Growing up in a world surrounded by teachers, Kelsey Moulton (NTHS Class of 2007) is no stranger to the education field. Her mother, sister and brother-in-law are all teachers too!

“I’ve been around teachers my whole life,” said Moulton, who now bleeds green instead of purple (she’s now a Career and Technical Education teacher at Timberline).

When Moulton was younger, she attended Komachin Middle School and later graduated from North Thurston High School in 2007. Self-described as “shy in big groups,” she did play fast-pitch and bowling and lettered in both. As a student, her favorite teachers were Mr. Smith and Mr. Olson. “Both related to kids so well, which made me really enjoy their classes!”

After high school, she continued her education at Washington State University, where she graduated in 2011 with a degree in Apparel Merchandising and Textiles. She went on to become a retail manager, where she instructed newcomers.

“In my past job when I was a manager for a retail store, my favorite part of the job was teaching people new skills, so that’s why I went into business and CTE,” Moulton said. This in turn translated into her current occupation of teaching students.

As a full-time and fully engaged business and marketing CTE teacher at Timberline, Moulton teaches digital essentials and photography. “I love this job because it’s different every day and mentally challenging,” she said. Along with teaching, she also manages the student store and is the Capital Region Adviser for the club Future Business Leaders of America.

When she’s not teaching, Moulton said she enjoys a really good cheeseburger and fries, doing calligraphy and hanging out with friends and family.

Kelsey continues on with her second year of teaching at NTPS with an open mind. “ I love that students and I feel supported - especially by my CTE director and my principal,” Moulton said.

“One thing this district is really good at is making sure kids have opportunities for different things.”

And what does she recommend to students who might be interested in following in her teacher footsteps? “Test drive it first. If you think you want to be a teacher, sit in on another teacher’s classroom; see if you can handle it and whether you want to be middle school, elementary or high school because you don’t know unless you actually sit in a classroom and observe.”

By Ashley Wang, Timberline Class of 2018. Community Relations Intern.