Alicia Flint, the New Food Sciences and Child Development Teacher

Flint brings new ideas and a fresh perspectives to her field.

Alicia Flint having fun on a summer day

by Benjamin Thompson, Reporter

Alicia Flint is a first year teacher at Central Kitsap High School. Flint teaches Food Science, Foods Two and Child Development. Flint has a degree in Family and Consumer Science Career and Technical Education teaching that she received from Central Washington University. This allows her to teach Home Economics too, not just what she is teaching now.

I really liked the ability to teach so many different things because I teach three classes right now,”said Flint, “I teach child development, food science and foods 2 which I think is super cool. I like to be a jack of all trades.”

Flint was a student teacher last year so she is familiar with the remote teaching style, but she also knows the difficulties of teaching now. 

“I do feel like sometimes students don’t know how to be in school anymore,” Flint said “And that’s really tough to be able to teach because a lot of students know how to complete a worksheet now, but not speaking and listening.”

Alicia Flint teaching Foods Two class.

Flint believes that her classes would be easier to teach and easier for the students to learn if the pandemic was over.

“A lot of my classes are really based on group activities, which I’m partially inhibited because of,” Flint said, “I think I would try to do more group activities where we can share things where we can blend a little bit more.”

Flint also collaborates with other home economics teachers from other schools like Elaine Schick, the Home Economics teacher for Olympic High School. Flint has trouble collaborating with teachers from the same school, because she is the only Home Economics teacher.

“[When we collaborate] we discuss curriculum, we discuss applying information and techniques, we discuss the hands-on aspects of food labs,” Schick said.

Flint’s students really like her and her teaching style, with worksheets, slides and labs. 

“She is very fun and we always have little paper activities, and fun slideshows and stuff,” said Hanna Hoshins, a student of Flint’s.

Alicia Flint teaching using her Day of the Dead slideshow.

Career and technical education (CTE) teachers teach more on the philosophy of visual, audio, or hands on learning, as opposed to traditional learning.

“[CTE Teachers] have a philosophy of teaching to all different learning styles,” Schick said, “So in some classes traditional learning, they only teach to people who learn from a textbook, read it and regurgitate it. So read it, take a test, read it, take a test, read it, take a test. Whereas with a CTE class you learn by doing.”

There is a shortage of CTE teachers due to COVID-19 and the fact that the majority of new teachers coming into the field are English and History teachers.

“There are too many history teachers and English teachers are a dime a dozen,” Schick said, “They have a tough time getting a job right out of college, but there are not enough family consumer science teachers… Central Kitsap school district is fortunate to have Miss Flint, but Central Kitsap High School is very fortunate. She comes with fresh ideas and a new perspective, vast amounts of knowledge, and a love of what she does.”