Kali Gajewski
When asked how her time at Sedona Charter School helped shape who she is today, Kali Gajewski says “I think it gave me the ability to be more creative and more self-assured.” Kali, who attended SCS in grades 1-3 from 1995 to 1998, is now a social worker at Verde Valley Community Hospice. Kali reports that hospice work is particularly rewarding because it honors people at the end of life.
“I always knew I wanted to be a change agent. I like where I have ended up, back here in Sedona, with a career in social work.” Before taking on her current hospice position, Kali worked in mental health care. She became certified as an animal assisted social worker, partnering with her dog to reach troubled patients.
Kali has vivid memories of her time in the Lower Elementary classroom. She gained a strong academic foundation from Bob and Terri Wentsch, but she also remembers the classroom as a place of creativity and exploration. Her father volunteered as a pottery instructor. She loved playing fogelball and four-square, and will never forget the square dancing. She learned to play violin from Eve Schenck, and then began playing cello with Bob Wentsch.
Kali later attended West Sedona School and then Sedona Red Rock High School, where she was a key member of the Track and Field team and even won the state championship in shotput. Her success there earned her a scholarship to the University of Colorado at Boulder, where she earned Bachelor’s degree in Communications and Sociology. She followed that up with a Master’s degree in Social Work. “I really like school,” she says. “I hope to earn a Ph.D. eventually.”