Valerie Valdez - Director of Education & Family Services
Valerie met Israel while attending Kansas Wesleyan University where she majored in Broadcast Journalism, specializing in radio and TV broadcasting. She and Israel married in 2004 after five years of dating. It was then that Valerie realized her love for children and teaching that she became certified to teach school and taught 7th grade English for ten years. She served on multiple educational committees, completed many hours of professional development, and was Teacher of the Year in both districts she taught in. Valerie and Israel have three children: Joel, Uriah, and Phoebe. When the opportunity to work with Cherokee Home in 2015 arose, Israel and Valerie were ready. They were relief house parents for the boys for a year before transitioning to their current positions. Valerie's desire is to help children see the potential that lies within them and embrace the second chance they are getting at Cherokee Home. For it is written to, "Train a child in the way he should go: and when he is old he will not depart from it", Proverbs 22:6
