Meet our team
Meet our Teachers
Virginia Virtual Academy's (VAVA's) caring and dedicated teachers are excited to make this a great year for your student!
Elementary Team
Megan Jones | K-1 Lead Teacher
Megan joined the VAVA team in 2017. She began her career at VAVA as a Kindergarten teacher and currently serves at the K-1 Lead Teacher. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Radford University and began teaching Kindergarten in her local brick and mortar upon graduating. She resides in southwest Virginia with her husband and daughter. Megan has a passion for creating learning environments that are engaging for all learners. This quote says it best! “Love what you teach, and they will too.!” She has a love for supporting students, learning coaches, and teachers with the goal of helping all families be successful at VAVA.
Lindsey Kight | 2-3 Lead Teacher
Lindsey has been teaching for ten years. For her, there is no higher privilege than to educate the next generation. She aims to be a teacher that inspires students to dream big dreams and reach their goals. Lindsey graduated from Liberty University with her bachelor's degree in Elementary Education and is currently working towards a master’s degree in Educational Leadership and Supervision at Old Dominion University. She has a passion for all students to receive access to the academic platform that best fits their schooling needs. Having experience teaching second through fifth grade, Lindsey has a broad knowledge in content for elementary-aged students and the sequential skill growth throughout the grade levels. Lindsey is married to Ryan and has a sweet daughter names Lily. In her spare time, she loves to create music and relax at the beach.
Brittany Sundo | 4-5 Lead Teacher
As a graduate of Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, PA, Brittany earned a Master of Science Degree in Elementary Education. Brittany holds Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Virginia teaching licenses and is certified to teach kindergarten through sixth grade. This is her eleventh year as a virtual teacher with K12, and her virtual experience has been in RTI, kindergarten, first grade, fourth grade, and fifth grade. Prior to joining the VAVA team, she taught at Tennessee Virtual Academy and Florida Cyber Charter Academy. In addition to her virtual experience, Brittany worked as a reading and math specialist for grades kindergarten through fourth grade in the traditional setting. Brittany is originally from Pittsburgh, PA, home of the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is her favorite NFL team! She loves to run, sing at church, and spend time with her wonderful family. Brittany is married to her husband with two children and two dogs.
Penni Harrison | K–5 Lead School Counselor
Penni joined the VAVA team in September 2009—its inaugural year! She earned a Bachelor of Science in early childhood education from the University of Virginia and a Master of Education in educational technology from City University. Over the course of her teaching career, Penni had the opportunity to teach in several states and in the Department of Defense Schools in Germany. Penni comes to VAVA with more than 18 years of classroom experience and four years as a member of Stride K12’s assessment and research team. Currently, Penni serves as the lead K–5 counselor. She is pleased to be part of the VAVA family and looks forward to helping each child have a successful and enjoyable learning experience.
Middle School Team
Jamie Winslow | Middle School Lead Teacher
Jamie joined the VAVA team in October 2017 teaching Algebra I and Geometry to our Middle School students. She graduated from the University of Mary Washington with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, returning to Mary Washington to earn her Secondary teacher licensure. Jamie finds a student’s “aha moment” to be the reason she was drawn to and stays in teaching. Her passion lies in connecting a student’s real world to the content their studying. Additionally, Jamie seeks to incorporate problem-based learning and data driven solutions in her teaching. Jamie, along with her husband and two daughters, lives in Loudoun County. They enjoy reading, dance parties in the kitchen, and any type of sing along.
Theresa Goad | Middle School Lead Counselor
Theresa joined the VAVA team in 2019. She earned her undergraduate degree at the University at Albany in 2003 and continued her education at Oswego State University where she earned her master’s degree in Psychological Services and School Counseling in 2006. Theresa is originally from Syracuse, NY where she was a High School Counselor and Varsity Lacrosse Coach for 10 years. She moved to VA in 2013 for her husband’s career and spent 4 years home with her daughters and became a registered yoga teacher during that time. The highlight of her yoga career thus far, was being chosen to teach at Fredericksburg’s Yoga in the Park event to support Mental Health Awareness in 2019. Theresa believes that mindfulness has the power to transform lives and she brings this passion and knowledge into her work with VAVA students. In her free time, she loves to run, spend time with her husband and three daughters, cook nutritious food, and coach youth lacrosse.
High School Team
Laura Cantrell | High School Lead Teacher
Laura joined VAVA in 2016 as a 7th grade ELA teacher. In 2018, Laura returned to the high school grades where she spent the majority of her years in brick-and-mortar school. She also served as VAVA’s first-ever 11th grade English teacher. Laura graduated from Roanoke College with a BA in English and later obtained a Master of Science in curriculum and instruction. She resides in her hometown of Floyd, Virginia, with her husband and three children. Laura enjoys all things sports-related, cooking, and spoiling her pets, Leo the cat and Emmett the cockapoo.
Katina Bookard | High School Lead Counselor
Katina Bookard serves as the 12th grade school counselor and Lead Counselor for VAVA. Katina is originally from South Carolina and resides in Northern Virginia. She has served as a Stride K-12 School counselor for 6 years and has over 18 years as a public school counselor in the brick and mortar setting. She received her bachelors and masters degree from South Carolina State University and taught English Language Arts for 6 years. Katina has a doctorate degree in Educational Leadership from Liberty University and is a National Board Certified School Counselor (NBPTS). Katina has been married for 20 years to her husband and has 3 beautiful children.
