In July, we were thrilled to welcome Teri Rutledge to our Rainier Scholars – Tacoma team as our new Associate Executive Director. Teri comes to us from Harbor School on Vashon Island where she served as Head of School for the past 5 years. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in U.S. History and Elementary Education from Western Washington University, a Master of Science in Curriculum and Instruction from Western Governors University, and a Master of Education in Private School Leadership at Columbia University. When she’s not diving deep into curriculum development and data analysis, she enjoys life on Vashon Island with her husband and nine-year-old stepson Henry, spending time outdoors hiking and tending her garden. We’re excited by the vast knowledge and experience Teri brings to serving our Tacoma scholars.
Learn more about Teri in her own words:
Tell us about your Rainier Scholars journey. What brought you to Rainier Scholars?
I’ve been working in education for about 20 years. I spent ten years in the classroom with elementary students, then I went into administration, always in Seattle-area independent schools. At Villa Academy, we partnered with Rainier Scholars and I had the opportunity to learn all about this wonderful program. I always found the Rainier Scholars students who came through Villa Academy to be bright, hard-working kids. I was lucky to attend a Rainier Scholars Luncheon where I got to see all of the high school seniors sharing their college announcements while proudly wearing their college hoodies. That was an incredibly inspiring event, and forever marked this program in my memory.
Having worked in independent schools for so long, I saw the big disparity in resources and access.
How do you support the mission of our organization?
When you’re in schools for 20 years, you see what it works and what it takes for kids to succeed and be on a good pathway. I often saw students gain access to opportunities not through merit or hard work, but because their families already had the resources and connections to open those doors. I wanted to shift my career toward increasing students who are just as talented and hard-working but aren’t automatically granted access to a range of opportunities. My goal is to remove barriers so that more students can pursue education that leads to greater career and life possibilities. same thing. By investing time in knowing all of our kids and our families, I hope to further our mission by diving in and understanding deeply who our kids are uniquely.
The Tacoma program is like a startup, and we’re unique because we’re specifically partnering with the public school system. We have four cohorts right now, with the oldest going into eighth grade. Because we’re partnering with public schools and not an independent school setting, we need to consider how we’re setting our scholars up to succeed in this different environment. Schools love Rainier Scholars because they know that our scholars are supported, bright, and successful. I believe that I have a lot of expertise and skills to help build out our program while building on our existing best practices. I love curriculum and program development. I’m excited to see how we can continue to evolve what’s been developed in Tacoma. I look forward to using the data we have to drive decision making and priorities.
What are some words of advice you might offer to your younger, middle-school aged self?
I was a classic twice-exceptional kid—bright and full of potential, but constantly told by teachers that I wasn’t living up to it. I rarely felt successful in school, so I set the bar low for myself and that became a self-fulling prophecy. I would love to go back and tell myself, “You’re truly smart and capable. You can do it. Dream big. Don’t shut the door on a dream or opportunity before you’ve even tried.”
What is something that made you smile recently?
The Tacoma kids work so hard during the summer program, and to celebrate, we went to the Firs in Bellingham. The Firs is a beautiful lakefront property with kayaks, paddleboards, a waterslide, and a shallow area for kids. They had a ski boat and were taking kids out on inner tubes. Every single kid was so goofy and had so much fun. They had the biggest, goofiest smiles on their faces. In addition to academic excellence, Rainier Scholars also values joy. And it was really great to see that aspect of the program play out through the retreat, and to see the kids have an afternoon where the only purpose was pure joy. Every single kid got in the water to do something, and had a ridiculous amount of fun.
What is the coolest personal project you are working on?
I started gardening when I was a first-time principal during the Covid-19 school closures because I needed a calming activity to counter the high stress levels of the job. It’s a nice way to get out of your head and get outside and lower your cortisol and stress level. Now I have a dahlia garden spread over multiple raised beds. As I said, I’m a bit of a “data nerd,” and I created a tracking spreadsheet for when each variety starts sprouting and blooming, and to keep track of the types we grow. The whole thing is a family affair—my husband Ryan built the beds, and last summer my stepson Henry got involved, cutting and arranging dahlias to sell at his “Snack Shack” lemonade stand in our neighborhood.