New Face Around Our Place: Kelly Lyn

IMG_0987
Kelly and her husband, Chuck, hiking in Glacier National Park

Kelly joins Todd as another new face in the sixth grade classroom. Welcome to TCS, Kelly!

About Kelly
My trail, as Edward Abbey would say, “has been crooked.” Rather than taking a traditional career path, I have definitely followed my bliss and my vision for what is possible – from being a university professor to an Outward Bound instructor. Through all of these experiences, I learned that my greatest love is teaching adolescents. Each day my students reflect back to me the joys and struggles of learning, as well as remind me of my own growth opportunities…

What are your favorite memories from your sixth grade year?
Sixth grade brought me new friends and new freedoms/responsibilities. I started at a new school that year, and for the first time in a long time, I really felt like I fit in and made many great friends. To get to school I took public transportation, which included transferring buses. I was thrilled that my parents trusted me to handle this challenge!

What can TCS sixth graders expect to learn and do this year?
TCS sixth graders can expect to continue asking and answering big questions in a wide variety of arenas. Students will face exciting, multi-faceted problems, be given a  wide variety of experiences and tools and be asked to develop rich answers – responses a Google search could never provide – and, from that, create even more questions.

What are you most excited about this year?
I’m most excited about two things. First, stepping into a learning community at TCS that is excited about taking risks, jumping in and exploring what’s possible in progressive education. Second, I believe that integrated project-based learning is what teams of professionals, in a wide variety of domains, are using to make a difference in the world. I love that we are turning our classrooms inside out this year and stepping over the artificial line between real life and school.

What are your favorite pizza toppings?
Pineapple and fresh basil, please!