About Us
Organization:
Agency Based Education is a Utah based 501(c)3. Contributions to our organization are tax deductible.
Board of Directors:
Our Board of Directors is currently comprised of the following individuals:
Oak Norton, Executive Director
Oak lives in Highland, Utah with his wife and five children. His children have all experienced a variety of education options including public education in both district and charter schools, online private school, and homeschooling. When not involved in activism, Oak enjoys coaching his children’s soccer teams, reading (Audible mostly) fantasy and science fiction novels, and reading religious literature.
He graduated from Utah State University with a Masters of Accountancy degree, and works as the CFO for Craig Swapp & Associates, a multi-state personal injury law firm where he oversees accounting, IT, and web marketing.
Oak’s involvement in education issues stems from experiences in 2004 where his local school district had stopped teaching the times tables and long division to children. His involvement led to the state of Utah raising math standards in 2007, only to quickly adopt Common Core in 2009-10 in an effort to obtain Race to the Top funds. His involvement in education issues has become a driving force in his life and he is passionate about education issues because he sees it as the key to our nation’s future, as long as the proper principles of education are honored.
Mark Cluff, Legislative Director
Mark lives in Alpine, UT with Susan, his wife of 35 years. They have five daughters, two son-in-laws, and four grandchildren.
He serves as Vice Chair of the Utah Association of Public Charter Schools, Board Member of Parents for Choice in Education, and Chairman of the Innovation & Entrepreneurship Committee of the BYU Advancement Council for Engineering and Technology.
Mark has served as the Vice Chair of the Utah State Board of Education, Chairman of the State Board Finance Committee, Western Director for the National Association of State Boards of Education, and Vice Chair of the Utah County Republican Party.
His education is in Engineering Technology, Manufacturing, Computer Science, and Business from Brigham Young University. He is a retired software executive having started, grown, and sold his international software company. He enjoys developing iPad/iPhone apps and reading about History, Education, and Religion.
Wendi Baggaley, Finance Director
Living in Eagle Mountain for the past 14 years, Wendi Baggaley and her husband, Michael, have enjoyed raising their family of four special needs children. Wendi is primarily a homemaker and homeschooling mother, but is often blessed with additional energy and time to pursue her twin passions for teaching and politics.
Wendi strongly supports educational choice, local control of education policy, and reducing federal intrusions into the family and education. She feels great alarm over the rewriting of American educational curriculum, especially concerning principles of freedom, citizenship, entrepreneurship, and economics.
Wendi holds a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Brigham Young University. She served an internship at the Utah State Legislature and has returned every year with her children and other groups to teach them about Utah politics and the legislative process. This past year Wendi served as the campaign manager for two successful candidates for state legislative office.
While none of this background seems to fit the title of “Finance Director”, Wendi recently completed a brief grant writing course and volunteered to put this book learning into practice for Agency Based Education. Any additional political service she can give this group is just icing on the cake.
Stevan Barfuss, Content Director
Stevan Barfuss is an educator, entrepreneur, writer, and education advocate. Stevan has 10 years experience in the classroom, working in several different settings; public, charter, and private. Most recently he taught at Paradigm Highschool, but he resigned to pursue family and entrepreneurial adventure. He and his wife of 21 years, Gina, have owned several businesses–currently they own a Planet Beach franchise in American Fork, and Stevan does local SEO work on the side.
Stevan is interested in just about everything, but in his formal education he received a BA in English Literature from Cal State Fullerton, and studied over two years at George Wythe College without obtaining a formal degree (but obtaining a world class liberal arts education).
Most importantly, Stevan and Gina have six children whom they have educated in several different ways. Currently they more or less unschool with a TJ ed. flavor.
Stevan has a passion for the outdoors, fitness, and music. If you can’t find him anywhere else, look outside, preferably on a mountain, in a canyon, or just listen for the banjo.