SPRUCE STREET SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONNECTOR 2019 SPRUCE STREET SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONNECTOR 2019 Editors in Chief Erica Greenberg, Kyle Menter & Neill Warfield Copy Editors Jane Davis-Ward, Guy Fineout & Shannon Orton Layout Editor Capri Arias Staff Reporters Amari August Charlie Ellinor Finn Fiona Gavin Izzie Kai Katja Leo Liam Max Niko Nolan Oliver Poppy Savannah Vivienne Head of School Briel Schmitz Publisher Spruce Street School Subscriptions 206-621-9211 914 Virginia Street Seattle, WA 98101 206–621–9211 www.SpruceStreetSchool.org SPRUCE STREET SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONNECTOR 2019 Welcome to the sixth edition of the Spruce Street School Community Connector! This magazine is filled with stories of people who worK in our changing urban neighborhood. Before you start turning the pages to meet your local business neighbors, let us introduce the authors: The writers are ten- and eleven-year-old students in their final year at Spruce Street School. Community is a core value at Spruce Street School. We believe “that it is important for students to feel connected and able to contribute to the larger community around us.” Most of these Moving-On students have been a part of this tight-knit school In these interviews, students learned community for six years, and all have made answers to questions such as: How are their marK. The school is clearly improved by people in this neighborhood contributing to the time they have spent here. As these their community? What do they love about students prepare to join new school their worK? What can we learn from them? communities in the fall, they ventured into the neighborhood around them to interview Combining online research and personal eighteen people who worK within a short interviews, students crafted the stories radius of our school. you hold in your hands. MISSION STATEMENT Spruce Street School is a nurturing educational community that instills in a broad range of children the social, emotional, and intellectual skills for lifelong participation in a diverse society. 914 Virginia Street Seattle, WA 98101 206–621–9211 www.SpruceStreetSchool.org DESIGNING AND COMFORT Meet Kate Sehulster: Interior Designer and Owner of Guesthouse even Indiana Jones! Then so important when you’re an eventually she found her love interior designer because you for interior designing when her constantly have to think of ideas family members were all doing to design the space the client jobs that were similar to interior wants you to. Kate says, designing, like being an “Guesthouse is different from architect and an artist. Those other interior designing jobs might not sound similar, companies because we but they both involve being sometimes incorporate vintage creative and designing. After and antique items when most Kate realized she wanted to be interior design companies an interior designer, she went don’t. I love using vintage items to college to get a degree in because of the way it looks and architecture. When she finished it gives it soul. It is also great college, she opened an interior way to stand out from other If you like creating spaces with design company called interior design companies. But decorations and furniture and Guesthouse. we are still thinking of things to making rooms more beautiful, make us different.” then being an interior designer On a typical day for Kate, she might be the job for you! This is does 90 percent designing and Kate helps the community by what Kate Sehulster, interior 10 percent selling. She has making people feel nice and designer, does. Kate works at also been preparing for cozy in their homes. She and owns Guesthouse, an Guesthouse’s big opening. designs their homes so they are interior design company in Kate also gets very unusual more stylish and just the way South Lake Union. requests. One time someone they want it. Now you know asked her to make their house Kate Sehulster, so if you need a Interior designers design land like Starbucks. Another time space to be designed, you areas such as parks, schools, someone asked to put a giant know who to go to. houses, and residential sites. poster in the living room that On a typical day, interior the other family member didn’t designers communicate with like. Another time a client asked other professionals, such as for a sky light in the basement! contractors, architects, engineers, and plumbers, to You’re probably wondering make sure their work is how she conquers all these successful. Besides the typical requests. Here’s how she does day, interior designers estimate it: she goes over to her material requirements and costs inspiration wall, which is a really and present the design to the cool wall with all these fabrics client for their approval. They and pictures of furniture, to get also might talk with the client to some ideas. Then sometimes BY AMARI determine factors affecting Kate’s business partner Katlin interior environments, such as says, “Idea!” and then she has budget, architectural some amazing idea of what to preferences, function and do with the client’s tricky purpose. request. Kate Sehulster is now an Kate says, “You always have to interior designer but when she be creative when you’re an was a kid she wanted to be interior designer.” Being many different things. She creative is a very important wanted to be a princess, an concept in interior design. It is architect, an FBI agent, and 2 SPRUCE STREET SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONNECTOR TEACHING SCIENCE TO KIDS Meet Amy Bergin: Purchasing Supervisor at Institute for Systems Biology and Owner of Rock Solid Science Amy Bergin is also a small Besides from her job she has business owner. She is the two kids. They go to school so founder and director of Rock Amy wakes up 5:45-6:00am Solid Science and teaches kids every day, then she drops her about rocks and geology. She kids off at school. When she comes into schools to teach comes to work, she works on classes where you can do her computer. And when she experiments to make learning has answered a few e-mails, science fun. She is also she usually goes to meetings available for hire at birthday and is constantly moving parties and summer camps. around. Her job is very service oriented. She helps order Amy has always been a service- supplies, manage the deliveries oriented person. She started and makes sure everything is in working at an ice cream shop the right place. Amy Bergin has always been when she was 13 years old. curious about science, and The shop was called Twist and Amy loves doing her jobs. They when she went to Colorado as Shake. She has been very are a perfect mix for her a kid, it kind of changed her life. curious about science since because she is teaching kids she was a kid, and when she about science and working at a Amy Bergin is a scientist. A visited the Rocky Mountains science company. It was lucky scientist is someone that likes and learned to pan for gold, it she had the chance to go to figuring out why things happen. inspired her to get into rocks. Colorado to inspire her to learn To figure out why something She also painted rocks and about rocks! happens they observe, measure sold them. She always had and communicate. They great science teachers. When observe to know what’s around she was 19 she started to take them. When they observe they geology classes in college, then use their senses. Scientists she finished school and wanted measure things. They use to move to the west coast scales, rulers, thermometers where there are big mountains. and other tools to measure There she applied for job at things. They communicate to camp Orkila, and taught share their findings, sometimes science to kids. Then she got the people they communicate to into biotech and worked at a life have a question or can help science company that did them figure it out. Amy works cancer research. After she had BY ELLINOR for the Institute for Systems worked there for a little while, Biology (or ISB) in South Lake she missed teaching science. Union as a purchasing She started to teach a few supervisor. There she is in classes, where she showed her charge of working “with rock collections and they loved employees to source, negotiate it! Afterward she thought she and obtain quotes for products could make a business out of it. and services. I’m the liaison Two weeks after she got a call between suppliers and from ISB, they asked if she employees.” She is also would like to work there, and of responsible for ordering lab course she said yes, but then supplies. she had two jobs! She has had these two jobs since 2011. SPRUCE STREET SCHOOL COMMUNITY CONNECTOR 3 THE WORLD BEHIND THE DESK Meet Matthew Santiago: Front Desk Supervisor at The Hyatt Regency front desk supervisors have a going okay. At 11:00, check-ins complex job. and check-outs start, so he makes sure that those are Matthew has lived in Hawaii for going smoothly. Eventually, he most of his life. He grew up has lunch, and then gets back there, and that is where his to work. Finally, at 3:00, occupational adventure began. Matthew heads home. As a kid, Matthew wanted to be a cowboy. That changed when While it may seem kind of he started high school. It was simple, Matthew’s job is far then that he decided that he from it. He has to deal with wanted to work at a hotel and many problems, like when he started studying travel and people come before check-in hospitality.