Instructor
Susan Hefner grew up in North Carolina and lives in Mount Holly, N.C. She has been married to her husband, Don, since 1994, and they have two daughters Faith, born in 2001, and Caitlin, born in 2003. Savannah Christian School, the Hefner homeschool, has been in operation since 2006 and will graduate the final student in 2021. Both students are gifted athletes who compete at a high level of swimming and have been recruited and cleared by the NCAA to swim at the Division I level in college.
Susan “retired” from her career as a mechanical engineer upon the birth of her oldest daughter in 2001. She worked as a Senior Project Engineer for Corning Optical Fibers in Wilmington, N.C. after receiving her M.S. in mechanical engineering from UNC, Charlotte in 1996. Her graduate coursework and thesis focused on precision engineering and specifically calibration methods for nanometer measurement devices. Susan worked for Duke Energy (formerly Duke Power Company) as a Design/Systems Engineer Mechanical/Nuclear Engineering at Oconee Nuclear Station between her undergraduate and graduate degrees. She graduated with a B.S. in mechanical engineering from NCSU in 1993. Through her work experience and graduate work, Susan has experience in precision machine design, nanometer technology, fluid dynamics, structural analysis, nuclear reaction physics, regulatory compliance, chemical process engineering, heat transfer, thermodynamics, statistical process control, electrical system design, project management, production support, and she even completed an independent study in biomedical engineering. Susan has always loved science and math and how they expose and reinforce the beauty of God’s creation.
Susan’s focus since she left the outside workforce has been homeschooling her two daughters. The Hefner family has loosely followed the classical approach to education in their home. Over the course of eight years, Susan shared her love of science and math by teaching enrichment labs through a local co-op. Her offerings have included chemistry, basic circuits, magnetics, critical thinking, computer software basics, elementary statistics, and problem solving. For three years Susan taught online math and introductory engineering courses to students around the globe. Susan also provides individual tutoring to students in all levels of math up through calculus, and in physics. Having successfully navigated the NCAA student athlete eligibility clearing and recruiting process, Susan loves to help other families do the same.
Susan also has a passion for international missions and is the coordinator for such at her church. She has led numerous teams on repeat trips to the inner-city area of Belize City, Belize. She and her church teams have formed long-term relationships with the leaders and young people at First Stone Church in an effort to see an end to generational poverty in Belize.
For fun, the Hefner family is very active in all things water-related. Susan swam the Pier to Pier, a 2 mile open-water swim, at Wrightsville Beach, N.C., and both daughters currently swim competitively, making it a family sport. They all love boating and the beach. The Hefner family are active members of Discovery Church in Hickory, NC.
