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Sharing the stories of families who have chosen careers in Colonial.

Who knew a stolen bike would bring two people together, but that’s exactly what happened between two Colonial educators, Karen Keys and Kendra Hastings. In 2018, Karen made a social media post about her bike being stolen. Kendra reached out to her to let her know her dad had a few extra bikes if she wanted one and well, the rest is history. Karen, who has worked at Colonial for 11 and a half years, is a special education coordinator at William Penn. Kendra, an 18 year employee, teaches 7th-grade English at George Read Middle School. The kindness shown by a fellow employee when her bike was stolen comes as no surprise to  Karen with both sharing the same sentiments, “Colonial is a family.  We have each made friends who will last a lifetime.  And since Colonial is so large, we oftentimes run into former students in the most random places and it brings a smile to each of our faces.” in 2020 the couple married with many Colonial co-workers in attendance. When each lost a parent a week apart they say Colonial’s were there for them and in October of 2022 helped them welcome their daughter Sawyer into the world. Both are passionate educators who say the best part of working in the same district is being on the same schedule that makes planning vacations and day dates simpler. As for the future Kendra says, “We both plan on retiring from Colonial and continuing to try to better this part of our world!  Colonial is where we met…it will always be a part of our story.” Karen agrees adding,“WE” are proud to be Colonial employees.  “WE” got into education to better the world and do good, and “WE” both feel “WE” have done that!