Mars Hill Tutors

Ben Hughes has taught at Mars Hill since 2006 and has served as chair of the English Department for over a decade. He has taken on the role of Headmaster for the 2023-2024 school year. A Mars Hill alum ('04), he majored in English at Asbury University ('08), and was ordained as the pastor of Emmanuel Christian Fellowship in the summer of 2017. He and his wife Emily homeschool their five children, the oldest of which (Micah) is in his first year at Mars Hill.

Since receiving his history degree at the University of Kentucky, Chad Grissom has continued his education through classes on Biblical languages, geography and archaeology of the Bible, and personal study of the Bible, theology, history and philosophy. These studies have taken him to California and Israel. He is committed to life-long learning that spills over into his classes. He is also the pastor of Trinity Christian Fellowship and gives pastoral direction to a local pre-school-6th grade cooperative.

Dr. Pittard is currently a senior lecturer in statistics at the University of Kentucky.  She has been teaching math at Mars Hill since 1996. She earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Potsdam College in New York State and earned her master’s degree and Ph.D. in statistics from the University of Kentucky.  She has also homeschooled her own five children.

Carly has been married to JP Barlow for 18 years, and they have five children, three of which are enrolled at Mars Hill. She was formerly a CPA for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Brooke Clark is a Mars Hill graduate, class of 2000. She graduated from Asbury University in 2004 with a Bachelor's of Arts in Latin and English Literature, and an unofficial degree and a lot of experience in theatre production. She is passionate about reading and telling stories via theatre, as well as helping students see Latin isn't as terrifying as they thought.

Kate Flannery, who taught U.S. History and Art History at Paul Laurence Dunbar High School for 7 years, received her bachelor’s in Secondary Social Studies Education from Asbury College and her master’s in Educational Leadership Studies from UK. Mrs. Flannery has also studied and developed a lecture series on the philosophy of modern education.

Audrey Hazlett is a Mars Hill graduate of 2015. She received her Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Modern and Classical Languages, Literatures, and Cultures with a focus in Greek philosophy. She has taught Latin at Mars Hill for two years and at a local pre-school-6th grade cooperative for five years. She has also taught violin lessons privately for seven years. She is the oldest daughter of the Mars Hill History Department Head Chad Grissom and English teacher Shannon Grissom.

Shannon Grissom recieved her Bachelor’s degree in Communication Disorders and her Master’s Degree in Speech/Language Pathology from the University of Kentucky. She has taught at Mars Hill since 1998. Shannon and her husband, Chad, have homeschooled thier six children, four of whom are graduates of Mars Hill.

Shelby Grissom is a Mars Hill graduate of 2019. She graduated from the University of Kentucky in 2023. Shelby loves to read and discuss literature and to share her passion for finding the ways that God's truth is woven into stories. She especially loves Medieval and Renaissance literature. She enjoys writing fiction and poetry in her spare time. She is the third daughter of the History department head, Chad Grissom, and fellow English teacher, Shannon Grissom.

Kel Hahn is the Associate Director of Foundation and Corporation Philanthropy for the University of Kentucky Office of Philanthropy. He received a bachelor’s degree in English from Indiana University in 1997 and a Master of Divinity degree from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2008. He and his wife, Dawn, have four children: Samuel, Carter, Ian and Emily. Kel has taught at Mars Hill since 2006.

Joel Jirak has Bachelors degree in Computer Science and Philosophy from Georgetown College and has a Masters of Information Networking from Carnegie-Mellon University. He and his wife Bethany have seven children, two of which are Mars Hill graduates.

Jordan John is the Marketing and News Director for the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture, Food and Environment. She received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Asbury University in 2010, and has previously worked as a News Editor for the Frankfort State Journal, Marketing Director for the Stanford Stewardship Group, and Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet. Jordan has taught at Mars Hill since 2019 and is married to Dr. Jerram John, a graduate of Mars Hill.

Rodney Johnson works in corporate finance and strategic planning for the University of Kentucky Healthcare. He received a bachelor’s degree in Accounting with a minor in Spanish from Asbury University, a Masters degree in Finance from the University of Kentucky, and is a Certified Public Accountant. Previous work experience includes investment analysis at Edward Jones, portfolio management, financial analysis, business consulting at Blacksummit Financial Group, non profit accounting and teaching at Asbury University. Rodney has taught at Mars Hill since 2014.

C. Andy Martin has been a principal firmware engineer at Microsoft since 2024 creating silicon and cloud hardware for Azure. Previously he was a senior principal engineer at Badger Technologies for 7 years developing robots, a firmware engineer at Lexmark for 10 years making laser printers and scanners, and prior to that the lead software engineer at Lumenware for 3 years building remote access systems. He received his M.S. in Computer Science, B.S. in Computer Science and B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Kentucky. He also minored in mathematics and graduated Summa Cum Laude with Honors in the Honors Program. Andy has been teaching at Mars Hill since 2011, starting in the Mathematics department and pivoting to Science ten years later in 2021.

Kenton Sena earned a B.A. in Biology from Asbury University and a M.S. in Forestry and a Ph.D. in Integrated Plant and Soil Sciences from the University of Kentucky. His research is focused on restoration ecology—restoring high-quality ecosystems on highly degraded sites. He is currently a lecturer in the Lewis Honors College at the University of Kentucky, where he teaches the honors foundations course (HON 101), as well as interdisciplinary courses in ecology and the environment. In his spare time, he enjoys time in the forest with his wife Susanna and children Silas and Eden.

Stephen is a Mars Hill graduate of 2011. He received a bachelor's degree in computer science from the University of Kentucky, and is currently employed with AppOmni Inc. as a software engineer. Stephen has an affinity for the game of chess, and hopes to one day resurrect the Mars Hill chess club.