December 9, 2014
By David Anderson
In the shadow of Chuckanut Mountain, on the north side of Old Samish Road, across from Arroyo Park nestled on a bank below a wooded hill is Childlife Montessori School. The school faces south as it occupies a red house with green trim. In the front yard there is playground complete with a shipwrecked boat painted in wild Caribbean colors. The place has little kid written all over it.
Kathie Wilson runs the school and she has, along with her husband Steve, for the past 34 years.
Her daughter Hanna serves as the administrative staff. Wilson and her husband are the teachers.
“It has pretty much been my life’s work. Not many people get to make money at something that they are passionate about and also feel like they are making a difference,” Wilson said.
Childlife School started in 1980. Today the classroom has 42 children ranging in age from 3 to 6. Wilson says that the school is like a little family with mixed age groups. The older children are able to mentor the younger kids.
According to Wilson several of the families that attend are on their second generation.
Adam Sherwood attended Childlife and has known Wilson for 30 years. His daughter Olive attended Childlife for two years.
He says that the Wilson and the nurturing environment she creates made a huge difference toward Olive’s positive social development.
“Kathie does a wonderful job with the kids,” Sherwood said. “Olive had a speech issue and we felt that the more structured Montessori environment would be better for Olive. She is now in kindergarten at Wade King and is doing really well.”
Wilson started toward a degree in education at Western. She knew she wanted to be a teacher by the time she was in the third grade. At Woodring College of Education she discovered she didn’t like the education model presented there. She shifted her emphasis to child psychology telling herself perhaps she could work with kids in a different way.
But it was while working a part-time job at the Bellingham Child Care Center that she made the discovery that would change her life.
It was there that she met Halle Vernon. According to Wilson, Vernon was a small Austrian woman that taught children using the Montessori Method.
“She was so insightful and caring. I thought, wait a minute this is what I want to do,” Wilson said.
During the mid '70s Wilson took a break from school and traveled to Texas where she served with AmeriCorps. It was in Texas that she met her husband Steve. While in the south she started taking classes on the Montessori teaching method.
Through these classes she discovered that Seattle University had “deep Montessori connections.” She made her way to SU where in 1977 she received her AMS Montessori certification.
Together with her husband they came to Bellingham in 1978 thinking that this would be a good place to settle down and start a school.
They did not yet own a house and couldn’t find anyone willing to rent one to them for use as a pre-school so they started the school in Wilson’s sister’s rental house on Grant Street.
Her sister and brother in-law had gone to be teachers in the Yukon and let them use their house while they were gone.
Shortly thereafter they bought the property on Old Samish Way and by 1980 Childlife Montessori School was open.
Travis Benson is a 36-year-old Bellingham resident and a graduate of the first class of the school. He attended for two years and then went on to Geneva Elementary, Whatcom Middle School and then Sehome High School.
“The strongest memory I have is of cutting myself and then dripping blood all over the floor,” Benson said. He said Steve Wilson was a really good teacher. He remembers learning to whittle.
Ironically Benson bought the house next door to the school. Didn’t plan it, it was just one of those strange life coincidences he said. He now has friends that have kids that go there; it’s come full circle.
Wilson and her husband are very active in the community of Bellingham and in the South Neighborhood. In 2002 Wilson helped to found “Sustainable Connections” which is going strong 12-years later with over 450 member businesses.
Derek Long is the Executive Director of “Sustainable Connections.”
“Kathie is an incredible person. Her school was one of the first member businesses. She never hesitated to help. In the beginning we had no budget, she could always be counted on to make calls and bring in members. She gave a lot of time,” Long said.
Today “Sustainable Connections” draws over 1,000 businesses from Bellingham, Whatcom and Skagit Counties to their events.
Wilson has also gone to Africa to volunteer; working with victims of aids through the “Slum Doctor Program.”
Wilson was recognized by the community for the work that she has done with children and for her many hours of volunteer work when in 2010 she was inducted into the Northwest Women’s Hall of Fame.
“It has been a beautiful life’s work to be in touch with so many sweet families,” Wilson said.
By David Anderson
In the shadow of Chuckanut Mountain, on the north side of Old Samish Road, across from Arroyo Park nestled on a bank below a wooded hill is Childlife Montessori School. The school faces south as it occupies a red house with green trim. In the front yard there is playground complete with a shipwrecked boat painted in wild Caribbean colors. The place has little kid written all over it.
Kathie Wilson runs the school and she has, along with her husband Steve, for the past 34 years.
Her daughter Hanna serves as the administrative staff. Wilson and her husband are the teachers.
“It has pretty much been my life’s work. Not many people get to make money at something that they are passionate about and also feel like they are making a difference,” Wilson said.
Childlife School started in 1980. Today the classroom has 42 children ranging in age from 3 to 6. Wilson says that the school is like a little family with mixed age groups. The older children are able to mentor the younger kids.
According to Wilson several of the families that attend are on their second generation.
Adam Sherwood attended Childlife and has known Wilson for 30 years. His daughter Olive attended Childlife for two years.
He says that the Wilson and the nurturing environment she creates made a huge difference toward Olive’s positive social development.
“Kathie does a wonderful job with the kids,” Sherwood said. “Olive had a speech issue and we felt that the more structured Montessori environment would be better for Olive. She is now in kindergarten at Wade King and is doing really well.”
Wilson started toward a degree in education at Western. She knew she wanted to be a teacher by the time she was in the third grade. At Woodring College of Education she discovered she didn’t like the education model presented there. She shifted her emphasis to child psychology telling herself perhaps she could work with kids in a different way.
But it was while working a part-time job at the Bellingham Child Care Center that she made the discovery that would change her life.
It was there that she met Halle Vernon. According to Wilson, Vernon was a small Austrian woman that taught children using the Montessori Method.
“She was so insightful and caring. I thought, wait a minute this is what I want to do,” Wilson said.
During the mid '70s Wilson took a break from school and traveled to Texas where she served with AmeriCorps. It was in Texas that she met her husband Steve. While in the south she started taking classes on the Montessori teaching method.
Through these classes she discovered that Seattle University had “deep Montessori connections.” She made her way to SU where in 1977 she received her AMS Montessori certification.
Together with her husband they came to Bellingham in 1978 thinking that this would be a good place to settle down and start a school.
They did not yet own a house and couldn’t find anyone willing to rent one to them for use as a pre-school so they started the school in Wilson’s sister’s rental house on Grant Street.
Her sister and brother in-law had gone to be teachers in the Yukon and let them use their house while they were gone.
Shortly thereafter they bought the property on Old Samish Way and by 1980 Childlife Montessori School was open.
Travis Benson is a 36-year-old Bellingham resident and a graduate of the first class of the school. He attended for two years and then went on to Geneva Elementary, Whatcom Middle School and then Sehome High School.
“The strongest memory I have is of cutting myself and then dripping blood all over the floor,” Benson said. He said Steve Wilson was a really good teacher. He remembers learning to whittle.
Ironically Benson bought the house next door to the school. Didn’t plan it, it was just one of those strange life coincidences he said. He now has friends that have kids that go there; it’s come full circle.
Wilson and her husband are very active in the community of Bellingham and in the South Neighborhood. In 2002 Wilson helped to found “Sustainable Connections” which is going strong 12-years later with over 450 member businesses.
Derek Long is the Executive Director of “Sustainable Connections.”
“Kathie is an incredible person. Her school was one of the first member businesses. She never hesitated to help. In the beginning we had no budget, she could always be counted on to make calls and bring in members. She gave a lot of time,” Long said.
Today “Sustainable Connections” draws over 1,000 businesses from Bellingham, Whatcom and Skagit Counties to their events.
Wilson has also gone to Africa to volunteer; working with victims of aids through the “Slum Doctor Program.”
Wilson was recognized by the community for the work that she has done with children and for her many hours of volunteer work when in 2010 she was inducted into the Northwest Women’s Hall of Fame.
“It has been a beautiful life’s work to be in touch with so many sweet families,” Wilson said.