Federal Way Public Schools Alumni of Note
Heidi Buck
Artist, Science and Robotics Coach
Federal Way High School
Graduate, Class of 1979
Although the cartoon caricatures Heidi Buck drew of certain teachers in high school (Federal Way High School) mostly got her in trouble, that talent may have laid the groundwork for the art she creates today. She’s won several school and juried art awards, has had her work displayed in numerous shows and even some one-person exhibits. Buck works in varied mediums and styles, depending on her mood.
“My oils can be large scale and depict nature based on my own photography…my ink and watercolors are small and focus on whimsical dragons that have a taste for fairies,” says Buck.
Much like her art, her continuing education and career path took her down many different roads. After high school graduation, Buck explored pre-med, then botany, designed souvenir items and worked in corporate marketing. When her son, Karl, was born she stayed home with him until her husband, Alan LeVezu, convinced her to return to school. In 2001 Buck graduated Summa Cum Laude from California State University, Sacramento with a degree in Fine Arts.
Growing up with a nature loving father and a mother who was an avid gardener and pastel artist helped Buck feel that a blended interest in science, nature and art was entirely normal. “For me, art and science are completely intermingled as I want to understand the formation, physiology or habit of whatever I paint…be it a cave, an owl, deer or the cells of a plant,” Buck says.
Science Comes in Handy
Even though art is Buck’s main focus now, she uses her science background when coaching middle school students in the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) program. Students engage in mentor-based programs and worldwide competitions that build skills, encourage innovation and foster self-confidence and leadership. Two years ago Buck’s team won first place in Copenhagen for their early wildfire detection project, which Sony is in the process of implementing.
Buck recently created a dragon design for her robotics team that was presented to the Crown Prince of Denmark. He smiled.
Encouraged to Read
One of the teachers Buck had at Kilo Junior High (now Middle School) encouraged reading and reading outside the usual range of junior high selections. “She brought in bags of paperbacks from used bookstores to entice my friend and me to read,” says Buck. “I learned a lot from those books.”
Possibly that was the impetus that stirred Buck to write two books of her own. Both were written with friend Louisa Beal several years ago. Frequent Stopper: A Guide to Women’s Public Restrooms in Seattle gained them local notoriety and If the Rain Don’t Get You, the Volcanoes Will may have caused Buck to move to northern California where she lives now.
That same Kilo teacher encouraged Buck to submit some of her drawings to the yearbook and in 1976 she won the honor of creating the yearbook cover art and she did cartoon drawings for the inside, as well.
Some Advice
Buck says if possible teachers should teach what they enjoy because an enthusiastic teacher makes learning contagious. Those teachers are the ones who inspired Buck along the way. She sites Keith Forest, the World History teacher she had in high school, as a prime example. Mr. Forest not only helped her brother and Buck fill out scholarship applications after their father died during her senior year, but he had a passion for history that instilled in her a great love for the subject. So much so, that she minored in art history in college.
To students Buck suggests, “Get a degree in something, anything that you enjoy and don’t worry about what happens afterwards. At the fast pace our world is moving, careers are emerging that didn’t even exist a few years ago.” If you work on what you like, you’ll be good at what you do, Buck says.