This Staff Spotlight features a member of the College of Education community whose work supports students, faculty and programs across the College. Guided by a passion for education and service, they share what brought them to the field, what makes working in the College of Education meaningful, and the small moments that bring joy to their day-to-day work. Learn more about Laura-Beth Straight below!

Laura-Beth Straight, Program Coordinator

About me: I grew up in the Northern Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C. I loved my own academic experiences at the College of William and Mary, and Emory University. I didn't expect to find myself working in academia (in research, leadership development, and student services) but it's given me the flexibility to pursue a lot of volunteer work related to my personal mission of integrating spirituality, creativity and play, and creating more equitable community. Teaching workshops, improv, clowning, singing, hiking, and rowing have been some of my favorite activities in Seattle.

What I love about working at the COE: My very favorite things are working next to students and learning about their experiences and perceptions, volunteering for the Haring Center auction and encountering its great creativity, joy and generosity, and witnessing the daily changes in the beautiful trees on the quad.

A recent ‘small win’: Completing my holiday gift shopping and finding specialized ingredients for holiday recipes I'm planning to try.

What’s bringing me joy right now: My morning meditation sitting next to my lightbox. I have a goal setting app and I set up a prompt to take a picture of something that makes me happy every day. It's helping me be more observant of even the tiny things that bring a smile to my face (like the day I was taking a little walk across campus and a squirrel suddenly jumped out of the compost bin next to me).

A shout-out to: I want to thank everyone for the good work they're doing for the COE and celebrate each of us for being able to find even a moment of light in darkness, when we can.

Favorite holiday tradition, movie, recipe, book, or activity I recommend: I love designing and setting up a creative activity for my family on Christmas Day (this started during Christmas 2020 when I mailed ingredients for rice crispy treat sculptures).