What inspired you to choose these Egypt and Jordan for your sabbatical? During my time at Bertschi, I’ve had the privilege of traveling to some interesting places. In fact my travel buddy and best friend is Anne Echols, the first kindergarten teacher ever at Bertschi School. Anne travels extensively and invited me to go on a Nile River excursion to Egypt and Jordan. What are you bringing back to Bertschi from your time abroad? This question relates to the Bertschi mission statement. Brigitte Bertschi, our school’s founder, understood the value of travel, especially as it relates to our role as educators in supporting our students to become “compassionate, confident, and creative learners in a global community.” As far as curriculum, my primary goal was to help our young learners gain knowledge and wonder about both ancient and modern Egypt. While I was gone, teacher Sam and and TA Britt made a poster and timeline to help students track the journey and experiences as I traveled up the Nile River. They learned about various places along the way. By the time I returned, the children were already interested in and quite knowledgeable about ancient Egypt. I created a slide show to help them gain a sense of the people who call Egypt home. Five and six-year-olds are still learning that there are many ways people live in the world, many kinds of families, homes, religions, and so forth. Sharing travel experiences with children nurtures a stronger connection to the world as a whole.
What do you love most about Bertschi? The spirit of community and my co-workers. Equally important, I greatly respect and appreciate the school’s dedication to educating the whole child. A balance of academics, social-emotional learning, specialist classes, and the arts are truly valued here. This balance is one that I never take for granted. Any fun plans for the future? No international travel plans at the moment, although my husband and I continue to dream about and plan for a trip to New Zealand…one day! Every summer I spend a few weeks in Montana, my home state. Plans for hiking and floating the Clark Fork River are already in motion (somehow planning for summer makes the winter in Seattle less daunting).
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