Susan Cole O'Malley
Grades One and Two
Explorer Community School

Mrs. O'Malley is a veteran teacher with over 35 years of teaching experience. She graduated from the University of Kentucky with a BA in Education and earned a Masters in Special Education from Eastern Kentucky University and a MA in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Washington.

She enjoys reading, traveling the world and being in nature.  She brings that love of nature into her classroom.  "Gardening with nature and for the local food bank, community outreach through education, art and the love of literacy are the joys I bring to the classroom experience," says Mrs. O'Malley.

She enjoys teaching at Explorer School because of the strong sense of community and a love of life long learning the school creates for each of her students.  "I love knowing all the children in the Explorer families.  We are a team; working, learning and living life together."

Nikki Ames
Grades Three and Four
Explorer Community School

Mrs. Nikki Ames is in her sixth year of teaching and considers her self a life long learner! She graduated from the University of Wisconsin of Eau Claire with a BS in Elementary/Middle Education with a concentration in Language Arts; she then went on to earn her Masters degree in Library Media Science.

Mrs. Ames brings her wild love of literature and writing to our students. She is passionate about her students learning from great authors and using their work as inspiration to develop their own writing voices. She has a strong belief in hands-on, student-driven, and imaginative learning and creating.

Her students will get to know her friendly golden retriever Willie Nelson through her writing and daily Willie stories. Mrs. Ames believes that students need to be connected to the learning through their own life experiences – she works hard to draw those real world connections.

Mrs. Ames is excited about being a member of the Explorer learning team! She values working in a partnership with the community, the families, and of course the students. Don’t be surprised to walk into her classroom and hear campfire singing, see students writing and sharing as authors, or see problem solvers huddled together discovering new strategies. Learning is active and should be experienced!

David Leviten
Grades Five and Six
Explorer Community School

Mr. David Leviten came to the profession of teaching with a strong science and math background. He graduated from the University of Washington with a BS in Chemical Engineering and then earned his Certificate in Elementary Education and Middle School Math and Science.

Mr. Leviten brings his love of music and the environment into his classroom.  As part of the Explorer teaching team, he was recently honored by King County as an "Earth Hero at School" for his work teaching his students how to reduce their carbon footprint through practical strategies to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gas emissions.

Mr. Leviten believes that students need to develop academic, social, emotional and organizational skills at school, and each skill is equally important. He provides his students with many opportunities for hands-on, interactive learning.  He believes that learning takes place in many different settings and environments and school should be a place where laughter and smiles should always be present.  His famous classroom "homework songs" are one of the many ways he gets his students joyfully engaged in a love of learning.

He feels fortunate to be teaching at Explorer where he feels students thrive in a multi-age environment with strong parent support.