Pathfinder guidance counseling services are similar to other services offered at local colleges and career centers except that Pathfinder recognizes that career and educational exploration is at its heart a spiritual matter. We are grounded in the belief that it is God who gives men and women the talents, abilities, and opportunities that they have in their lives and that only when they discover and utilize them to the best of their ability before Him will they find fulfillment / true prosperity, God’s name be honored, and other men and women be blessed.

We believe that it is wise counsel to avoid wasting time, effort, and finances in an uninformed, undirected career journey or laboring in areas in which one was not made to be effective. We believe it is wise to prepare for a lifetime of career/s of service to God and man by evaluating what He has given us and made us and beginning early to map out and collect the tools needed to exploit the opportunities placed before us by His good providence.

To start this process, we utilize the proven tools of Crown Ministries Career Direct computerized career assessment test, and DISC type Personality ID for a foundation. The Career Direct test prints out a 30+ page evaluation of personality, interests, skills, and values. We then add other tests such as the Birkman test, Meyers-Briggs and/or others to arrive at a Composite Personal Profile that the counselor and client feel comfortable with using as a working model for exploring core capabilities, means of expression, career options and goals, educational requirements, and opportunities. This usually involves three to four hours of testing and counselor/client discussion. Further assistance is also available for the second phase "Building Your Portable Career." This second phase takes the information and materials acquired in the first phase and applies them to begin the construction of a personal portfolio, beginning resume, and targeting of specific educational or employment goals. The total effort assists the client to arrive at a more settled, focused, course/s of action and provides the foundational components for lifelong career tools . While it is possible to accomplish some of these things alone, it is recognized to be most effective when done with an experienced counselor/coach for the purposes of instruction, objectivity sustained effort, guidance, and accountability. The client simply does a better job in less time with assistance. Pathfinder exists to provide that assistance.

Jonny Whisenant Administrator of Pathfinder has been involved in vocational testing and counseling as a Director in a private Christian school and in a social work capacity. He received a bachelor’s degree in social work and his history of employment in the workplace includes 30+ years of experience with the industries of sales and marketing, manufacturing and industrial, technical, service, hospitality, retail, and entrepreneurship. His experience extends to counseling within the church as an elected officer and is the father of four children who have participated in both private Christian and homeschool education.

For details suited to your specific needs, please contact us.

Being sure that you have covered all the bases for your students' graduation, prepared them for college applications, and along the way built into them the work ethic that they will need to succeed, is a daunting task for any set of parents. Knowing the landscape you have to cover ahead of time will help a lot. Fortunately, with lots of background and experience in this area...

We Can Help!

A Personal Letter from Ellen Whisenant

An Education is a beautiful thing. It is not just a commodity or a means to an end, an inevitable, self-serving, boring necessity for survival as the world would have us think – it is most importantly (and excitingly) loving and knowing God through His awe-inspiring Revelation and Creation. For we are to love Him with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength!

I have always loved education, but it is through homeschooling that I became inspired by it. I know of no better way to share that inspiration with children, appeal to their hearts and souls, or guide them uniquely through curriculum as they grow and develop as individuals into individual callings.

Homeschooling is not easy – but it is a labor of love and a pleasing sacrifice unto the Lord! By His design, no one loves your kids uniquely the way you do, and nobody cares so much how it all turns out for them both spiritually and in the real world of accomplishment, commerce, and ministry. Who better then to train them up in all these things?

In my journey through homeschool with my four children, I realized, as a finite person, I was unable to adequately cover the bases for each individual child and was sinking under the load. Unlike many others, I knew what to do and how to do it – but as a finite human with strengths and weaknesses, I could not fully execute it on my own.

At that time, I began organizing classes in my local area to cover the necessities I could not individually provide for my oldest children. Eventually I founded Fideles Christian School with one class of 14 middle school students in the fall of 2000. Over time, it grew into a successful K – 12^th grade hybrid schedule for home and classroom (2 days/week for elementary and 3 days/week in middle and high school as an accredited non-traditional school). My husband Jonny and I operated it as a successful business as Executive Director and Academic Director for 15 years before retiring in the fall of 2015. Partnership between parents and Christian educators was the key, and I believe the Alpha Omega Ignitia Program has all the same components to offer homeschool students.

I am happy and thankful to report that with God’s help, we guided all of our children into college where they excelled. The oldest two pursued post graduate and dual degrees and are involved in professional careers in writing and publishing and nursing. Our third daughter is a professional, experienced educator with a degree in Music Education and certifications in Science Education and ESOL for middle and high school. After teaching with us at Fideles for several years, she is currently involved full time in teaching refugee high school students from around the world at Clarkston High School, Clarkston, GA, a UN International Refugee Center. After completing JR ROTC training in high school, and participating in ROTC at the University of North GEorgia, our son will graduate with honors and pursue a career in education.

If I or we can assist you in your personal efforts with your family drawing upon our years of experience in Christian and specifically homeschool education, please do not hesitate to contact us.

May God Bless, 

Ellen Whisenant