Genuine class acts
Published 9:00 pm Saturday, September 1, 2001
By Eric Stevick
Herald Writer
Kirk Kaas-Lent listened to that inner voice that so many of us tune out and dismiss as impractical.
As marketing director for the 15,000-member International Society for Optical Engineering, he spent years delving into the realm of science, engineering and cutting-edge technology.
He made a good living, and he saw the world.
Yet, as he crossed the threshold into middle age and watched his own two children grow up, an endearing part of his past kept nudging him, tugging at him and finally prodding him to leave the comforts of his profession.
And that is why, at age 48, with a graying beard framing a friendly smile, he was decorating Room W-1 at Presidents Elementary School in Arlington last week.
On Wednesday, Kaas-Lent will begin a new phase of his life as a kindergarten teacher.
With no regrets — "zero, absolutely none," he says emphatically — he has left behind a world of medical imaging, laser chips and fiber optics for the alphabet, glue sticks and Crayolas.
He will no longer converse with world-class scientists but will spend his day in the company of 5-year-olds. He has traded his travels across the United States and Europe for the daily I-5 commute between Bellingham and Arlington.
He will earn a paycheck that is less than half of what he once made.
The payback: He will be fulfilled.
While roughly 2,400 Washington teachers leave the profession each year for a variety of reasons, including money, another group of 30- and 40-somethings — be it an accountant in Mill Creek or a construction supervisor in Marysville — is gravitating to school this fall with altruistic dreams. Each feels a calling to the classroom.
"As long as I can remember, I wanted to be a teacher," Kaas-Lent said. "It sometimes takes you years to get back to the original path.
"I think it was the impact that educators had on my children," he said. "I want to be part of this group of people that have such a dramatic impact on young people’s lives."
His path brought him back to college and 14 months without an income. All of a sudden, he was paying tuition for two — his son and himself.
As a student teacher and Ironman triathlete, he learned a day with active kindergartners can be more tiring than a flight to Frankfurt, Germany, followed by 10 hours of working a trade show at the world’s largest book fair.
Nonetheless, he is delighted to have his first teaching job as he searches for a new set of life’s rewards.
"With kindergarten, they don’t hide the Ah-ha! of learning," he said. "They wear it on their faces. There is the Wow! factor. When they get something, their eyes light up, and there is just no shyness about the learning process."
Like Kaas-Lent, Elona Loewen is a rookie teacher in her 40s anxiously waiting her first day at Heatherwood Middle School in the Everett School District. The mother of three is trading an accounting career to teach math.
"I always knew I wanted to teach," she said.
Yet, when she was in college in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the job market for teachers was tight. She opted for the safe bet.
It didn’t take long as an accountant before that niggling desire to be a teacher surfaced. She married and started her family. All the while, the idea remained in the back of her mind.
When she would walk onto her daughters’ campus, the smell of school would entice her.
"I finally just thought, ‘I am not going to get any younger, ’ " she said. "If I am going to do it, I have to do it now."
This year, she will teach remedial math classes. More than anything, she said she wants to instill confidence in her young charges.
"I just want to help them learn to believe they can learn math," she said. "I just want them to find success and feel more comfortable that they have the ability to learn."
At 35, Leo Clapp will begin his teaching career Tuesday in a portable classroom at Marysville Middle School. He has left a lucrative career as a construction superintendent responsible for building homes in new neighborhoods.
Now he wants to build the skills of sixth-graders in reading, writing and social studies.
At college in his 20s, he chose a construction management major largely for the money, he said.
Over the years, he would notice the stress in the lives of his teacher friends, but also their profound joy. It was the joy that stuck out in his mind. He knew he, too, wanted to be a teacher.
For five years, he contemplated — "waffled" is his word — the career change. Time and time again, he would run the numbers over and over in his head, searching for some financial justification.
In not too many more years, if he had been willing to drive farther and work longer hours, he could have reached a six-digit salary.
With his wife’s blessing, he squirreled away the tuition money and took the plunge. He just wanted to be "a good influence" on young people.
Yet, the day he returned to college at age 33, there was a moment’s trepidation.
"Oh my gosh," he thought. "What am I doing here?"
As time wore on, he knew he had made the right move.
Today, less than 48 hours before his first day as a teacher, he is at peace with that decision.
"I feel like this is where I am supposed to be," he said.
You can call Herald Writer Eric Stevick at 425-339-3446
or send e-mail to stevick@heraldnet.com.
