​Melissa Stewart

Melissa Stewart grew up in northern New Jersey in an ethnically and linguistically diverse neighborhood, which inspired her to pursue the field of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages). Melissa studied English at Gordon College and the University College, Cork, Ireland, and graduated with a degree in English with a Bible minor. After marrying a pilot from Maine, she enrolled in the University of Southern Maine to pursue a Master's degree in Literacy with a concentration in TESOL. Following her graduation in 1998, she taught English in a multilingual public school for two years and at a small Bible school in the Philippines for a year. An invitation from a friend to apply to a new private school in Maine introduced Melissa to the world of classical education. She then taught Humanities and Writing at Maine Classical School for six years. Since 2007, she has been teaching and learning alongside her children at home. Additionally, in 2011, Melissa helped create the Merrymeeting Homeschool League, a group she led for ten years while also serving as a literature and writing instructor. She began teaching Composition at Veritas in 2016. Melissa appreciates the classical Christian model of education because it honors God while encouraging students to be "thoroughly equipped for every good work" (2 Timothy 3:17) through the study of a wide range of subjects. When she is not teaching, Melissa is often reading books about teaching, and in 2022, she completed a Masters Plus certificate in language-based learning disabilities through Southern New Hampshire University. Melissa loves to write and usually assigns herself homework in this area, just to keep up with her students. She and her husband Dale have two daughters, Jeanette and Anneke. They live in mid-coast Maine.