Kathy Waites' Home Page

Our WebMaster

Randy's Picture My name is Randy. I also spent much of my youth in Friendswood, and have been Kathy's best friend forever, though we didn't see each other for years. We ran into each other years ago at my mother's office just before she started a math class. Being an engineer, I volunteered to help. I met her son, Travis, who became my SCUBA diving buddy. Gary and Kathy generously let me think of him as my own. Her husband, Gary, also started diving with Travis and me when work permitted. He is my best friend too, and became a PADI Divemaster, then Assistant Instructor, which excites me greatly, since we get to work together with classes. Their daughter, Sarah, is also my best friend. I can tell that because she grins and sets me straight when I tease her. It is rare to be able to pick a family for mutual adoption.

Well, it just seemed natural that when Kathy decided to go for a degree in teaching that we would all tag along and help when we could. I never had children. but always thought that teaching would be a great career - if you can afford it! A good teacher finds a way to make every event in a child's life, and every mistake, an opportunity to learn. All too often, parents scold the child for an error, thus losing that opportunity to nurture their thought process. Any time the child is gazing into the distance pondering something, an opportunity exists. Teaching is the art and/or science of causing the child to ponder the world about them while directing their thought process toward new understanding. Success requires an understanding of the child's world, a perspective that many adults have long ago forgotten. It also requires knowledge of the child's personal capabilities and limits, and a strong desire to extend them. These are but a few of the concepts that I've learned from Kathy in recent years.

The Internet became a prime source of knowledge and resources for education, so we figured we would see what's out there. Imagine a CD-ROM full of educational tools with hypertext search capability. Now, imagine the same thing without the space limits of a CD-ROM. Consider the vast number of contributors to that body of knowledge. The web is a huge filing system, with an index that grows daily. Kathy's links are only a few that she has visited and considered worthy of inclusion in a personal index. She is sharing that index with you in hopes that it is useful in locating resources easily, and in hopes that you will help her expand it when you find a really good site. Kathy still thinks in terms of getting on the 'Net and going OUT into a vast world. I consider it looking INTO my personal filing system, one whose content was supplied by others without my knowledge. We are working on that. :-)

Kathy has been really busy lately and would like to add more of her own content to the web when time permits. We would like to thank those who have taken the time to write us with suggestions. I would also like to thank George Burgyan of NetForce Development, Inc. for a great counter script which we use on some pages to help see what seems to be of interest to our visitors. I can assure you with great confidence that any typos or errors that you find on these pages are my responsibility. I've been known to correct a word from its proper spelling to my own preferred spelling, or to leave out (in)significant letters. We are working on that too. :-)

Thank you for giving me a moment of your time. I am sure you will enjoy your visit at KidQuest.

This website is in no way associated with
Quest Educational Foundation of Collier County, Florida that offers tutoring, mentoring and scholarships to students in Collier, County, Florida.