Kellista Keaton

Kellista Rae Sidwell was born March 18 1982 to Cynthia Rae Mosley-Sidwell and Mark Henry Sidwell.

At age 4 she attended a Monsieur preschool in Olathe Ks. When she got her grade card with good marks in kindergarten the next year she said, "I owe it all to Jesus and Monsieur preschool!" Kellista valued education from the start. She played with her dolls, enrolling them in her own school complete with a notebook listing parents' names of each doll and had a map of the school and a list of which dolls belonged in each classroom. She attended Tomahawk Elementary School, where she began playing violin. In junior high she spent two years at Frontier Trail Junior High then transferred to California Trail the first year it opened. Her mentor, Ms. Wilson taught her a lot about newspaper as she became quite efficient at. In high school she graduated a semester early from Olathe East High School where she had been a member of orchestra from 5th grade to her junior year. Her sophomore year she took a trip to California and played at Disneyland. She was also editor and chief of her high school paper. She was a cheerleader her junior year for basketball!

Kellista danced from age 3 years old to 18. She did duet dance competitions in 5th and 6th grade winning or placing in many competitions!

She started taking classes at Johnson County Community College at age 16. Graduated from JCCC at age 19, in 2001. She attended University of North Carolina at Wilmington in 2001 and completed her bachelor's degree in December of 2002 in film studies when she was only 20 years old. She worked on Dawsons Creek film crew as a PA her last semester.

Kellista had given her life to Christ as a 5-year-old and Jesus was in every decision she made her whole life. She didn't feel film was a good place to grow closer to Jesus. She worked for Verizon and found she enjoyed the desk job, but really enjoyed being in charge of the supply closet. Lol She returned home to Missouri then eventually to Kansas in 2005. She got her second bachelor's degree from Ottawa University in education and passed the board certification teachers exam the first try!

She met Jimmy Keaton and after dating several months agreed to marry the love of her life! Their daughter Keziah was born in 2009 and their son, Kelson was born in 2012. While raising two young children she completed her book and became a published author! During this time she also taught at Ravenwood Elementary School in Olathe Ks. After a few years she left the district and opened her own Trendy Teddy Bear Club preschool. she attended school online earning her master's degree from Walden University in early childhood education! The decision was made to homeschool her children, during this time, and she also expanded the preschool to a group of first through second grade homeschoolers.

Their third child, Olivia, was born in 2019. She closed her school program for a year and focused on family and homeschooling. In 2021 she reopened The Little Green Schoolhouse enrichment program. She always loved working with children, had her first babysitting job at age 11. She touched many children's lives for eternity.

Kellista loved the beach and took many trips to both coast and the gulf over the years. The last trip was to Florida for Kelsons 10th birthday!
As she left this world, her husband Jimmy told her to see the beach and feel the sand between her toes. This brought her comfort.

We will forever miss our precious, Kellista.

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