The Whole Child Education
I heard great things about Seattle’s The Bush School and I was eager to be challenged in school again. Public high school was less than enlightening and I asked my mom if I could transfer during Spring Break of my freshman year. It didn’t give me much time to apply, but I couldn’t suffer through another year of big classes, bored teachers, and distracted students.
Upon admission to The Bush School I was thrilled. Although I had to commute 30-40 minutes (it ended up being closer to 1.5 hours on the bus), it was well worth it.
I stayed at Bush until I graduated. I took drawing, drama, computer arts, creative writing, regular core high school subjects, yearbook, and independent studies. I was thrilled that I could pursue my own interests with the help of a trusted teacher. When I wasn’t in class I was in plays (assistant directing and acting), using email (before it was popular), and playing soccer.
One of the requirements of Bush is to participate in an extra-curricular activity, during the school week, that took me outside of my regular studies. One year I worked for Seattle Commons. It was really exciting to get a first hand look at how the real world operates.
I wrote on my application to the school that I was interested in Amnesty International, a worldwide Human Rights ogranization. The first week, while I was shyly getting to know my new teachers, fellow classmates, and interesting schedule, my advisor walked up to me and asked if I wanted to talk to him about my experience with Amnesty International.
I was not used to teachers caring that much about my education, much less my extra-curricular activities. It was then that I knew The Bush School would change my life.
There are amazing components of The Bush School that contributed to my development as a active, progressive, global citizen. But what made the strongest impression on me was the teachers. I remember things my teachers told me more than ten years ago and they have definitely helped shape my life.
I was required to take Functions, Statistics, and Trigonometry. It was a grueling math class but if I was going to graduate, I had to endure it for a full year. I tried as hard as I could to understand the concepts, but the best I could do was C/D grade work. The teacher was great. She taught 11 kids through different learning styles (this was before I knew I was a visual learner). She was patient. She was entertaining. Too bad she couldn’t take my tests for me. During the year-end final, I asked to take it in another room. I didn’t need the stress of other students talking, finishing early, or asking questions. The test was supposedly an hour and a half long. I sat in that room for four hours. Most teachers would take the test away at hour two, but I was allowed to stay, work out problems on the board and ask questions for four hours. Looking back, I know that letting me work it out, no matter how long it took, was an important lesson for me to learn. I forgot how to solve math problems, but I never forgot what it felt like to problem solve on my own.
Another teacher simply believed in me. There were no touching Hallmark moments or after school tutoring sessions and Rocky theme songs…She just supported my desire to write. She treated me like a person, not a student of hers to be molded and criticized, but someone who already had ideas of her own. I have never forgotten that feeling.
One teacher told me I couldn’t get an ‘A’ in his class if I didn’t believe in myself. It was the first time a teacher had actually taken drastic measures to make me look at the way I looked at myself. I had self-depracating humor that ended up coloring how I did in my classes and my drawing teacher wouldn’t have it. I ended up getting a B…my work was acceptable, but my attitude wasn’t. From that point on, I realized that attitude was just as important as aptitude.
Since I graduated, I have been very clear that I want to give my kids the best education possible. Not just by way of a good school, but I want to offer them lessons I learned as well. I had a great time at The Bush School and I look forward to sharing that experience with my kids.
