A glimmer of a possibility
Addendum to the LARP Blog Posts:
I meant to write more about the camp. I learned so much and had so many meaningful encounters with the kids that I wanted to capture. I'll get better at telling this story.
Regardless, now I’m preparing to start school on August 15th—a mere 44 days away.
Just last week, I was worried about finding students to fill my school by September. Now, I have "almost” 5 in just three days. I need 13. Will I get enough? I was initially planning to work with 10 or 11 students, but now it’s 13 because I approached a unique charter school here in Utah called Canyon Grove Academy. They offer extensive support to parents, including a full-time school and a day program where parents can drop off their kids one day a week. Kim Goates, the director, asked me to have 16 students. I told her I could manage 10. We decided to split the difference at 13. It will have to do. If things go well, perhaps we can expand next year into a bigger program with at least one more teacher.
I sat in the waiting room next to an aquarium and a very cheerful secretary who answered calls one after the other. A birdcage with yellow chirpy birds sat next to the aquarium. Soon, a door opened, and out came Kim Goates, the director of the school. She ushered me in and told me to sit anywhere. There was a loveseat and two chairs facing each other with a table between them. If this was her office, I wondered where her desk was.
Holding my resume, she blurted, “Well Kirsten, it looks like you’ll work just fine. I looked over what you’ve done and I think you are perfect for this job.”
She added, “And you worked at Lumen? (Another charter school where I had worked for several years.) They started the same time we did, and they have a similar population of students—a lot of homeschooled kids. It’s good to understand that.”
“Yes,” I replied. “I also homeschooled my own seven children for most of their education and was president of the Wasatch Home Education Network years ago.”
There were about 300 families that would get together for field days, spelling bees, and small classes focusing on all kinds of subjects, including theater.
She stood up and went to her computer. It was a standing computer, which is why I hadn’t noticed it. It was attached to an arm fixed to the wall. I’m sure those things have names—what are they called? Anyway, she obviously doesn’t sit much. While we were chatting, she sent a couple of emails with instructions to employees about the things we were discussing. One was to Jason, asking him to look into the possibility of using the 12-passenger van I had just purchased to shuttle my students around. She said it was doubtful it would be allowed.
Canyon Grove has animals and gardens, a rock climbing wall, and 3-D printers. They take the students on all kinds of field trips and offer specialty classes like literature and vegetable canning. It seems like the kind of school I would want to create. If I were able to start a school from scratch, it would have a cabin feel—maybe even a yurt. And just this year, they are adding microschools to their toolbox. I’m lucky to have heard about it in time. It means my students can now attend for free! It’s looking much more likely that I will fill my spots soon and begin this grand adventure, something I have dreamed of doing for a very long time.
There are some unknowns and a lot of work ahead of me to get ready for this first year of school as a teacher of 13 students, ages 8-12, in my upstairs apartment (if I get cleared by the city). One of those students will be my own son, who will turn 12 six days after school starts.
