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Pictured above: Superintendent Tim Yeomans, Larry Hiatt, Cathy McDaniel, Rae Cambern
District selects Classified Employees of the Year

Zeiger Elementary Facilities Operations Manager Larry Hiatt and Transportation Bus Driver Rae Cambern were recently honored as the 2015-16 Puyallup School District Classified School Employees of the Year.
 
Nominations for classified employees were accepted during the month of December. The nomination process looks for classified staff members who have made a positive difference in their profession. Characteristics for the award program include an outstanding contribution to student success, professional leadership qualities, and the number of years of service.
 
Hiatt and Cambern will be honored at the school board meeting on March 7 held at Stahl Junior High at 6:00 p.m.
 
Larry Hiatt
 "Larry is a dedicated, kind, generous, and giving individual," said Zeiger Principal Cari Ake. "He builds positive relationships with our staff and families, but more importantly our students!"
 
Hiatt, who has worked for the district for more than 25 years, was surprised to learn about the recognition during an impromptu staff meeting attended by his peers, administration, and Superintendent Tim Yeomans.  Hiatt's wife Hope and son Alex were also there to congratulate him.
 
 "Larry is a wonderful person that students can look up to as a role model," said Ake.
This was evident recently as Larry coordinated the set-up for grandparent's day at Zeiger. They were anticipating 450 guests. The student council assisted him in distributing hundreds of extra chairs to classrooms.
 
Zeiger students were eager to praise Mr. Hiatt and to assist him in preparing for the event. "If we spill something, he cleans it up without question," commented a fifth-grade student. "He helps a lot around the school," added another student.
 
When asked what his favorite part of the job is, Larry answered "seeing the kids as they grow and excel from one grade to the next." He attributes his positive relationships with the staff and students with his philosophy "treat everyone as you want to be treated yourself - with respect and courtesy."
 
"I want to give every kid a smile or hello - every day," said Hiatt.
 
A typical day for Hiatt begins at 6:30 a.m. He opens the gates at Zeiger and disarms the building. He then does a quick security check and turns on lights and unlocks the doors. He ends his day with a debrief to the swing shift crew regarding the status of the school.
 
Hiatt started his career with the district as a substitute custodian. He has worked at Woodland Elementary and Rogers High School before coming to Zeiger when it was opened as a new school in 1996.  "I was the Facilities Operations Manager from the first day. I love this school," he stated.
 
In his spare time he enjoys gardening and landscaping and Western movies.
 
Rae Cambern
"Rae leads by example every day. I have observed her time and again smiling at students, greeting them with a personal greeting, and bending over backwards in service to students," wrote Ferrucci Junior High Principal Steve Leifsen when he nominated Cambern for Classified School Employee of the Year.
 
Cambern was surprised to learn of her award recently when she was greeted by Superintendent Tim Yeomans, Principal Steve Leifsen, Transportation Director Cathy McDaniel, and Executive Director of Communications Brian Fox during a visit to Ferrucci. She received high praises for her work and was presented with a basket of flowers.
 
This is Cambern's eighth year as a bus driver for the district. Previously,, she owned a daycare and preschool for 15 years and worked as a loan officer and real estate agent prior to becoming a bus driver.
 
She drives a bus for Rogers High School and Edgerton Elementary. She also drives for district sports teams and other activities.
 
"I love working with the kids. That's what makes it fun," she said.
 
When asked about her upbeat attitude with students, she said she views each student as an individual. "I always interact with them using humor and respect and never talk down to them. They respond better to that," said Cambern.
 
Interacting with the students is her favorite part of the job. "Every day I come to work knowing I have the ability to make a difference. Even if it's simply by smiling and saying good morning to a child," she added.
 
Leifsen confirmed Cambern's philosophy by saying, "It is a belief I share with others that one of the surest ways to ensure students are prepared for school success each day is to have a peaceful ride to school, facilitated by a driver who connects with students. Rae truly embraces this philosophy every day."
 
Cambern has two granddaughters who attend Woodland Elementary. In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her family, spending time with her granddaughters, and volunteering at her church. She plans to cruise to Hawaii with her husband this year to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary.
 
Teachers make good use of supplemental day

Teachers from around the district gathered at various schools to collaborate on student learning during the February 17 supplemental professional development day. Students were not in school due to mid-winter break.
 
At the elementary schools teachers had the chance to work by grade levels focusing on identifying Essential S tandards for K-6, Formative Assessment, and Response to Intervention (RTI) training.
 
Essential Standards for K-6 include the most essential skills students must know and be able to do in core content (such as reading and math).   Teachers from schools around the district joined forces to consider the most essential skills students must know and be able to do.

Formative Assessment is one of the most important tools used in education to determine if students are learning in real time. During the trainings, teachers and administrators worked to discuss the various ways formative assessment might look depending on teaching or learning styles. New techniques were presented and discussed. The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More specifically, formative assessments:
  • help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target areas that need work.
  • help teachers recognize where students are struggling and address problems immediately.
Response to Intervention (RTI) is a multi-tier approach to the early identification and support of students with learning and behavior needs. The RTI process begins with high-quality instruction and universal screening of all children in the general education classroom. Struggling learners are provided with interventions at increasing levels of intensity to accelerate their rate of learning. The program model is based on identifying students who are below standard on specific assessments and developing a level of support to help them grow academically to meet standard. Progress is closely monitored to assess both the learning rate and level of performance of individual students. Educational decisions about the intensity and duration of interventions are based on individual student response to instruction. RTI is designed for use when making decisions in both general education and special education, creating a well-integrated system of instruction and intervention guided by child outcome data.
 
"Supplemental days are critical to provide professional development for teachers to improve student achievement," says Chief Academic Officer John Parker. The time spent together on Wednesday proved to be very beneficial across the district.
Andy Burch is inducted into the WMEA Hall of Fame

Andy Burch, band director at Edgemont Junior High, has received the honor of being inducted into the Class of 2016 Washington Music Educators Association (WMEA) Hall of Fame. Burch will have his name engraved on a music stand and added to the hall of other honored music educators before him.

In order to be qualified for a WMEA Hall of Fame nomination multiple people from the WMEA write letters explaining the excellence of the music educator and added to the Hall of Fame. Then a selection committee from WMEA reviews the nominees to select who will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Every two years there are 10 educators inducted into the hall of fame.

"This is an honor to be nominated and then selected to be in the WMEA Hall of Fame. There are so many great music educators out there, and I am so humbled to be one of them," stated Burch.

Mr. Burch attributes his students' success to a lot of hard work, dedication, and the wonderful teachers who worked with them before they reach junior high. "The general music teachers in our elementary schools really make a big difference."

Creating an environment where students can have sincere and professional interactions with teachers also goes a long way. "Each student comes in wanting to belong and feel cared for, and I make sure that each of those students feel they belong and are genuinely cared for in this class," explained Burch.

Burch has worked in the Puyallup School District for over 27 years. His passion for teaching and music are what keep him going.

His passion is evident in the genuine and professional relationships Burch gains with his students. Burch chuckled as he recalls all of the ties he has received from students over the years. Most of them are pretty fun. Fun or not, you can always count on Mr. Burch to be wearing one of those ties.

Mr. Burch strives to teach his students about music, but also teach them life-long lessons. Learning to play the notes on the page is just the start to learning music. It also includes earning to listen to everyone else as they play, and to know what their part sounds like and how they fit in. Learning to listen helps bring a sense of responsibility, not just for notes they are playing, but to learn how to be responsible as a group in the way they interact with others.

"Teaching the students to listen to one another teaches them about more than just music," Burch said. "Listening is something they will have to do for the rest of their lives, whether it's in a career, education, or in a relationship. Learning to play their notes is just the beginning, learning to listen to everyone else while they play is really what it's all about." 

The Puyallup School District Board of Directors will honor Mr. Burch at their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, March 7, at Stahl Junior High, at 6:00 p.m.
Upcoming festival features several Native American tribes

On Saturday, March 19, the Puyallup School District will partner with local Native American tribes to present A Gathering of Families: A Celebration of Indigenous Culture and Art. 

Beginning at 10:00 am, the doors of the Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts will open, and the Great Hall will be filled with indigenous artists specially invited to show and sell their artwork. Talented and award winning artists will include Roger Fernandes, Peter Boome, Vickie Era Pankretz, Robert Upham, Shaa Eitl, and M.J. Morris. 

An opening ceremony will begin at 11:00 am with greetings from Chief Leschi Schools Superintendent, Dr. Amy Eveskcige. Students will then be featured from the Chief Leschi Drum & Dance Group led by Culture Teacher Teresa Harvey.

A Gathering of Families is a special festival intended to honor Native American culture, promote indigenous arts, enhance cultural awareness, and promote cultural competency. A primary goal of the Karshner Center is to build a culturally responsive learning community through creative educational programs offered for learners of all ages.

To that end, the day will be filled with special performances and culturally rich experiences designed to help visitors make connections between themselves and the world in which we live.

After the opening ceremony, storytelling will begin and include well-known regional storytellers Roger Fernandes, Lois Landgrebe, Harvest Moon, and Eddie Edmo Representing Jamestown-S'Kallum, Nooksack, Quinault, and Shoshone Bannuck Nez Perce respectively, these talented artists will share simple legends and oral history which provide some of the teachings of Native American culture. A special performance by Paul Cheoketen Wagner will feature Native American flute and teachings. 

Alternating with the storytellers will be performances from the Chief Leschi Drum and Dance Group, the Quileute Wolf Clan group, and Paul Cheoketen Wagner, a flutist and teacher. Friends from the Samish Indian Nation will conduct the closing ceremony with drum and song.

This will all take place in the Great Hall of the recently restored Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts. The Great Hall was specially designed to include the elements of a longhouse with a west-facing orientation, natural finishes such as maple flooring and fir paneling, and large skylights which allow natural light to flood the space.

Recently, the Great Hall was enhanced with a new art installation and the gifting of many new artifacts which represent the culture and handiwork of Samish Indians.  Baskets, boxes, oars, and four large decorative panels are on display, and will provide a beautiful backdrop to each performing group. The Puyallup School District is honored to display these gifts from the Beaver Lodge Carving Club of the Samish Indian Nation.

The walls of the Great Hall currently feature the Legacy Washington exhibit, We're Still Here: The Survival of Washington Indians which is on loan from Secretary of State Kim Wyman. This exhibit acknowledges the early and continuing story of Native Americans in four major themes: the relationship with earth and the struggle over land; assimilation practices and the conflict over Native identity; the century-long battle for treaty fishing rights; and the cultural revival of Indian customs and language in our world today. The exhibit is supported and was vetted by many Washington Indians.

Complimenting We're Still Here is a Karshner Museum exhibit featuring many artifacts originally collected by Dr. Warner Karshner in the 1920s.  From the Salish Sea to Mount Tacobet: Culture and Artifacts of the Native People was researched and designed as a culminating experience for 1,600 third-grade students in Puyallup schools who visit the museum for a three-hour field trip each winter.

Specially designed for families, the festival will feature five crafts for children to create and take home. Each craft will be led by teachers at different times during the day. Crafts will include a natural weaving, a paddle necklace, scratch board art, ceramic panel rubbings, and cedar weaving led by Puyallup School District Indian Education Program Specialist Michelle Marcoe.

Throughout the day on March 19 visitors will smell the delicious food coming from the Fry Bread Factory, an authentic Native American Food Eatery on wheels. Owner John Miles will be selling Indian tacos, fry burgers, and other fry bread specialties.  At 4:00 pm Dr. Tim Yeomans will introduce members of The Samish Indian Nation, who will carry out the closing ceremony with song and drum. 

A Gathering of Families: A Celebration of Indigenous Culture and Art is proving to be a special event where wonderful experiences will take place. Doors will be open from 10:00 am until 5:00 pm. The final performance will begin at 4:00 pm. Craft supplies are limited, but the memories made are endless. 

The Karshner Museum and Center for Culture & Arts is located at 309 - 4 th Street NE in Puyallup (253-841-8748).

The Human Resources Department is featured in the newest video as part of the  PSD Focus series

Staff members in the PSD Human Resources Department are committed to serving schools and the community. Learn how both applicants and current staff have support available in HR. Take a look at the latest PSD Focus video celebrating the staff and work of the Human Resources Department.
View the video on You Tube:  https://youtu.be/7lmRwKTs9Ss
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Puyallup School District 
302 2nd St. SE Puyallup, WA 98372   |   Phone: (253) 841-1301    ww.puyallup.k12.wa.us
Puyallup School District provides equal opportunities in education and employment and does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, creed, religion, color, national origin, age, honorably discharged veteran or military status, sexual orientation including gender expression or identity, the presence of any sensory, mental, or physical disability, or the use of a trained dog guide or service animal by a person with a disability in its programs and activities and provides equal access to the Boy Scouts and other designated youth groups.
 
Questions or complaints of alleged discrimination may be directed to:
Employment/Human Resources, Amie Brandmire ~ (253) 841-8764, brandmah@puyallup.k12.wa.us; 
Equity and Achievement, Gerald Denman ~ (253) 840-8966, denmange@puyallup.k12.wa.us;  
Title IX Coordinator, Rick Wells ~ (253) 841-8785, wellsjr@puyallup.k12.wa.us; or   
Section 504 Coordinator, Gerald Denman ~ (253) 840-8966, denmange@puyallup.k12.wa.us
 
Puyallup School District
302 2nd Street SE
Puyallup, WA  98372