Susan Chestnut

Background

About Susan Chestnut

New passion: working with refugees. I am in awe of my students. They have more courage and resilience then can be imagined. I teach citizenship and ESL to adults who have never been in school and have no literacy skills. Can you even imagine? So much determination, humor, willingness to trust, willingness to learn. So proud of the the work I do, of the programs I am developing, most of all of my students. Such pride and joy registering new citizens to vote. Working with adults and children that no one wants is the best thing I do in the world. Cliche you say, perhaps.but absolutely true for me. I am an educator and psychotherapist, but I see myself as a planter of seeds. I nurture ideas, creativity, courage, action, choice, respect, responsibility, knowledge. I may never see what grows but I know that flowers bloom. As a teacher I create for my students an environment in which they are safe, valued, and accepted. I believe that children learn best through play. They must be able to explore and experiment to make sense of the world. I also believe in student directed learning. I trust my students and am willing to follow them to places of learning and understanding that I could not have imagined. I am a global citizen. I have worked in 4 countries very different from my own. I learned through much error and determination to be a part each community in which I lived. I love having shopkeepers and street vendors know me. I show respect and and eagerness to learn culture and tradition. I have come to understand that communication is much more then the spoken word. I can think of no greater compliment then being told by the tuk-tuk driver I used everyday when living in Chiang Mai, Thailand that I was not an American lady, I was a Thai lady. Children, adults, families, diversity, communities, helping others to create the lives they want and to become active participants in life. This is my work, my passion, my commitment.