We Are Currently Hiring for 2020 Girls Residential Staff
Our girls residential team consists of godly women who are passionately committed to serving troubled or struggling teen girls in crisis. The Shepherd’s Hill Academy girls residential team provides safe around-the-clock care for your daughter’s daily needs, including her academic, emotional, physical and spiritual development.
Every Shepherd’s Hill Academy team member must meet all the employment requirements, including a thorough background and criminal history check as set forth by the state of Georgia. All residential staff members are required to be trained in Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), First Aid, and Emergency Safety Intervention (ESI).
In addition, each member undergoes an intense 30-day training period. Assuring the greatest degree of care and attention in the industry, Shepherd’s Hill Academy uncompromisingly upholds a maximum 5:1 student to staff ratio. This means your teen daughter is not out of sight of a girls residential team member at any point during her stay in the Therapeutic Outdoor Program.
Haley Walker
Girls Wilderness Program Manager
Haley is currently enrolled at Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, GA, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Counseling Psychology. She has always had a passion for learning and applying new knowledge to every aspect of her life.
Haley coached a kid’s soccer team for two years, where she combined her love for children and her love of soccer. She really enjoyed forming relationships with the players, teaching them about the sport while instilling confidence, and having the chance to lead short weekly devotionals after practice. Haley was also a live-in nanny and the sole caregiver for three young girls whose dad worked as a contractor overseas. She has always loved children, so nannying came very natural to her.
Haley is thrilled at the opportunity to work with the students at Shepherd’s Hill Academy because she remembers, appreciates, and loves the adolescent years. She respects that each student will enter our program with their own experiences, strengths, challenges, and personality, and is excited to help them learn how to use all of these things to live out the plan God has for their lives. She is also looking forward to guiding them as they learn and develop wonderful, new skills that they can apply to their lives outside of Shepherd’s Hill.
Haley lives in Toccoa, GA with her husband, Garrett, and their wonderful pets. She loves cooking, gardening, reading, sports, and frequenting farmer’s markets and antique stores with her husband and family.
Alix Twyman
Next Step Program Manager
Alix received an associate degree in Psychology from Gainesville State College in Watkinsville, GA. She also has a bachelor’s degree in Sociology from the University of Georgia in Athens, GA.
Alix taught gymnastics to kids for a year and previously served the students at Shepherd’s Hill Academy for nearly five years. She first started working with teens because she saw people from her high school who constantly sought after things like drugs, sex, alcohol, others’ approval, etc., to fill a void that never seemed to be filled. It is her desire to share Christ’s unconditional love with them because she knows it is the only thing that can fill the void they feel.
After having worked with youth for so long, she is drawn to them because of their depth and vulnerability. Their ability to form relationships with people who care about them and then open up about their insecurities which they mask in makeup, media, sexual activity, etc. She loves getting to the heart of the matter with the students at SHA. She fully believes in what we do at Shepherds Hill that she could not stay away from this ministry because of our deep concern for this population and what they face daily. Alix will say “We want to do everything we can to take care of them and show them that they are loved, worthy, and capable of having a bright future.”
Alix lives in Athens, GA with her husband, Mario, and their cat, MJ. She loves to read, go for hikes, and hang out with her family.
Brazel Marquez
Brazel has a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Menlo College in San Francisco, CA.
Brazel and her family are from the Los Angeles, CA area. Since 2015, Brazel has worked with youth as a Behavioral Therapist in the San Francisco, CA area.
She also coaches high school and college students in wrestling. It is Brazel’s desire to make an impact on teens that struggle with mental and behavioral health and to help them see there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Some of Brazel’s favorite things are coaching wrestling, working out, drawing, painting, hiking, and outdoor activities.
Haley Clymer
Haley is currently enrolled at Toccoa Falls College, in Toccoa Falls, GA, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in English.
She has experience working with youth as an intern with her church’s summer youth group. Haley has also served the children at her church by teaching Sunday School.
It is Haley’s strong desire to serve the youth at Shepherd’s Hill Academy. She wants to be a reflection of the love of Christ while serving this generation of young people. It is her hope and desire that her actions today will also be passed down to generations behind her. She is blessed to be able to serve Christ by ministering to His children.
Haley is the oldest of the four children in her family. She is happily married. She enjoys creating things with her hands, eating good food and being with friends and family.
Hope Cooper
Hope is in the process of pursuing a Middle Grades Education degree and minoring in Outdoor Leadership Education at Toccoa Falls College, in Toccoa Falls, GA.
She has always had a heart for people and their needs. Hope desires to show the love of Christ and help teens recognize their potential and purpose. She wants teens to know that not all hope is lost though we may face challenging and dark times in this life.
Hope has had several opportunities to work with youth. She is currently a youth leader as well as a small group leader at her church, where she gets to help them grow as a person and in their relationship with Christ. She had an awesome experience working for WinShape Camps in the summer of 2019. She found that summer challenging and a huge blessing to positively impact so many young lives, making Christ’s love known.
Hope grew up in a family of five with a loving mother, father, older sister, and younger brother. Family is so important to her and she thanks God for the one He has given her. She enjoys anything outdoors, whether it is mountain biking, hiking, swimming, fishing, kayaking, etc. She enjoys spending time with people, trying new things, and traveling! She also plays the ukulele and loves participating in sports.
Jeimy Madrid
Jeimy is a high school graduate of Johnson High School in Georgia, and is currently enrolled in her third year of theological studies at the Theological Institute.
Jeimy and her husband have been mentoring young men in the Royal Ranger Ministry since 2014. They were elected youth group leaders where they minister to 12-18-year-olds through the Scriptures. She loves to have the opportunity to make a difference in the life of today’s youth. She believes it is essential to help draw them closer to God.
Jeimy has been married since 2009, and she is the mother of two boys. In her spare time, she enjoys music, reading, spending time with her family and attending church.
Madeline Kiser
Madeline currently attends North Georgia Technical College at both the Currahee campus in Toccoa and the campus in Clarkesville, GA, and is majoring in Interdisciplinary Studies with a focus on Nursing.
She has served our youth by helping with VBS at her church for several years. She has also been involved with an equine ministry where she worked with young girls.
Serving today’s teens is such a passion of Madeline’s. She knows how hard life can get at such a vulnerable age; but with help, these kids will be able to conquer anything life throws at them. She considers it such a privilege to watch kids grow, learn, and become the best version of themselves.
Madeline grew up in a family of five with her mother, father, and two older brothers. Her family is her rock and has given her the best foundation anyone could ask for. She claims if she is not at work or home, you can find her in the barn. Horses are a huge part of her life, and besides her family, they are one of the sole reasons for keeping her out of trouble when she was growing up.
Olivia Johannes
Olivia currently attends Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, GA, where she is working towards her bachelor’s degree in Nursing.
She worked with youth while she was in the Civil Air Patrol from 2011-2014. Olivia understands the years of middle school and high school are very challenging for teenagers. Learning how to navigate these struggles using the teachings of Christ is something that she believes is very important. She enjoys watching teens learn and helping them create goals that challenge them to accomplish things that they might not have thought possible.
Olivia spends a large portion of her time studying. In any free time, she enjoys baking with her mom and sister. She also likes to help her dad work on cars and any random building projects.
Olivia Paul
Olivia received a bachelor’s degree, with a double major in Counseling Psychology and Outdoor Leadership and Education, from Toccoa Falls College in Toccoa Falls, GA. She plans to begin a master’s program for wilderness therapy in the fall of 2019. She has former training as an Emergency Medical Technician from SOLO Wilderness Medical School.
Olivia has been a camp counselor for several years working with youth in rural Kentucky. She started her wilderness therapy interests at Adventure Respite in 2015. Cumulatively, she has been teaching, trip leading and working with youth since 2013.
She wants to serve teens because she knows they will be the ones guiding our world in years soon to come. It’s her desire to instill morals and strengths with hopes she will guide them in the ways of the Lord and set them up for healthy and successful lives. Olivia says, “Children are the most important part of this life. I want to make a positive impact.”
Olivia is from rural Appalachia, where her family still resides in TN, KY, and VA. Living away from her family has resulted in her adopting many animals. She enjoys backpacking, teaching wilderness survival skills, reading and anything at the ocean.
