Meet Our Team
About the Business
What do you do when the resources you need don't exist? You build them. JMJ Catholic Planner was born from a simple need for a quality Catholic homeschool planner. Ludus Catholic Games grew from the realization that Catholic families deserved better game options. Holy Scholars came from seeing a gap between what Catholic and Protestant homeschool communities had available. Three brands, one mission; building faith centered resources for Catholic families that actually measure up. Built by a homeschooling mom, powered by a family of creators.
Navigator
AKA Mom
The one who started it all and somehow still finds time to read everyday. With a Master's in Mathematics, an undergraduate in Application Development, and a Master's in Software Development in progress, she is the backbone of the backend and the keeper of the budget. Organized to her core: which is either impressive or a coping mechanism after years of raising four creative chaotic boys, she gives the ship its direction without needing to steer every wave. Homeschooled all four from the very beginning, fueled by faith, strong coffee, and the occasional desperate search for peace and quiet.
Rebooter
AKA Dad
Known as the quiet force behind the operation. With a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science, he's the one who speaks fluent hardware in a house full of programmers. When something electronic breaks down, everyone knows who to find. He may prefer to decompress in peace after work, but don't let the quiet fool you, his steady support keeps this whole operation running. Sound familiar? Let's just say The Reality Checker didn't fall far from that tree. One day the goal is to trade the commute for the home office, and honestly, we're all rooting for that reboot.
Digital Forger
AKA Oldest Son
This is our resident "what if we just tried this?" developer. Majoring in Computer Science and Video Game Design, he's the one who turns wild ideas into working code before anyone even finishes the sentence. When he's not chasing his next cool project, he's taking hand-drawn artwork and forging it into digital life for our family's board and card games. Equal parts coder and creative, The Digital Forger keeps things light, keeps things moving, and somehow makes it all look fun.
Creative Daydreamer
AKA Second Son
Our laid back, never-short-on-ideas artist. Majoring in Information Systems, he's the one with ten game concepts brewing before breakfast. Every day brings a new page, a new character sketch, a new "what if we made this" idea. He's the original spark behind our family's physical game creations, putting pencil to paper so The Digital Forger can bring them to life digitally. Easygoing by nature but endlessly creative by design, The Creative Daydreamer is proof that the best ideas start with a blank page.
Reality Checker
AKA Third Son
This one is our quiet storm. Serious on the outside, family comedian on the inside, he's the one who keeps our wildest ideas grounded. Future Electrical Engineering student with a knack for knowing exactly why something won't work before anyone else figures it out. When he's not deep in an adventure game, he's curled up with a good book or dropping electronics specs into conversation like most people drop song lyrics. He's also been known to eye his brothers' laptops a little too closely, parts are valuable these days. Every great team needs someone to say "are we sure about this?" that's him.
Chatty Caffeinator
AKA Youngest Son
He might be the youngest, but our high school coder hasn't met a silence he couldn't fill. Math comes naturally, coding comes naturally, and apparently so does knowing exactly when the rec room restocks the free coffee and popcorn. Living the RV park life means the rec room is never far, which is very convenient for his every one to two hour movement breaks. Don't let the coffee runs fool you though, this child coded a day trading program on a TI calculator and is currently building his own minesweeper game from scratch. He's just getting started, but something tells us The Digital Forger and The Creative Daydreamer should keep an eye on their laptops and what games mysteriously show up.
Fun Q & A
Q: What do you get when 5 out of 6 family members can code?
A: A household fluent in over 20 programming languages, where "did you debug that?" is a completely normal dinner question and the one who can't code is outvoted on everything.
Q: How many college art classes has the family taken?
A: Over five college art classes including 2D digital media, 3D digital media, digital art foundations, art of story telling, drawing, and more planned. None of them were taken just for the grade. The professors probably expected portfolios. They got board games instead. We consider that an upgrade.
Q: How long have we been homeschooling?
A: Since 2009, 17 years and counting of lesson plans, curriculum gaps, and quietly muttering "I'll just make it myself." That's how we got three brands, a family business, and a caffeine dependency we don't talk about. You've been warned.
Q: How many books does this family read?
A: Over 600 books a year versus exactly three movies. Three. We're not sure how that deal got made or who agreed to it, but here we are and frankly we're thriving. We regret nothing.
Q: How many trips does someone make to the rec room daily?
A: Somewhere between 3 and 8. Sometimes it's for coffee (half ice, half coffee, very specific, don't mess with the ratio), sometimes it's for popcorn, and sometimes it's just because sitting still is overrated. We've stopped asking questions.
Q: How many games have we made?
A: Two professionally published and more homemade ones than we can accurately count. It started with "wouldn't it be fun if" and escalated quickly. At some point "let's make a game" stopped being a suggestion and became a personality trait. Send help. Or more card sleeves.
Q: What's the most common conversation in this house?
A: Someone calls out "Mom." She answers "Yes?" They say "Nevermind." This is a daily occurrence. In retaliation she now calls each of them just to say "I love you." Nobody is safe. It is psychological warfare and she is winning.
Q: What happens when a family member's laptop gets too old?
A: Apparently, it quietly gets flagged as a parts opportunity. Computer parts are expensive, data centers are greedy, and someone in this house has done the math. No laptops have gone missing yet and we have not confirmed identities. We are watching. The laptops are watching. Everyone is watching.