About Kim Rayl

Welcome to my WordPress blog! My name is Kim Rayl. I am a certificated teacher from Oregon with five years teaching experience. My certification is in the areas of social studies  (middle-high), and English Language Arts at the middle level. I completed a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) from Southern Oregon University in 2008. I worked as a middle school US History teacher in a temporary position for one year before pursuing teaching positions in fully accredited international schools abroad; I’ve worked in Egypt, Mongolia, Bolivia, and Indonesia. My husband and I returned to Olympia, Washington in the late spring of 2012 for one year. During this time I worked as a Behavior Therapist utilizing Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) therapy with two early learners on the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and began the C & I program through SPU.

I believe that teaching is not a static activity; it is essential that educators deliberately pursue a diversity of experiences and knowledge to support their professional development and growth. After five years of teaching, I am eager to expand my perspective and leadership beyond the confines of a single classroom; I am ready to take my career to the next level. I desire to work in ways that will positively impact the learning of all students in my school by supporting educators in their teaching and development of their instructional and curricular skills. As an initial step, I enrolled in the M.Ed. in Curriculum and Instruction program at Seattle Pacific University Autumn term 2012; though a cliche, I can soundly say that I cannot believe this is already my final quarter with graduation merely a couple months away.

Currently, I am working as an administrative intern at an accredited K-12 international school in Jakarta, Indonesia for the 2013-2014 academic year. I was also accepted into a principal’s certification program in October 2013 and plan to complete the requisite coursework and internship the end of September 2014. As an administrative intern, I work closely with the Head of School, admin team and faculty as we implement systems to revise and streamline policies and procedures, address teacher areas of need through focused professional development, and collaborate with a strategic planning consultant and school community to create a five-year action plan. It has been a busy year and a short stay; before coming to Jakarta for our one-year interim positions my husband and I had already signed contracts for our next international school in Lagos, Nigeria. We move to Lagos in July 2014 where my husband will be the Superintendent at our new school and I will return to the classroom to teach Grade 6 English language arts as I finish my Washington State principal’s certification.

When I’m not working at school or on my coursework, I enjoy running, lifting weights, reading, blogging and cooking. When we’re not living overseas, my husband and I spend the summers on our 44’ Hylas sailboat; her name is Journey.

Journey at Saddlebag Island, San Juan Islands, Washington State