Mother of 6 earns double major at Western Washington University

BELLINGHAM - Shelley Jefferson teaches kids about the tides.

"Remember how we talked about the eelgrass?" she asks a small mob of fourth-graders at Carl Cozier Elementary School. "Who can tell me why tides are important?"

Jefferson doesn't give them the answers. She just asks the questions.

She tells the kids they are eelgrass, and the tide is in. Come on, she says, time to get up. The kids stretch their arms upward.

Jefferson, 45, doesn't sleep much: Four to six hours is an average night.

She has six children of her own.