Kelsie Smathers

Originally from Bigfork, MT, Kelsie has been in the Moscow, ID area for the past 18 years. Kelsie experienced almost every form of education growing up. She was homeschooled, tutored, took online classes, attended a girls’ school, and finished her high school career at Logos School in Moscow, ID. She got married in 2011 and she and her husband Samuel currently have three children: Dominic (4 years), Trinity (2 years), and Natalia (9 months).

Kelsie began her career at the University of Idaho in the music department focusing on vocal education. After two years in that program she transferred to Family and Consumer Sciences. A couple years after completing her B.S. in Family and Consumer Sciences she came back to attain her M.S. in the same field. She worked closely with Dr. Nancy Deringer and focused on personal finance education.

Since then Kelsie has developed a love for teaching and has taught and developed a variety of courses for the college and high school level. These courses range from Personal Finance, Housing, Consumer Economics, and Kelsie’s personal favorite, Adulting. Kelsie has a passion for educating young people in the basic skills needed to be successful in life. She has also become an Accredited Financial Counselor through the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education.

Teaching Philosophy

Through a Biblical worldview I relate the subjects I teach to real-life situations and create hands-on opportunities for students to work through the material. I believe learning through experience is necessary to fully comprehend the topics I teach. Following a classical model, I believe a student learns best when material builds on what the student already knows, and they are then given the tools to evaluate and discuss what they learned.

Statement of Faith

There is one God in three persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Jesus is the Son of God, He died for my sins, rose from the dead, ascended into Heaven, and reigns with God the Father. The Scriptures are the inspired Word of God and hold full authority over my life. My family and I currently attend Christ Church, a Reformed Evangelical church in Moscow, ID.