{"id":32195,"date":"2025-04-10T11:36:19","date_gmt":"2025-04-10T18:36:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/?p=32195"},"modified":"2025-10-21T16:14:57","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T23:14:57","slug":"a-passion-for-education-and-advocacy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uwb.edu\/news\/2025\/04\/10\/a-passion-for-education-and-advocacy","title":{"rendered":"A passion for education and advocacy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Caitlin Ehlers never expected she would one day be on the path to becoming a teacher. If she were to tell her 10-year-old self that she is currently student-teaching in a fifth-grade classroom, Ehlers said, that kid would be horrified. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI hated school. I really was not a fan,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I did always love learning, and I like people \u2014 and I found that, at the intersection of having not liked school and really loving learning, I\u2019m able to be a really good resource for kids for whom school is not a natural fit.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Growing up, Ehlers’ dislike of school stemmed from a feeling that many of the rules were arbitrary. In middle school, she remembers brainstorming with a friend about how the school experience could be improved. She wanted block schedules and freedom of movement but most of all to just be treated with respect \u2014 like an adult.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It wasn\u2019t until high school when she began taking community college courses that she realized what she had really wanted all along was college. Now, as a senior majoring in Educational Studies with an emphasis on Elementary Education at the University of Washington Bothell, she incorporates the things she loves most about college into her own teaching. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
And as the president of the 足彩app哪个是正规的 Washington Education Association, her passion for improving education extends well beyond her own teaching methods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Following a curlicued path<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Ehlers grew up in Michigan, where she completed an associate degree while in high school. She hoped to someday become an audio engineer, and she also had a passion for writing and LGBTQ+ activism. Unsure of exactly what she wanted to do, she set out to try new things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI knew I needed to be young and ridiculous for a little bit,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She moved to Oakland, California, where she picked up an interest in agriculture and gardening, and interned at urban farms. In 2016, she moved to the Seattle area and ran a small vegetable farm in Woodinville, Washington, for several years. She also worked as an after-school teacher at Kids\u2019 Carpentry Seattle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhile doing that job, I found that I really liked teaching and have a knack for it,\u201d she said. \u201cA parent of one of my students asked if I wanted to teach at a science program in Renton, and it got me thinking about what I wanted to do. It hadn\u2019t occurred to me that I could actually be a classroom teacher. It was a very curlicue route to get where I am.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So Ehlers went back to school in 2023. As a nontraditional student, she said she\u2019s grateful for the time she spent finding herself and exploring different opportunities before continuing her education. At 19, she would have struggled to sit down and do homework, and to commit to her schooling. But now, she finds that her studies come quite naturally to her. She even has the capacity to take on extracurricular activities \u2014 such as organizing a campus student union for future educators. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Getting involved for others<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
An interest in teachers’ unions was part of what inspired Ehlers to want to teach. She recalls listening to a podcast about the Chicago Teachers Union and its efforts to prevent school closures after the 2008 recession. \u201cHearing about the amazing work they did,\u201d she said, \u201cI realized that being a teacher could put me in a place where I can do a lot of good, beyond the teaching itself, and benefit the communities I serve.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Ehlers came upon the Washington Education Association table at a conference and learned about SWEA, she immediately signed up. And as there was not a UW Bothell chapter for the association at the time, she got to work organizing one. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t really have any guidance, but I was like, \u2018Put me in coach,\u2019\u201d she said. \u201cI want to help out.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
She started by speaking to others in her program to gather club officers. As a member of SWEA, she was excited by the opportunity to participate in real-world decision making. 足彩app哪个是正规的 representatives are able to attend WEA events, vote for delegates and initiatives, and even put forward motions of their own. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When the previous SWEA president stepped down last year, Ehlers decided to run for the seat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy platform was about how our greatest strength is each other and how SWEA should be a place for students to practice grassroots democracy and to connect with and support our fellow student workers,\u201d Ehlers said. \u201cI wanted to organize to build power and win paid student teaching in the state of Washington. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c足彩app哪个是正规的 teaching is an unpaid job, and that\u2019s a huge equity barrier.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n