Today we’d like to introduce you to Eileen Smyth.
Hi Eileen, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
My life as an educator began back in 1994, when I taught darkroom skills to photography students at SUNY Old Westbury. From there, I traveled to South Korea to teach English in a “hagwan,” or after-school tutoring program. Upon returning to the states, I was lucky enough to teach art at community arts councils. Next I moved on to teach in public schools, adding more certificates to my teaching credentials. By the time I left public school teaching, I had worked in most of the major subjects, English, Social Studies, Science, Math and Visual Arts.
In 2015, I helped open Bucks Learning Cooperative in Langhorne, PA, a self-directed learning center for teens who want to be the captain of their education ships, while earning a state-issued high school diploma. These kids are legally homeschoolers, but instead of sitting at the kitchen table with Mom or Dad to fulfill their requirements, they come together in our center to take classes, go on field trips, do independent studies, and more!
I’m still at BLC, the most challenging and rewarding job of my education career. Over the last decade, I’ve seen many kids off to college, trade school, and sometimes unique adventures including the performing arts, agriculture, and business ownership. I feel so very fortunate for the opportunity to work with the sort of teens who forge their own paths through life.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There’s no royal road to education! It requires taking a lot of university courses and professional exams. Afterwards, a teacher may find themselves navigating a job market that can be perplexing at times. I’ve been very lucky to be able to work abroad, as well as with all sorts of teens here in the US. While some of the kids I’ve worked with have presented me with challenges, I’ve found that no matter where you go, kids are eager to learn. Respect them, connect with them, and they will trust you!
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I serve as both an administrator and teacher for a local self-directed learning cooperative. I deal with parents, teens, teachers, community members – really, anyone who may be connected to youth.
I’m most proud of the kids I’ve known throughout my three decades of teaching! They’ve been brave, creative, funny, dedicated, curious, and wonderful in every way. It’s been an honor to work with all of them.
I think my background is unique in that I came to teaching after working for a newspaper, a bank, a master leather worker, and more. In early adulthood I was clearly seeking something, and finally found it when I began to teach. But even in teaching I have a much more varied experience than most, having taught abroad and at home, for both private and public institutions, covering all major subjects, teaching and administrating together. I’ve been both in and out of the box!
What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?
Parent and student desire for community cooperatives and learning pods is growing and will to continue to grow, perhaps exponentially in the coming years, if federal vouchers become available and cover homeschool students. People are seeing the tremendous value of small classes, close mentoring relationships, and an education plan that addresses the whole child. Especially in these days of accelerating technology, people want to be sure their kids are really learning, and not just being propelled downstream by a political and economic process without any guiding star to point them in the direction that will best serve their future.
Pricing:
- Flexible tuition!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://buckslearningcooperative.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bucks_learning_cooperative/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BucksLC/
- LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/company/bucks-learning-cooperative/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@buckslearningcooperative2082/videos
