People

Mrs. Charske graduated with her undergraduate degree in Health, Physical Education and Adapted Physical Education in 1996 and then continued on to pursue a Masters in Education in 2002 from the University of Dayton. She began her thirteen year long professional teaching career at Kettering City Schools in 1997.  She taught Health, Physical Education and coached Track and Field for four years before she took a short break to care for their first son. Once returning back to the teaching profession she enjoyed four more years teaching for Kettering Schools at the middle school level. She ended her last five years of teaching at Southdale Elementary School. After their family of seven moved to Florida, she taught one year for Marion County before stepping into her beloved position, teaching Kindergarten and Physical Education for Ambleside. She has been married to her husband for over 22 years and has five beautiful children, ranging from college to fifth grade. She enjoys many activities: relaxing at the beach, exercise classes at One Hot Yoga, traveling with her husband, and spending time with family and friends. She loves being active in her church community.

Mrs. Works is married with both children attending Ambleside.  Before starting a family she was actively involved in theater, both on stage and behind the scenes.  Although she enjoyed performing, she decided she did not want it to be her life’s work.  She changed her major and received her Bachelors of Science for Psychology from the University of Florida. She enjoys running, traveling, and spending time with her family. She can still be seen performing, whether she is on stage or not.

Mr. Walkup was ordained as a pastor in the Presbyterian Church in America in 2010 and has served in Youth and Family ministries throughout the southeast since 2005. He and his wife, Rhoda, have two lovely daughters. The Walkups were introduced to Ambleside and Charlotte Mason through family and friends as their oldest daughter approached school age. Mr. Walkup enjoys running, reading, coffee, music, and playing games with his girls.

Mrs. Gibboney loves connecting with people, especially young adults. Her heart is to help them grow in healthy relationship with one another and God. She and her husband, John, love the Florida Gators and their fur child, Gabby. Mrs. Gibboney is proud to serve on the board of directors of The Arnette House and as the Board President for The Pearl Project.

Ms. Lacefield joins our staff as an Ambleside alumni. She first attended Ambleside as a student in 1st grade until she graduated 8th grade in 2014. Her love for the children and people of this community has inspired her to continue her education. She currently attends the College of Central Florida majoring in Special Education. Ms. Lacefield has lead worship at Live Oak Community Fellowship for 6 years. She enjoys outdoor activities, yoga, and spending time with friends!

Ms. Miles has always had an enormous love and passion for music. She has studied music for 18 years with 3 of those years being at the College of Central Florida where she studied Music Theory, Sight Singing, Ear Training, Music Literacy, Composition and Performance. Her love of performing started at age 15 when she performed in New York City in the production “Paradise Lost: Shadows and Wings”. This experience helped her sing and play in cities and places like New Orleans, Atlanta, Tampa, and Disney World. She has also played in marching band, wind symphony, jazz band and drum corps. Performance was her main passion until 5 years ago when she was offered a teaching position at Grace School of the Arts in Ocala. This job changed her heart from wanting to perform, to instead desiring to teach and inspire children with music and the word of God at the same time. She was introduced to Ambleside in 2017 and began assistant-teaching Middle School Choir. She now directs this choir as well as our High School music program.

Mrs. Lewis and her husband Darius are both native to Ocala. She has an AA degree from CFCC. She was introduced to the Charlotte Mason philosophy several years ago when her 2 youngest grandchildren began attending Ambleside. She has always believed art was an important part of any child's education so she voluntarily taught elementary art in a local Christian school where her youngest son attended. She believes in the Monart method used by Ambleside schools which is an excellent resource for teaching anyone how to draw. She enjoys reading, biking, swimming, fishing, kayaking and any outdoor activity. She also loves spending time with family and friends.

Mrs. Butler and her husband Del both grew up on dairy farms in Central Upstate New York. She loves learners and learning. When not in the classroom, she loves outdoor sports, such as horseback riding, skating, biking, hiking, volleyball, and playing baseball—since they are from the home of baseball—Cooperstown.  After receiving her Master’s Degree, Mrs. Butler moved to Florida in 1983 where she taught in the Marion County Public School System for 30 years. She has served as an adjunct professor at the College of Central Florida since in 1989. Mrs. Butler holds a Florida Teaching Certificate in multiple areas from elementary education all the way up to twelfth-grade math. She and her husband have been married for over 30 years and have raised six children—three boys and three girls. They also have six grandchildren, including Kaitlin who is a student at Ambleside. Mrs. Butler enjoys singing, playing the guitar, researching, reading and board games when indoors. So far her youngest student has been a four-year-old learning guitar and her oldest student has been an 86-year-old, learning to read her Bible.