We’re excited to feature IslandWood’s EEC Class of 2023 grad Shoopie Panholzer, who has remained deeply connected to IslandWood’s mission and community while building a meaningful career in education.

Shoopie currently works as an Associate Teacher at an independent school and contributes to IslandWood’s Community Events team. Her work reflects her passion for connecting with students, fostering curiosity, and sharing her love of nature. In this Q&A, Shoopie shares how her IslandWood experiences continue to inspire her teaching, the creative ways she integrates those lessons into her work, and the projects that bring her joy and hope.

What are you up to professionally these days?

After completing IslandWood’s graduate program, I went on to earn my master’s degree from UW and took some incredible classes that were enriched by my time and experiences at IslandWood. During that time, I stayed in contact with the community events team at IslandWood and started working part-time for the team. In the same month I graduated from the University of Washington, I began working at an independent school in Bellevue as an Associate Teacher. I was able to make connections with the school because the lower school science teacher had been in IslandWood’s graduate program the year before me, and the fourth-grade class visits IslandWood for the School Overnight Program, which they absolutely love! Between working at the school and continuing to support IslandWood’s community events, I get to do all the things I love. I share my love of learning and connecting with children and have the opportunity to share my love of nature with my community. I am fortunate to explore so many aspects of my curiosity every day.

Is there anything particular about your IslandWood experience that you’re leaning on or leveraging in your current work?

Because I work at an independent school, we have significant freedom to design a curriculum that effectively serves our students. One of the skills I learned at IslandWood is being able to adapt an activity to better suit the needs of the students or the themes we are focusing on, and that has been incredibly helpful this school year. We are currently working on a unit about the First Nations Peoples of the Northwest Coast, and many of the resources and connections I made at IslandWood have enriched the unit, grounding it in experience and place for my students. We are striving to develop it into a more inquiry-based unit this year, incorporating small-group question generation, research, and discussions that lead to sharing discoveries, building connections across groups, and deepening learning by allowing students to explore their own questions.

What book, article, blog post, or podcast has most inspired you lately?

I have enjoyed reading some of the middle-grade chapter books my students are exploring! They are so much more interesting and engaging than many of the books I remember reading in fourth grade. Currently, I am reading a historical fiction novel titled “Safiyyah’s War” by Hiba Noor Khan, and I find it captivating! Her writing vividly paints the story, keeping me deeply engaged.

What’s keeping you feeling hopeful?

Some of my students are helping me to propose a garden to be built behind our classroom on campus. It began with a few students who quickly finished assignments and my hope to make better use of the outdoor spaces on campus, but it has expanded significantly in a short time! They are dreaming up so many ideas for our community to use a garden as another outdoor learning space. A few other students heard about my hopes, and now so many fourth graders want to help make a learning garden happen for our community! They have embraced the idea and taken it beyond my expectations, bringing me immense joy as I see their passion and enthusiasm flourish.

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Learn more about our graduate program in partnership with the University of Washington here.

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