background Kipland 'Kip' Philip Kinkel was born on August 30th, 1982, to his parents Bill and Faith Kinkel. He has a sister, Kristin Kinkel, who was born five years before him. Both of Kip's parents were highschool spanish teachers who expected their children to excell in school. Kristin met these expectations quickly and easily. Kip on the other hand, had a hard time learning to read and write, often confusing his three's and e's, and his b's and d's{doc}. his family took a sabbatical year from Thurston, Oregon, to Spain in 1986. Kristin was supposed to enter the 5th grade, but she was instead placed into the only class with an English-speaking teacher, which had been the 3rd grade class. Despite this, Kristin still excelled both socially and educationally, stating that she "... had a wonderful year. [she] picked up Spanish really quickly and made a lot of friends." {1}. However, for Kip, this trip to spain was the complete opposite. Kip's kindergarten teacher spoke no English. Kip had already struggled learning English, and when he finally mastered the language, he was put into an enviorment where his skills he had spent so long learning meant nothing. Not only did Kip have problems learning, but he also had a bully. Compared to his sister, who met their parents expectations and flourished socially, Kip had fallen short again. When the Kinkels returned home, it was time for Kip to enter the first grade. Unfortunately, Kip faced problems yet again, as he continued to have issues with reading, writing, and spelling. Despite studying for hours upon hours for spelling tests, he would still misspell things. He felt frustrated, as everyone else in his family could spell, write, and read with ease, but he couldnt. Kristin, who never had to study for spelling tests, would tease him for these mispellings, making him embarrased. This embarrasment only increased as his teachers reccomenended to hold him back during a parent-teacher conference. Both Kip's parents and his teachers agreed that Kip "lacked maturity and had slow emotional and physical development." {2} This resulted in the kinkels taking the teachers reccomendation to hold him back. Kip was upset that his friends moved on without him, and "thought his friends would think differently of him." {doc} This only furthered his embarrasment words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words words

Kip Kinkel