NAME:
Beth Calkins
SCHOOL:
Franklin Elementary School
CLASS:
APPLE 1
SCHOOL PHONE:
(509)354-2652 (Reaches my desk and/or voice mail.)
I have been a teacher for 18 years. My first five years were in the
parent participation kindergarten program called GARDEN. I have
taught at Franklin in the APPLE program for 13 years. I have BAs in French
and Political Science and a Master In Teaching, all from Whitworth College.
Both of my children went through the Franklin APPLE program. My daughter,
Emily, is 24, a graduate of Macalester College in St. Paul,MN, recently
married to wonderful Mark Charyk and now a graduate student at University of
Texas, Austin. My daughter, Julia, is 22, a licensed cosmetologist and
esthetician in Seattle and returning to school to pursue a degree in
nursing. My husband, Eric, and I have been married for 29 years.
In addition to teaching first and second grades, I taught a week
long art camp for children ages 4 - 13 for eleven years. I have
also taught music/movement and art to children 4 - 9 at the Spokane
Folklore Society's Family Dance Camp.
In my spare time I love to cook, read, travel. I have also been involved in
theatrical costume design for Spokane Interplayers, Spokane
Children's Theater and community youth theater program called CYT.
I am proud to have been chosen as the recipient of a Japan Fulbright
Memorial Foundation grant for 2008. I spent 3 weeks last year in Japan
learning about the Japanese education system and visiting classrooms in Tokyo
and Hiroshima. I am excited to bring my new learning back to our school and
community in accordance with the follow-on plan I wrote for the grant.
Franklin APPLE is committed to being a community of learners. The
first grade class is a place where children continue to
discover the joy of learning and increase independent learning
skills. Parents become active partners in their child's education by
working with all children in our program. We begin with Spokane Public
School's curriculum and work in concert to extend and enrich our
children's educational experience with hands-on activities and field
trips. We are part of the greater APPLE community which includes first,
second, 3/4 and 5/6 classrooms. We participate in many all APPLE
activities which further contribute to our sense of community.