Kim Whalen turned her interests to the study of history after spending several years as a classical musician who taught K-12 choir. She is a graduate of Missouri State University where she earned a B.S. Ed. in Social Studies and an M.A. in History. Her scholarly interests are philosophy, political history, and the history of ideas. In 2008, she began her career at OTC, where she currently teaches history and critical thinking. She loves having her history students read source documents, allowing them to interpret events of the past and draw their own conclusions. It is her hope that students leave her courses with big picture ideas, linking historical events, their causes, and effects.
In her free time, she enjoys taking trips to as many historical sites as possible, but she is also quite the homebody. She enjoys activities in which she can be creative, and she loves to refurbish furniture and repurpose odds and ends. She is an avid gardener and feels that she is more herself in the garden than anywhere else on earth. Her faith is important to her, and each morning, Kim indulges her introverted nature with several moments of solitude, prayer, and reading. She and her husband have been together for over three decades, and they have two adult sons. When they all get together, they enjoy playing Spades, hiking and camping, and riding roller coasters.