Former preschool student becomes teacher’s math tutor

Published 1:30 am Thursday, June 18, 2026

PORT ANGELES — When Karen Archer enrolled at Peninsula College last fall to finish a degree she had been working toward for more years than she would like to count, she knew she would have to take a class in a subject she’d always avoided: math.

So Archer, 78, emailed the college’s Learning Center to ask for help. When tutoring coordinator Tulsi Marshall, 46, read the email, she immediately recognized the name.

“That’s my preschool teacher!” she said.

It had been more than 40 years since Marshall was a student at the Waldorf School that Archer ran in Port Townsend. The two crossed paths once more when Marshall briefly attended the Mar Vista Alternative School, where Archer was working at the time.

Then nothing — until the email. And then an unexpected reconnecting in a Peninsula College yoga class where people were asked to introduce themselves.

When Archer said her name, Marshall immediately recognized who it was.

“We had this embrace,” Archer said. “I think I was crying.”

Neither had expected to see the other again — least of all on a college campus.

When she last met Archer, Marshall was 16 years old, had a daughter and was largely living on her own.

She had another child by time she was 18 and never finished high school.

“I had been through a lot in my life,” she said. “A lot of trauma.”

When she came to Peninsula College in 2011, though, it felt like it was where she was meant to be.

“This place just really — I found myself,” Marshall said.

She has since earned her high school diploma and two associate degrees — she served as commencement speaker in 2014 —earned a bachelor’s degree from Western Governors University, taught pre-algebra and is weeks from finishing a master’s in mathematics at Northwest Missouri State University.

Majoring in math was something of a surprise.

“I ended up loving it and being really good at it,” she said.

That turned out to be a very good thing — for both women.

Archer grew up in Bellevue and spent her career working with students, teaching swimming, running recreation programs and creating art. She supported two husbands through graduate school, taking college classes in art and the humanities along the way.

She had been teaching children for many years as before she thought seriously about finishing her degree.

A friend suggested she try enrolling at Peninsula College. She was skeptical.

But, after she made a phone call to registration, a staff member had her on campus the next day with financial aid sorted out and a class schedule in place.

She learned she already had earned more than 200 credits — enough almost for a bachelor’s degree, but was missing all of the requirements in the subject she’d always avoided.

“Not only did I have math anxiety,” Archer said, “I had math trauma.”

She recalled being made to solve math problems at the blackboard in front of the class as a second-grader. Those who failed were kept in from recess.

“The shame that you felt was pretty heavy,” she said.

Marshall immediately stepped in to help her former teacher.

“She looked at me and she went, ‘I’ve got you,’” Archer said.

Marshall worked with Archer one-on-one in the Learning Center, and connected her with other tutors who were young enough to be her grandchildren.

“They were so kind and so sweet and patient,” Archer said.

The teacher turned out to be a very good student. She finished her college algebra requirement nearly a month ahead of schedule with a grade of 99.7 percent.

Not to mention she was selected to be a member of Phi Theta Kappa — the college’s chapter of the National Honor Society.

After all of those accumulated credits — plus math — Archer will finally have her Associate of Arts degree. She plans to accept it in front of family, friends and Marshall at Saturday’s commencement ceremony.

Archer is already talking about what comes next for her at Peninsula College — a peer mentor program for older students and a parenting class through the college’s early childhood education program.

She wants to encourage other older adults to enroll, saying she found the experience — including the much younger students around her — easier than she expected.

“It is the opposite,” she said of her fears going in. “It’s very magical.”

Marshall’s goal is to become a tenured faculty member in the college’s math department once she has her master’s degree.

“Part of why I want to be a math teacher — my approach is so different than a lot of the typical math instructors,” she said.

“I have high standards, but I also provide that support and compassion and flexibility and just all the things to help students be successful.”

It’s a quality Archer has seen first-hand in her former student.

“She never says no, and she takes on every single aspect or opportunity or anything that presents to her,” Archer said. “She is so amazing that way. I’m so proud of her.”

Reflecting on the year, Archer put it simply.

“It was full-circle for us,” she said.

Commencement ceremony

Peninsula College’s 64th commencement will be held Saturday in the gymnasium, 1502 E. Lauridsen Blvd.

Ceremonies will be held at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., depending on the degree or certificate that was earned.

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Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.