Mr. Joel Foster To All Instructors

I grew up in a large, Christian, homeschooling family (seven siblings). I had the privilege of working with my dad in the trades--flooring, finish carpentry, and occasionally plumbing. In my late teens, I acquired a pilot's license and took every advanced math course the local community college offered. At 19, I decided I was ready to leave home for the first time, travelling by bus down to Bob Jones University in South Carolina where I discovered Physics.

I graduated with a B.S. in Physics (minor in Math) from the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign. As a student, I did research for the Army Corps of Engineers; and after graduation I built neutron generators and wrote control software for a small nuclear engineering startup. Eventually, the growing needs of my family brought us to northern Illinois where God provided a stable job at Northrop Grumman (no, I do not work on the B2 bomber, but I know people who did...).

Currently, my wife Annie and I live in Elgin where we homeschool our four children, raise ducks, and fix up our 1970's ranch. This year Annie talked me into teaching at Heritage where I look forward to sharing my enthusiasm for math, programming, and Jesus Christ with my students.

Current Classes
2026 - 2027 - Intro to Computer Programming - MATRIX – (open)
2026 - 2027 - Linear Algebra - MATRIX – (open)