Sophie K.
Sophie received her B.A. in an interdisciplinary Philosophy-Neuroscience-Psychology degree at Washington University in St. Louis. She completed her Masters in the Mind, Brain, Education program at Harvard’s Graduate School of Education. In her most recent role, Sophie worked at the XQ Institute to support a cohort of innovative high schools around the country through programmatic design, building communities of practice for school leaders to exchange best practices and lessons learned on the journey of rethinking high school.
Currently, Sophie is the co-founder of Wild Awake, a nonprofit that ignites BIPOC youth as joyful change agents for both people and the planet. As Director of Learning Experiences, she is committed to providing students with equitable opportunities to cultivate a love of learning and meaning-making. She harnesses her mixed-race identity of Japanese, American, and Eastern European ancestry to bridge Eastern and Western ways of knowing and creating.
Sophie’s training in executive functioning initially began with three summers of working as a clinician at a specialized learning center. There, she worked 1:1 with individuals across a spectrum of neuropsychological backgrounds, from students with ADHD and dyslexia to students with non-verbal autism, using research-accredited programs to teach individuals not only the mechanics of reading, but also to increase their higher-order critical thinking abilities.
After completing her undergraduate education, she worked as a paraprofessional in NYC for students with both mood and/or learning disorders in a special-educational setting. Sophie applied results and recommendations from neuropsychological testing to support her students in their growth, whether it was through previewing classes, transitions, and assignments, breaking instructions or tasks into simple steps, or supporting them in organizing and sequencing complex information to create an optimal learning experience. Most importantly, she personalizes her support to her students, capitalizing on their creativity and finessing activities to their attention and processing speeds.
Sophie loves sharing her enthusiasm for writing with her students. In undergrad, Sophie prepared high school students in a Creative Writing Institute for the rigor of college writing by providing extensive feedback on their creative and technical writing pieces. As a writing and college essay tutor, Sophie often witnesses varying levels of writing frustration; in response, she personalizes her own struggle and perseverance with the learning process, while empowering students to initiate and enjoy the challenge of self-monitoring and focusing their efforts.
When Sophie is not thinking about the means in which to nurture lifelong learners and changemakers, she can be found by a campfire, on the yoga mat, or planning her next backpacking trip! She has traveled extensively across the world, completing multi-week backpacking treks in Patagonia, Nepal, Guatemala, and South Africa. Next up is circumnavigating Mt. Rainier in Washington!