Faculty & Staff

The first subject students learn is the teacher.
Teachers offer themselves for imitation—the essence of what people call teaching. (St. Augustine)

As our Lord said, every fully-trained student becomes like his teacher (Lk. 6:40). Hence RCA teachers are offered
as models worthy of imitation – ones who love the Lord, love learning, and love their students.

Meet Our Faculty & Staff

Mr. Paul Brinkerhoff

Headmaster

Mr. Paul Brinkerhoff serves as the RCA Headmaster. He has a B.A. in History from Wheaton College and an M.A.R. in Theological Studies from Westminster Theological Seminary.

Paul has been working in Christian schools for 41 years, including 22 years at Mars Hill Academy, a classical and Christian school in Mason, Ohio. He has taught numerous classes from 5th through 12th grade, and at various times has served as an athletic director, dean of students, jr. high principal, and academic dean.

Paul and his wife Bette have five adult children and one at RCA, and have been blessed to see the wonderful fruit a classical Christian education can provide. They are members of Covenant Presbyterian Church.

Mrs. Rosann Richter

Administrative Assistant

Mrs. Rosann Richter serves the school as office administrator and assistant to the headmaster. She has a B.A. in Marketing & Management from Cedarville University.

She spent many years homeschooling their three sons and served for seven years as a director of a classical education tutoring business. She has also served in marketing and public relations at Dominion Academy of Dayton and as an administrative assistant for Patterson Park Church for seven years.

Rosann and her husband Scott are members of Arbor Church in East Dayton. She enjoys using her organizational skills to help serve at home and in the areas of ministry and education.

Pastor Tyler Detrick

Bible

Pastor Tyler Detrick teaches high school Bible. Born and raised in nearby Springfield, he earned a B.A. in English from Cedarville University. He then went on to complete the M.Div. program at Westminster Theological Seminary (Philadelphia).

While serving in a church planting internship in downtown Dayton, Tyler developed a deep desire to see God’s Kingdom advance powerfully here; soon thereafter he was called to be pastor at Light of the Nations OPC, the host church of RCA.

Pastor Tyler lives just across the street in the Huffman Historic neighborhood with his wife Natalie and their three sons, the eldest of whom attends RCA.

Mrs. Kirstin English

Science & Math

Mrs. Kirstin English teaches Science and Math in the 1st-7th grades at RCA. Kirstin graduated from West Virginia University with a B.S. in Elementary Education, with a specialization in middle school science. Prior to joining RCA's first-year faculty, she developed a K-12 classical curriculum based on The Well-Trained Mind to teach her three children.

Mrs. English and her husband Steve have been married for 29 years and live in Dayton. They are active members of Two Rivers Community Church.

Mr. Jeremy Gieske

Greek

Mr. Jeremy Gieske earned a B.A. in Biblical Studies and then a Master of Divinity from Cedarville University, where he was also employed as a Peer Tutor in biblical languages. He then worked as a Pastoral Resident at a church in upstate New York before joining the RCA faculty last year.

Mr. Gieske teaches all four biblical Greek classes at RCA. He and his wife Adoree reside in Xenia. They are members of Two Rivers Community Church, where Jeremy also serves as Pastoral Assistant.

Mr. Nathaniel Patton

6th & 7th Grade

Mr. Nathaniel Patton teaches 6th/7th grade Bible, math, language arts, and history and literature. He graduated from Grove City College (’24) with a B.A. in English Literature, with extensive coursework in Classical Christian Education and history as well. While there he also contributed extensively to several college literary publications.

Nathan lives in Dayton and is a member of Covenant Orthodox Presbyterian Church.

Mr. Braden Peppo

Humanities & Music

Mr. Brayden Peppo graduated from Grove City College with a Bachelor of Music with Concentration in Piano, in which he performed extensively both as an accompanist and soloist. In addition, he earned a B.A. in History and a Minor in Classical Christian Education. While at Grove City he helped lead the college’s championship debate team in numerous tournaments.

At RCA Mr. Peppo teaches upper school Humanities, Bible, Rhetoric, and Music.

Brayden and his wife Evalyn live in Dayton and are members of Light of the Nations Church.

Mrs. Cinnamon Peppo

Language Arts

Mrs. Cinnamon Peppo teaches Language Arts and fine art electives. Cinnamon received her music education degree at the Master’s College before returning to the Dayton area to raise a family. She actively oversaw all twelve years of her two children's home education, and she has taught Sunday School to children of all ages for many years.

Cinnamon and her husband Brad are both natives of Dayton and have been married for 31 years. She actively supports him in his church-planting work and is especially involved in the ministry of Light of the Nations Church, where she is a member. Besides contributing her musical gifts in the life of the church, she plays professionally on the side as well.

Mrs. Evalyn Peppo

1st & 2nd Grade & Music

Mrs. Evalyn Peppo earned a B.A. in English from Grove City College, along with Minors in Classical Christian Education and in Music. While there she served as Editor in Chief of a college magazine focused on faith, culture, and politics, and also played in the Symphony and Chamber Orchestras.

At RCA Mrs. Peppo is the primary 1st/ 2nd grade teacher, co-teaches 5th-12th Music, and leads the strings program..

Evalyn and her husband Brayden reside in the city of Dayton and are members of Light of the Nations Church.

Miss Olivia Petty

3rd & 4th Grade

Miss Olivia Petty completed her B.A. in English at Grove City College, where she was a member of the GCC Debate Team and had extensive writing and editing experience with the school’s newspaper and several literary magazines.

At RCA Miss Petty is teaching the 3rd/4th grade class. She resides in Vandalia, where she is a member of Covenant OPC.

Mrs. Eloise Sutter

Senior Thesis

Mrs. Eloise Sutter graduated from Grove City College with a B.S. in
Biology/Health, following 12 years of classical Christian education at Mars Hill Academy. At Grove City she served as a writing tutor and played four years of varsity volleyball. Subsequent to her college career she has been coaching high school volleyball.

Eloise guided our first class of seniors through Senior Thesis last year and will do the same this year. She and her husband Estan have a young son; they live in Riverside and are members of Light of the Nations Church.

Mr. Ryan Wade

Math & Science

Mr. Ryan Wade teaches 8th-12th grade math and science and also leads the upper school Fitness and Weight-Training electives. He grew up in New York state, where he was homeschooled with a classical education. Here he developed a love for the way God and science are integrated, especially in biology.

Ryan graduated from Cedarville University with a B.S. in Molecular Biology and a minor in Neuropsychology. He serves as a volunteer for the Cedarville Township Fire Department and also works as an EMT for Kettering Health Network. Ryan resides in New Carlisle and is an active member of Living Water OPC in Springfield.