Chipola Home Educators came into being as a local and state-recognized homeschool group in 2007. Chipola Home Educators (CHE) was formerly known as “Bridgebuilders” and served the homeschool families of Marianna and the surrounding areas. Bridgebuilders began to undergo changes in leadership between the fall of 2006 and the spring of 2007. Many dedicated families who had been a part of Bridgebuilders for several years began to have children growing up and completing their homeschool journey. As these families grew up and moved on, new families began to join the group. Leaders who had served many years needed a break from their roles, so they searched for dedicated parents who were up to the challenge of continuing the work they had started and leading the next generation of homeschoolers. Diana Edwards, a mom of five children and member of Bridgebuilders, rose to the challenge and accepted the responsibility of leading this well-established group forward. Diana recruited other homeschool moms to help her on this journey. After many meetings, emails, phone calls, and brainstorming sessions, a board of directors was established. The board of directors consisted of Diana Edwards, Dori Hayes, Dana Lewis, Chris Smith, and Connie Young. This board agreed to help re-brand the group, and Bridgebuilders became known as “Chipola Home Educators.”

CHE continued the work that was started by Bridgebuilders. CHE has served homeschool families since it was established in 2007 and continues to do so today. CHE established a website for families to communicate with each other, offered monthly field trips, activities, meetings for moms, and 4-H meetings, and created an opportunity to expand into the community.

CHE continues to offer many of these opportunities as well as others that help the homeschool community grow and flourish. CHE is a homeschool group in Jackson County and continues to grow and serve homeschool families in our community each year.