Administration
Erica Scheve, Director
Erica Scheve began homeschooling in 2008, which sparked a love for classical education. She has taught a variety of homeschool classes, conducted training for homeschool teachers, helped to develop high school humanities classes, and built much of the curriculum map for St. Thomas Classical Academy. She received a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Central College. She and her husband Mark are proud parents of eight delightful girls, and happy parishioners at the Basilica of St. John.
Kara Storey, Coordinator of Home School Support
A transplant to Iowa from New Mexico, Dawn Ogden has a B.A. in American Studies from Hillsdale College and taught at a classical charter school in Colorado Springs, CO. She and her husband,Thomas, as well as their four children live in Norwalk on an acreage just south of Des Moines and attend St. Augustine Catholic Church.
Tami Lingor, Coordinator of Faith Formation
Tami received her Bachelor of Arts from Concordia College in Moorhead, MN, then her Master's in Social Work from OLLU in San Antonio, TX. She traded in her LICSW for mom and Air Force wife duties. With 20 years of homeschooling experience, the first half with military moves, Tami has been involved in co-ops and other various homeschool and religious education programs over the years. Her family settled in Norwalk, Iowa, after her husband retired from a 26 year Air Force career. Since arriving in Iowa, she has added Catechesis of the Good Shepherd to her experience. She is trained in Levels I, II & III and has served as a catechist in the atrium for seven years. Tami currently serves as our faith coordinator.
Rachel Marr, Coordinator of Education and Admin Assistant
Rachel Marr is a wife, homemaker, and homeschool mom to eight children ranging in age from two up to seventeen. She grew up on a Christmas tree farm on the outskirts of Omaha, NE. Rachel graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2003 and she took her first job as a mechanical engineer with LMHT Associates, a smaller architect & engineering firm specializing in restaurant design. During the next 16 years of moving around the country for her husband’s graduate degree and career, and while adding babies to the family every couple of years, she worked part time from home for LMHT. Her family moved back to Des Moines (Windsor Heights), IA, in 2020 where they hope to remain planted. She would say the highlight of her life has been her journey to the Catholic faith. After a long and sometimes brutal wrestling with protestant doctrine and her evangelical/nondenominational background, she came home to the Catholic Church in 2010. She enjoys singing and being active with her family whether it’s taking long walks with her husband, Bud, or working in the yard with her kids.
Fr. Christopher Pisut,
Chaplain
I am Fr. Christopher Anthony Pisut and I was born August 28, 1969 in Des Moines, Iowa, the feast of St. Augustin. I have an older brother, Anthony and a younger sister, Gina. My parents Emery and Raymonda are deceased. I attended St. Anthony’s parish and school on the South Side. I graduated from Dowling Catholic High School in 1987. I am also an Eagle Scout. I graduated from Iowa State University in 1992 with a B.S. in History and a minor in religion. I graduated from the Catholic University of American (CUA) in Washington D.C. in 1998 with an M.A. in Church History. I studied for the priesthood at St. Mary of the Lake Mundelein Seminary where I received my M. Div. and an S.T.B. and was ordained in 2003. I served as parochial vicar at St. Francis of Assisi parish in West Des Moines from 2003-2006. I graduated from CUA in 2008 with my J.C.L. in Canon Law. I was pastor of Sacred Heart, Chariton; St. Brendan, Leon; and St. Francis, Leon from 2008-2015. I have been pastor of St. Augustin parish since 2015 and Judicial vicar of the Diocese of Des Moines since 2009. I also have served the Traditional Latin Mass community since 2022.