Matt Cantrell has been the Sacramento Adventist Academy Athletic Director where he also served as the Health and PE teacher. He earned his B.S. in Health and Physical Education with a minor in History at Walla Walla University. He earned his M.A. in Coaching and Athletic Administration at Concord University in Irvine. He joined the SAA staff in 2012, and moved to Denver in summer 2018. He served effectively as chair of the SDA Flag Football rules committee in 2017-2018 to produce the most current version of SDA-SARC Flagball rules.

Daanan Foster is the grade 7 Bible & P.E. teacher at Spring Valley Adventist Academy in Centerville, Ohio. He is also the Athletic Director and Grade 7 Homeroom Teacher.

Mrs. Kris Fuentes earned a BA in English from Southern Adventist University in 1994.  She taught high school English at Escondido Adventist Academy near San Diego, California for seven years and then served as K-12 Principal for another 12 years.  During her early career she completed a Masters Degree and Educational Specialist Degree in Administration and Leadership at La Sierra University.  In 2013, she accepted the call to serve as principal at Madison Academy, her high school alma mater.  In addition to her leadership role, she enjoys reading, water skiing, music, and spending time with her family.

Ozark Adventist Academy’s athletic director, graduated from SAU with a Bachelor of Arts in health, physical education and recreation. He also holds a Master of Arts in educational administration and leadership. He believes family is important and shares the family goal of visiting every state.

Frank Jones III is principal at Forest Lake Academy, his alma mater. He says an important aspect of his job is the relationships he has with his students. A teacher believed in him when he was young, and he strives to live a Christ-like example every day. FLA has one of the larger athletic programs in the Adventist education system.

Kyle Kay is the PE Teacher/Athletic Director at Fraser Valley Adventist Academy in British Columbia, Canada. He is a dynamic, energetic teacher with a genuine interest in students’ spiritual, cognitive, and social growth. He combines a strong passion for physical education, intramural and varsity athletics to prepare and inspire students to pursue life-long physical fitness. His coaching specialties are volleyball and soccer.

Matt Lee is the PE Teacher at Pacific Union College Elementary School.  He has been active in the NAD’s Health & Physical Education summer curriculum committee for several years, and seeks to make a difference in the lives of his students and community.  He was voted Adventist Physical Education “Teacher of the Year” in 2017.

Randy Lonto was born in Takoma Park, MD. His hobbies include golfing, cycling, camping, fishing, woodworking, dodgeball and kickball. He received his B.S. in PE at Andrews University in 1991. He currently teachers at Ruth Murdoch Elementary School in Berrien Springs, MI. He was voted Adventist Physical Education “Teacher of the Year” in 2018, and has served as president for the SDA Health, Physical Education, Recreation Association (SDA-HPERA).

Dr. Nelson brings more than thirty years of experience in leadership development to the VitalSmarts faculty. A recipient of the Zapara award for excellence in teaching, Stacy consistently receives accolades for his charismatic presentation style and highly effective training design. Serving as a personal coach to many hospitals, educational institutions, and corporate executives, Stacy is frequently invited to deliver keynote speeches at local and national conventions. Stacy has become a trusted leader in corporate training and organizational performance. He helps teams and companies increase organizational effectiveness, achieve bottom-line results, and become measurably more vital.

Nestor Osorio is the Athletic Director for Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, FL.  He has served as president for the SDA-HPERA, and is working on his PhD in Leadership.

Bob Paulson, Ph.D., professor, began teaching at PUC in 1994. He works in areas of aquatics, recreational running, cross country, track and field, sport officiating, volleyball, basketball, first aid and injury prevention, technology and pedagogy, intramural recreation, and sport psychology. He has taught at the academy level, coached various teams, served as president of the Adventist Virtual Learning Network, and received NAIA California Pacific Conference Coach of the Year for Cross Country awards. He also does projects and presentations in his field and enjoys spending time with his family, recreational running, water sports, digital photography, home projects, and listening to music. Check out Coach Paulson's twitter page and his Doc Paulson website.

Tamara Ritterskamp teaches Physical Education and Health at Forest Lake Academy in Apopka, FL.  She has been active in the NAD’s Health & Physical Education summer curriculum committee for several years, and has helped with the development of teacher resources for CREATION Health. She served as Secretary for the SDA-HPERA in 2018.

Datha Tickner has served as principal at Orangewood Academy and Loma Linda Academy. She currently is an Associate Superintendent of Education at Southeastern California Conference.

Keith Waters is the Secondary Associate Superintendent of Education for the North Pacific Union.  He has chaired or co-chaired the NAD’s Health & Physical Education summer curriculum committee for several years. This summer committee has produced updated Standards for Health, and for Physical Education, has supported the PhysicalGenesis fitness study (2015-2018), and the CREATION Health course (and its teacher resources).

John Brunt has served as Vice-President for Academic Affairs at Walla Walla University. He is an author of several works, including the book “A Day for Healing” (about the Sabbath), and is a retired senior pastor of Azure Hills Church in Grand Terrace, CA.

Marlene Mayra Ferreras is the daughter of a single parent Cuban refugee mother. Born and raised in southern California, Marlene was a pastor for 14 years in the Seventh-day Adventist denomination and was ordained by the Pacific Union Conference in October 2012. Her academic interests are at the intersection of social science and theology.

Marlene's research studies the identity and eschatology of indigenous female maquila workers in Yucatan, Mexico. She is interested in the strategies women use to resist systems of violence and oppression for the purpose of providing spiritual care that assists women in identifying and developing preferred futures.

Oliver Glanz studied both theology and philosophy. His graduate studies in theology focused on Bible translation. In 2006 Glanz graduated with an MA in Christian Studies on Science and Society from the VU faculty of philosophy. Oliver Glanz is part of the ETCBC research team in Amsterdam and working for the "Bridging Data and Tradition: The Hebrew Bible as a Linguistic Corpus and as a Literary Composition" project.  Currently he is writing the commentary volume on the book of Jeremiah for the new SDA International Bible Commentary.

Vaughn Nelson grew up as a pastor's kid in eastern and western Washington state, Southern California, and Nebraska. He studied at Union College and La Sierra University.  As a pastor Vaughn is passionate about partnering with people in exploring and discovering ever better ways of responding to God's grace with our hearts, our minds, and the way we live our lives. As a triathlon veteran, he recognizes the value of being physically active and being careful with his body temple.