Sarah Van Kleeck - Founder of Practice Monkeys

Sarah Van Kleeck

Founder and Teacher

Sarah has been teaching Suzuki Violin for 30 years.  Equipped with the gift of private instruction throughout childhood, high school, college, and Suzuki Teacher training, Sarah dove into teaching with a heartfelt passion at a young age, seeking success for each of her  students.  

Throughout her teaching career, Sarah has honed her teaching to include, not just technique, repertoire, and theory, but also whole person traits like patience, attention, determination, perseverance, problem solving, follow-through, organization, vision and imagination among other traits.

She passionately seeks to help her students develop the habits to become excellent people, who not only recognize beauty in the world but also desire to give that gift of beauty.  

​Utilizing her background in Suzuki Philosophy as well as Classical and Poetic Educational Principles, she weaves practical instruction with inspiration and poetic knowledge to aid the student in discovering Truth, Goodness, and Beauty using music as a vehicle to become excellent people, as well as excellent musicians.  

Dr. Peter Van Kleeck - GBC and Self-Defense Director and Teacher

Dr. Peter Van Kleeck

GBC Program Director and Teacher

Self-Defense Program Director and Teacher

Peter is the director of WisdomgapU. He and his wife, Sarah, have been married for 19 years and homeschool their 9 children together. Peter is also a professor of Bible at Trinity Baptist College where he teaches Apologetics, Social Ethics, and Introduction to Christian Worldview as well as other classes. As a graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary, Calvin Theological Seminary, and Liberty University, the emphasis of his study is in theology, apologetics, and philosophy. His study in the martial arts began in 2001 at Trident Academy of Martial Arts with an emphasis in mixed martial arts. Since then, he has focused on Muay Thai and Brazilian Jui-Jitsu.

Deb Peterson - Violin Teacher

Deb Peterson

Violin Teacher

Deb lives in the Peoria, IL area where she and her husband homeschool their 8 children.  She received her degree in Bible, music, and children’s ministries from University of Northwestern, St. Paul, where she studied violin with Minnesota Orchestra associate concertmaster, Roger Frisch.

​She has studied Suzuki pedagogy under trainers such as Ed Kreitman and Ed Sprunger at the American Suzuki Institute in Stevens Point, WI. She has taught violin for over 20 years and is currently a first violinist in the Peoria Pops orchestra and plays regularly with her church worship team.

Sarina Steward - Piano Teacher

Sarina Steward

Piano Teacher

Sarina Steward lives in Canada in a small town in Ontario. She studied piano
as a child, branching out to guitar and bass guitar while attending high school. From
a young age Sarina was involved in music ministry with her parents at church and
has continued in their footsteps by sharing worship ministry with her family.
With 18 years of homeschooling under her belt, the years have been full of
balancing family life, school, mentoring her children in their musical pursuits
ranging from piano, violin, theory, drums and ukulele, and furthering her own
musical education through the Royal Conservatory. She has spent the last 15 years
involved in local home school groups teaching large groups of children anything
from music to the art of walking on eggs without breaking them.
She is excited to share her love of music with your students and to help
them to learn the big concepts in an engaging, fun, and age appropriate way.​

Jayana Pyant - Piano Teacher

Jayana Pyant

Piano Teacher

Jayana Pyant was born in Lansing, Michigan on March 10, 1984. She learned to play the piano at the young age of 5 years old where she studied piano under Lansing’s Earl Nelson Singers distinguished choir director, Verna Holley.  She expanded her musical repertoire by learning to play the clarinet and oboe in her high school marching band and symphonic band while maintaining her skills as a pianist in her high school musical theater and jazz band. She also sang mezzo soprano and alto for the Michigan State Children’s Choir. Jayana completed her early music education by earning high honors and several certifications from the Michigan Music Teachers National Association and Music Guild in Piano.  Jayana went on to earn her undergraduate degree the United States Military Academy at West Point (2006), with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Arabic and French, where Jayana also sang as a soprano in the Gospel Choir.  Jayana was commissioned as an Army officer and served honorably in the US Army as a Military Intelligence Officer for seven years, earning a Bronze Star for her deployment in Support of Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan.  While serving, she earned her Master’s of Science degree in International Administration from Central Michigan University in 2011. In 2009 she married the love of her life William Pyant, also an Army Officer.  She resigned her commission as an Army Officer in order to raise a family.  Jayana began taking Suzuki Piano training first with the “Every Child Can” course at Temple University (2015), and proceeded with the Suzuki Piano teacher courses levels 1-4 at the Blue Lake Suzuki Institute (2016-2018) in Michigan studying under teacher trainer Marilyn Andersen from Wheaton College, Illinois.  Jayana participated in the Associated Board for the Royal Schools of Music Exam (2016, NY), sending students to the level 1 and level 2 exam with passing grades.  Jayana went on to study under Dr. Olivia Zimmerman at the Kansas City School of Music (2018) and Kansas State University (2019) under Barbara Mirano.  Jayana has taught piano and music appreciation to beginner and intermediate students from ages 5 to 16.  Currently, Jayana teaches piano to her own five children, and has been homeschooling for 6 years.  She enjoys volunteering in the community, at church, and working with children.

Marissa Bagasao - Guitar Teacher

Marissa Bagasao

Guitar Teacher

Marissa Bagasao is a guitarist, background vocalist, and artist based out of Door County, Wisconsin. She travels full-time as a music missionary with her family of eleven, cat, and dog in a 30-foot travel trailer, which has allowed her to visit forty-nine states, perform in hundreds of churches, and record vocals for
two Nashville-produced CDs. Marissa's love of music started at an early age, with piano lessons from age four and guitar studies from age six. She enjoys piano and ukulele, but her greatest love is classical guitar, which she continues to study under a private Suzuki instructor.

​At the age of nineteen, Marissa graduated from Liberty University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration: Entrepreneurship. She was homeschooled through high school, which pushed her to develop perseverance, self-motivation, flexibility, and a positive work ethic.

Marissa also runs her fine art business, the Art of Marissa Renee. A self-taught artist, she specializes in realistic portraits of people and animals, and she hopes to branch into religious art and art instruction in the near future. Marissa desires to do all things to the glory of God and seeks to teach her students with patience, diligence, and joy, guiding them to a life-long love of classical guitar.

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