Meet The Teachers
Jada Santoro is the founder and program director of Trailblazers Learning Community and serves as the lead science teacher. After more than a decade in Flagstaff, she created Trailblazers to offer homeschool students rigorous, hands-on science learning rooted in curiosity, critical thinking, real-world relevance, and community connection.
Her teaching focuses on environmental and earth sciences, emphasizing systems thinking, inquiry-based learning, and place-informed investigations that help students understand natural systems and the impact of human choices.
Jada’s work reflects a whole-child approach that bridges environmental science and health education. She integrates scientific thinking with social-emotional learning and mindfulness, grounded in the belief that caring for our inner ecosystems supports care for the land, water, and communities around us.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in Nutrition and a Master of Education with a concentration in Social Emotional Learning and is a longtime homeschool parent. Outside of Trailblazers, Jada collaborates with local environmental and outdoor education organizations and continues developing programs that help young people feel capable, curious, and connected to the natural world.
Jada Santoro, M.Ed. | Science
Founder & Program Director
Erika Tsouras, M.Ed. | Art
Erika Tsouras is a local artist and art educator with over a decade of experience helping students discover their creative spark. She paints with watercolor on raw wood panels, often allowing the natural wood grain to guide her expression of beauty and emotion found in the natural world. Erika holds a Master’s Degree in Art Education from NAU and has been teaching K–12 art in Flagstaff since 2008. She is also the founder of Meadowlark Art Studio, where she shares her passion for creativity and community through classes, workshops, and original artwork.
At Trailblazers, Erika leads students through rich, hands-on art experiences rooted in creative freedom and connection. Her classes draw inspiration from nature, literature, and student imagination, while also introducing students to influential artists from history and traditional art forms from around the world. Students are encouraged to experiment, take creative risks, and approach art as both personal expression and cultural exploration.
Erika believes that art-making is a natural human impulse and that everyone deserves to enjoy the creative process and feel empowered to make their mark. In her classroom, every student is welcomed with warmth, acceptance, and a gentle invitation to create without fear or comparison.
Holly Luky is a homeschooling mother and homesteader who embraces a nature-based, holistic approach to learning for her family. Education is seamlessly integrated into their daily life, whether through real-world skill application with their animals, hands-on culinary work, or reading aloud cherished books.
Holly brings a robust professional background, including over fifteen years in Education Technology spanning K-12 and Higher Education. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts and an Associate of Culinary Arts degree. Before moving to Flagstaff in 2015, she was the local publisher of two magazines in Sedona, AZ, and directed the Sedona SEEDs teen mentoring program. She has also spent time teaching English as a Second Language online and coordinating outdoor exploration networks for homeschool families.
In her classroom, Holly fosters the belief that every student, at their own pace, can cultivate a positive relationship with reading and writing. She views a rich literary journey as the key to unlocking vivid imagination and creativity.
Holly Luky, B.A. | Language Arts