On a typical Friday afternoon at the Bellevue School District’s Kelsey Creek Homeschool, Susan Pynchon works with her students one-on-one, guiding them through a hands-on history lesson on Japanese culture and immigration.
The group of 10 students spent their class time developing a fictional character of Japanese decent who lived in Seattle around 1941. The students took on a new name, occupation, relatives, education level, and overall understanding of the hardships of second generation Japanese-American citizens during those days in Seattle.
Pynchon shares her love of teaching with her students on a daily basis. She earned a Masters degree at the University of Washington and went on to get her Ph.D. She quickly realized she longed to be back in the classroom teaching young kids rather than hold the title of a professor at a university.
“My parents taught me if you are privileged you need to serve your community. I’ve had offers at private schools, but I want to use my gifts in an effective way,” she explained.
She joined Bellevue School District’s Parent Partner program at Kelsey Creek for homeschoolers in 2002.
“The homeschool program suits what I consider to be my abilities and talents almost, if not, perfectly,” Pynchon said. “I can teach far more effectively when I can see each child’s ‘whole picture’ with the help of their families and when I am working as a partner with parents to provide children an education that works best for each of them.”
Pynchon teaches both English and Social Studies, often blending the two studies to achieve a greater learning impact.
“In my classes, the kids write a lot in both subjects, but they often don’t think of it as writing because I make it very interactive and fun,” she explained. “I try to know my students individually and then I try to maximize their potential. I have always believed strongly that relationships, with the student and the parents, are the core of education.”
Kelsey Creek Home School (KCHS) is temporarily located at Bellewood and provides learning experiences for students that are consistent with the state’s alternative learning experience requirements. Through the program, students and their parents can design a portion of the learning experiences under the supervision of school staff as well as outside the regular classroom. The program has about 186 registered students and offers 120 classes to students ranging from K to 12. Full time students commit to 25 hours of in-classroom schooling every week.
“Most students split their learning between their home and Kelsey Creek as well as other offsite learning opportunities,” explained Wendy Yee, a parent of a Kelsey Creek student. “Beyond Kelsey Creek, my children also go to Bellevue Country Day School for science enrichment as well as the Northwest Chinese School for foreign language.”
Although the students of KCHS are thriving, the program is limited on space. The 189 students occupy eight rooms at the Bellewood facility, a space they also share with Eastgate Elementary school students whose school is being rebuilt. Next year, KCHS will share the limited space with Ardmore Elementary as well as the Cascade program.
“It’s fair to say we need more space for our program,” said Yee. “These students deserve a secure and spacious environment to learn just as much as the next student in the Bellevue School District.”
Pynchon’s classroom holds a number of desks, a white board, and an arts and craft cupboard. It also holds a divider leading back to the student restroom. During class time, students come and go on a continuous basis. The student’s are often disrupted from their task at hand.
“We hope the new superintendent of Bellevue schools will have respect for our program and realize the importance of education to every child no matter how they choose to obtain it,” Pynchon said. “This is a very viable program and I stand behind it one hundred percent.”
Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425.453.4602.
