Learner Spotlight: Katelyn Bright

Katelyn has been homeschooled her whole life and joined iLEAD Exploration three years ago. Homeschooling allows her to pursue her life passions, including dance. Katelyn’s love of dance began while she was still in diapers. She will dance anywhere – at the beach, in a parking lot, on top of a mountain, in the desert or at the hardware store. Her passion has taken her to New York City, San Francisco and Philadelphia for training. Her dream is to dance for a progressive company that integrates different dance styles and cultural representations.

Dance and training usually add up to more than 20 hours per week, but Katelyn has many other interests. Last year, she enjoyed participating in the iLEAD Artisan Boutique and the Science Fair. This year, she is taking her first community college course as a ninth grader. iLEAD gives her the flexibility to direct her education and allows time for her main passion, dance. She loves to learn about history, archaeology, cultures, food, and nature wherever she goes. The Mojave Desert is her favorite place for rockhounding and the Sierra Mountains are her favorite place for backpacking. This year’s ‘high points’ were Boundary Peak at 13,146 feet, New Army Pass, at 12,400 feet and Cottonwood Pass at 12,126 elevation. Next year she hopes to reach the summit of Mt. Whitney.

Katelyn knows that dance is usually a short career and has a “Plan B” for a career after dance. Since animals are a close second to her love of dance, she plans to explore the veterinary or marine science fields. During summer camp at a wildlife rehabilitation center in California, Katelyn worked with exotic animals, cleaned cages, and learned about animal nutrition. She is hoping to explore marine science in the future through community college courses and summer programs. One benefit of the pandemic has been the large amount of online educational resources from aquariums around the world. Katelyn spends any extra time watching videos and learning about ocean environments.

iLEAD Exploration is a great fit for someone who has so many interests and has a passion that is very time consuming. Katelyn is so thankful for her style of education. It has allowed her to design her life around the things that she loves.