Deer Park Home Link program was a perfect fit for Anna Smoll

As the daughter of a missionary pilot, Anna Smoll lived in Nairobi, Kenya, from age 3 to 6. That experience birthed a love of travel and adventure.

“I got to visit Kenya last summer for a month,” she said. “That was a lot of fun.”

The family settled in Kansas for a time, and when her parents told her they were moving to Spokane in 2009, she was less than excited.

“I was kind of a mess,” she said. “But when my folks told me there was CYT here, it gave me something to look forward to.”

Indeed, within her first two weeks in town she attended a Christian Youth Theatre class and was hooked.

“It felt like family right away,” Smoll said.

She’s been part of 20 shows, either on stage or working behind the scenes. Her deep involvement was possible because she was a student at Deer Park Home Link.

“We’re a parent partnership program,” explained Principal Molly Murphy. “We’re the only state in the country that has this type of program.”

Parents of home-schooled children and teachers from the Deer Park School District work together to define the educational goals and materials parents and students use at home.

“Anna has a solid maturity,” Murphy said. “She’s a good student and an extremely capable person.”

Smoll said Home Link has been a perfect fit for her.

“It’s an excellent program. Very adaptable to your educational needs,” she said. “You work at your own pace and everyone is really accepting and encouraging.

For the past two years, she’s attended EWU through the Running Start program. Literature and history are her favorite subjects.

“I like reading,” she said. “I enjoy Edgar Allan Poe and those creepy stories. I like classic literature.”

Through Home Link she also took additional classes like barista training and ballet.

“I took ballet through my sophomore year,” said Smoll. “The program is top-notch. I was also on the dance team and did jazz. I tried a lot of different dance styles.”

But her true passion is vocal performance.

“Singing has always been my favorite thing to do, and the music studio is my favorite place to be,” she said. “I have a special love for jazz. It reflects your mood and your environment. You just gotta relax and see what happens.”

Smoll will be attending George Fox University in the fall and plans to major in vocal performance. Her dream is to one day be a vocal coach and perhaps teach abroad.

“I’m excited for new adventures and I get to study what I love,” she said.

Murphy has no doubt that this student will go far.

“Anna has always known her mind and her skills. She assesses the world around her and knows her place in it,” she said. “She’s been on her way somewhere as long as I’ve known her. She’s one of us and we’re proud of her.”