine-dining restaurant in Whitefish, Montana, while bringing that experience into a very different kind of kitchen—the Montana backcountry.
Lupita leads horse-packing trips into the Bob Marshall Wilderness, where she combines horsemanship, wilderness travel, trip logistics, and backcountry cooking. Leading in remote country requires adaptability, responsibility, and the ability to solve problems when the comforts and conveniences of everyday life aren’t available.
At MHA, Lupita brings those experiences directly to students. She teaches outdoor cooking, knot-tying, horse-packing skills, and practical backcountry knowledge, helping students develop confidence through hands-on experience and practice.
As both an MHA graduate and instructor, Lupita represents something important about our approach to education. We want students to discover what interests them, develop real-world skills, pursue opportunities beyond the classroom, and eventually have the confidence and experience to lead others.
Lupita has done exactly that—and now she gets to pass those skills on to the next generation of MHA students.