After 38 years in education, the Everett Public Schools & OnlineHS will say “Good Bye & Best Wishes” to an outstanding individual and professional educator: Kathy Seltzer.

Kathy was OnlineHS’s Subject Matter Expert in English and an experienced teacher who was instrumental in starting a number of important initiatives in the Everett Public Schools virtual learning program, including: College in the High School, Advanced Placement, and the OnlineHS Honors programs.

Additionally, she both developed and taught TWENTY courses that were continually updated and articulated to the Everett Public Schools curriculum in addition to meeting State & National Standards. This ensured students in the virtual learning program received the same, or better standards-based lessons & assessments that students in the district’s on-site high schools received.

Her intellectual brilliance was enhanced by her compassion for students and an ardent believer that ALL students had the potential and capacity for learning. A constructivist by nature, she enjoyed giving students the freedom and ability to choose how they were going to learn, meet standards and was a patient facilitator as she guided them through rich and rigorous learning experiences to produce exceptional demonstrations of understanding.

Kathy is a voracious reader and tirelessly edited and provided continuous feedback on student writing projects in her classes. She strongly believed not only in the need for students to write well for academic subject matter, but also as an important means of self expression. While her personal enjoyment is found in reading and writing, she was also an avid movie goer.

Every year she makes sure to see every movie nominated in the Best Picture category, of the Academy Awards. Two years ago, she got to share her love for the cinema with students, and the use of film as literature, when she developed OnlineHS’s popular Cinema Visions course (ENG541 & ENG542).

In retirement, the City of Everett resident is looking forward to being a grandma and spending time with two new grandchildren.

While Kathy will be difficult to replace and will be missed by her OnlineHS colleagues, we are pleased to welcome her replacement, Laura Wight to the OnlineHS team. The OnlineHS program will be well-served by Laura’s sixteen year’s experience in education!

NOTE: Kathy is the inaugural recipient of this new OnlineHS Hall of Fame Award. For a program that is rich in history for the 16 years it has been providing alternative learning opportunities for students in the Everett Public Schools, and as an early pioneer in online learning in Washington State, it’s only appropriate that Kathy’s dedication be recognized.