Colin Bush – Social Studies Teacher

Location: Mercer Island High School

Job Description: Social Studies: Honors Humanities, and 12th Grade International Studies Teacher

Typical Day: Colin begins his day at 5:30 a.m. well before his students arrive, to plan lessons and choose texts that will help students understand real-world philosophy and how to apply it to events around the world. His Humanities class, in fulfilling the Contemporary Events requirement for seniors, is currently discussing Haiti’s recent earthquake. They are exploring how past thinkers have responded to natural disasters—how have they tried to answer these questions: “Why did this happen? Did God cause this? Did we?” They are currently reading Voltaire’s Candide, which was written four years after an earthquake struck Lisbon and killed a quarter of the population.

Best part of the job: Colin is passionate about teaching students to put themselves in the shoes of people from all walks of life, and to look at different sides of world issues. “Students are often only dimly aware of conflicts in various regions of the world. They tend to get a one-sided version from the mainstream media. I suggest that there is no ‘one’ story—that there is a range of opinions and experiences. I want them to discover their own beliefs.”

Something people may not know: After growing up in Kentucky and graduating from Oberlin College with a degree in Comparative Religion, Colin worked as a long-distance truck driver and as a landscaper. He moved to Seattle in 1993 with his Malaysian wife, Uma, whom he met while both were junior year exchange students in Munich, Germany. They have been married for twenty-one years, although it only seems like nineteen. He completed a Master’s in History at the University of Washington in 2002 and his Master’s in Teaching from Seattle University in 2007.

Years worked in the district: Three years.

Outside interests: Colin enjoys spending time with his wife and children Mirabai (age eight), Kabir (age six) and their dog Fela (named after a Nigerian musician). The family lives in North Seattle. He collects 60’s era blues, rock, jazz, and soul music, enjoys identifying classic cars, and usually likes the kind of movies best that end unhappily. His life’s ambition is to create a joke with universal appeal.