I dreamed I stood in a studio And watched two sculptors there, The clay they used was a young child's mind And they fashioned it with care.

One was a teacher; the tools she used were books and music and art; One was a parent with a guiding hand and a gentle loving heart.

And when at last their work was done They were proud of what they had wrought For the things they had worked into the child Could never be sold or bought.

And each agreed she would have failed if she had worked alone For behind the parent stood the school, and behind the teacher stood the home.

-anonymous

Director, Toddler and 2/3's Class Instructor
Linda Harkness has taught preschoolers and parents since 1980 at Edmonds Community College, and since 1999 at Lake Forest Park Cooperative, where she is the parent educator and classroom teacher for the Toddler and 2/3s classes. She has studied child development and parenting for over thirty years. Linda grew up in Florida, got her BA from St. Lawrence University in New York, and studied for a Master's at the University of Montana. She taught for two years with the Peace Corps in Sénégal, West Africa, and one year in Tianjin, China. She is a true believer in cooperative preschools and her two grown sons, Devin and Ned, were both Shoreline Co-op kids. She is also passionate about reading, cooking, eating, travel, learning foreign languages, gardening and commuting by bicycle. She lives in Shoreline with her husband, Ed, who is a published poet and also an instructor at Shoreline City College.

Director, 3/4's, Pre-K, and Parent Education Instructor
Kathy Foster has been an Early Childhood educator since 1979. As the mom of Jaimie, Keri, and Lori she joined the Lake Forest Park co-op in 1990 and served on the board and in several committee positions during her six years as a member. In 2001 she became the parent education instructor and classroom teacher for the 3/4s and Pre-K classes. Kathy graduated with a BS in Early Childhood Education from the University of Maryland and taught for 12 years in Head Start, migrant programs, ESL programs, and regular public schools before she had her own children. She has a passionate commitment to family/community-based education programs for all children. When she is not teaching she likes to camp, cook, garden, read, knit, travel, and have tea parties with friends. She lives in Lake Forest Park with her husband, Don, who is currently dividing his time between Seattle and Copenhagen where he works for the Danish Company, NovoNordisk.

Photos courtesy of Mike Siegel