The last time Sukjit Athwal (nickname: “Jit”) was in a local Milpitas newspaper, it was back in 2007, in The Milpitas Post, as a result of her having won a division title in basketball. She was active in volleyball, as well, and in both sports was always one of the tallest players on the team.
Jit was a female junior and senior athlete in 2006-2007, and received the Leo B. Murphy Award in 2007, her graduation year. She then moved to Fresno and continued playing volleyball at Fresno State, before moving southward to Los Angeles circa 2013.
Nowadays, having relocated to South Pasadena, Jit stands tall in a whole new manner…
In college, Jit studied to become a teacher, despite the urging of some to not go in that direction. In her heart, though, she wished to work with children. But in the course of networking in L.A., Jit found herself less interested in the classroom as it’s traditionally conceptualized, and gained opportunities to do work with families: “I realized L.A. had a lot more options for me as far as being a homeschool teacher, a private tutor, and a nanny/family assistant,” Jit said in an interview with The Beat.
She served a series of high-profile clients: CEOs, CFOs, musicians, and other L.A. figures. In one family, she worked with a child for 4 years, starting from when he was 18 months of age. The boy’s mind was so exceptional that as he neared age 5, his parents got his I.Q. tested. The result? 144! “The parents were just so happy,” Jit shared. They thanked her for having worked with him and so intensely (yet joyfully) challenged his mind. “So it was a nice highlight in my career,” she said. “I’m hoping that my daughter is the same way…”
Jit had her daughter 2 years ago. Her child, like the aforementioned 5-year-old, is exceptionally intellectually bright, skilled not only at identifying numbers and colors, but also at recognizing U.S. states on sight. Jit knows her encounter with another highly exceptional child–this time her own–might merely be coincidental, but she also knows the value and importance of education when it comes to liberating and shaping powerful minds. Raising her daughter, she’s become increasingly “more fascinated with the mind of a child.” She speaks of “educationally growing” her daughter, and making things fun in the process. As this has been happening, another major development has come to fruition:
“I branched out and I started going back into my bag of education, and I started self-publishing, and I started creating workbooks and curricula…”
Jit’s first book, “Pre-K Developmental Reading Skills Workbook,” newly released late this past summer, has become a #1 Amazon bestseller.
In the meantime, Jit’s time in quarantine has awakened within her a whole new level of entrepreneurial ambition. In recent months, she registered the paperwork to launch her very own pre-school. At the time of this writing, she was already in the process of scheduling tours, with a target launch window of late September, early October.
“I’m only gonna take up to 14 kids,” Jit said, noting that her intended pool of gifted and talented students will require focused, small-group instruction. The school, called The Modern Schoolhouse, will welcome in children ranging from infancy to age 5.
Jit intends to be very active onsite, leading the school and setting the educational tone. But once that’s established, she’ll very possibly pass off the leadership duties to someone else.
At which point Sukjit Athwal will no doubt continue growing and expanding—as an educator, a mother, and an all-around inspiration.
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Learn more about The Modern Schoolhouse here: www.themodernschoolhouse.com
Visit Jit’s personal shopping website here (she’s working on a few more educational toys and additional content for purchase soon): www.themodernmomandbaby.com
