Connie Otto, Marion Mays, Kurtis Gale and Nina Whitcomb-Cantrell, Finn Hill Jr. High
January 2012 - Meet the Special Education staff members at Finn Hill Junior High who spend every day making a difference in the lives of their students. More...
Amanda Hicks, teacher, Rose Hill Junior High
December 2011 - She’s only been a teacher for three years but Amanda Hicks is making a huge impact on the students and staff at Rose Hill Junior High. Through teaching nutrition and consumer life skills and helping with a number of committees, teams and clubs, she is showing her students how to make a difference in the community. More...
Karin Janik, principal, Rose Hill Elementary
November 2011 - If there are certain characteristics that make a principal great, Karin Janik has them all. She loves working with kids, the staff, and the parents at her school to make sure that every student who walks in the door is successful. More...
Stephanie Monaghan, teacher, BEST High School
October 2011 - Giving students options and working with them to be successful is a big part of Stephanie Monaghan’s job at BEST High School. Stephanie teaches English, social studies and a culminating project class, helping students to prepare for graduation. More...
Anne Sandbo, librarian, Einstein Elementary
September 2011 - Anne Sandbo grew up knowing that she wanted to be a librarian. That dream came later in life than the young Anne had thought it would, but it did come true when she became a librarian in the Lake Washington School District. More...
Sue Carter, secretary, Dickinson Elementary/Explorer Community School
August 2011 - Susan “Sue” Carter is at the front door of the Dickinson Elementary, Explorer Community School and Dickinson Preschool community. As the office secretary for 11 years, Sue is the first face you encounter and the first voice that you hear on the phone when you call any of these schools. More...
Mark Powell, messenger, LWSD
July 2011 - Have you ever wondered how the mail is delivered between all 50 schools? Mark Powell, district messenger is the answer. More...
Ginny Romano, teacher, Smith Elementary
June 2011 - Ginny Romano, a fourth grade teacher at Samantha Smith Elementary, has been at the school for 19 years, and thoroughly enjoys being a part of the community where she teaches. More...
Diane Kane, lead teacher, Renaissance School of Art & Reasoning
May 2011 - Renaissance School of Art & Reasoning head teacher Diane Kane has found a way to integrate visual and performing arts into a challenging curriculum. More...
Erin Christensen, third grade teacher, Audubon Elementary
April 2011 - With Earth Day and National Poetry Month in April, Erin Christensen seems like the perfect staff member to feature: she makes her lessons active and fun for every student, including the clever combination of greenhouse activities with lessons on poetry. More...
Rachel Teigen Brackett, music specialist, Lakeview Elementary
March 2011 - March is “Music in our Schools” month, and what better way to celebrate than to recognize an outstanding music specialist, Rachel Teigen Brackett from Lakeview Elementary. More...
National Board Certified Teachers
February 2011 - Congratulations to all current Lake Washington School District teachers who have achieved this prestigious designation. The 30 new National Board Certified Teachers were recognized at a School Board Meeting in January. More...
Dawn Wyatt, art teacher, Lake Washington High School
January 2011 - Dawn is an art teacher at Lake Washington High School (LWHS), where she teaches a variety of courses from beginning drawing to AP studio art. More...
Carol Hinrichs, counselor, Kirkland Junior High
December 2010 - Carol Hinrichs, a counselor at Kirkland Junior High, makes everyone, not just students, feel valued at school. More...
Mary Cronin, principal, Rachel Carson Elementary
November 2010 - Going to the principal’s office is not as scary as it could be at Rachel Carson Elementary, where Mary Cronin is the principal. More...
Sue Nauman and Ann Glassey, office staff, Horace Mann Elementary
October 2010 - Ann Glassey and Sue Nauman have been described as the glue that holds Horace Mann Elementary together. Their kind smiles and warm hearts make everyone feel welcome and valued at school. More...
Vicki McCarter, Science Teacher, Kamiakin Junior High
September 2010 - Teaching is in Vicki McCarter’s blood. She grew up in the suburbs of Chicago, raised in a family of educators. Perhaps that is the reason why McCarter always strives to continue learning and to push her colleagues to learn from each other as well. More...
Gene Nansel, bus driver, Transportation
August 2010 - When students come back to the school for fall, they will see friendly faces driving them to and from school each day. Gene Nansel, a preschool bus driver for John Muir Elementary, is a shining example of a friendly face for the students on his route. More...
Officer Bill Corson and Fernando Larios, Rose Hill Junior High
July 2010 - Rose Hill Junior High (RHJH) School Resource Officer (SRO) Bill Corson and Spanish teacher Fernando Larios challenge Spanish-speaking students to do better in school by becoming better connected to their community. Bill and Fernando have created a partnership to help the Spanish-speaking students at RHJH feel connected to and valued at their school and in their community. More...
Lynn Armstrong, kindergarten teacher, Rosa Parks Elementary
June 2010 - Lynn Armstrong, a full-day kindergarten teacher at Rosa Parks Elementary, challenges her students by believing in their ability to learn. By integrating technology into daily lessons and becoming involved in the home lives of her students, Lynn allows students to believe in their potential – and reach it. More...
Matt Laughlin, physical education teacher, Alcott Elementary
May 2010 - Matt Laughlin, a physical education teacher at Alcott Elementary, challenges his students to strive for excellence in whatever they do. In his classroom, the gymnasium, he helps his students to want to be fit by inspiring them to do their best. More...
Kristin Wobker, second grade teacher, Franklin Elementary
April 2010 - Kristin Wobker, a second grade teacher at Franklin Elementary, has challenged the staff and students at her school to reduce waste, learn about recycling and make the green “Four R’s” part of their daily lives both at home and at school. (These four R’s: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink). More...
Paula Ferguson, Orchestra Director, Redmond High School & Redmond Junior High
March 2010 - Paula Ferguson, the orchestra director at Redmond High School and Redmond Junior High challenges her students to rise to their potential, playing interesting and varied pieces of music as part of their overall program. More...
All National Board Certified Teachers
February 2010 - Lake Washington School District learned in December that 40 teachers met the challenge of achieving National Board Certification through the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS). More...
Margie Lundgren, ELL Teacher, Ben Rush Elementary
January 2010 - Margie Lundgren meets a difficult challenge every day – helping kids to succeed in learning English. She works with students whose home language is something other than English and helps them to learn this new language for both conversational and academic purposes. More...
Chris Broderick, ASB/Leadership and PE Teacher, Redmond Junior High
December 2009 - Chris Broderick has challenged his students to take their program to new heights by encouraging them to explore every idea that they have and to see their ideas through to completion. More...
Ryan Scott, Sixth Grade Teacher, Laura Ingalls Wilder Elementary
November 2009 - Ryan Scott challenges students in his sixth grade class at Wilder Elementary to perform better in science, with a little help from his friends “Captain Obvious” and “Lieutenant Lazy.” More...
Peter Conrick, Jasmine Brazil, and Mark Egger, teachers, Kamiakin Junior High
October 2009 - Peter Conrick, Jasmine Brazil and Mark Egger are the ninth grade Quest Language Arts, Social Studies and Biology teachers at Kamiakin Junior High. These three individuals challenge their talented students by requiring critical thinking, creativity and self direction to go beyond the standard answer in the book. More...
Barbara Roy, teacher, Sandburg Elementary School
September 2009 - A consistent challenge faced by schools in Lake Washington School District is to find a way to bring parents who work full-time into the classroom to help them understand the curriculum. Research supports the idea that students with parents who are actively involved and engaged in their child’s education tend to do better in school. More...
Pierina Austin, teacher, Margaret Mead Elementary School
“Students and parents have an active role in helping to build the foundation of our students for their future.”
July 2008 - Taking the learning that typically is reserved for a classroom space and extending it beyond those four walls is something that Pierina Austin prides herself on. As a teacher of a “Continuous Learning Environment,” or “CLE,” at Margaret Mead Elementary , Austin teaches students in three grade levels: kindergarten, first grade and second grade. The CLE allows Austin to focus not on the age of the kids that she teaches, but upon the learning process that takes place from day to day. Teaching in a CLE means that she has the same students in her class for three years, allowing her to get to know each of them personally and focus on their unique needs. Similar programs (sometimes referred to as multi-age classrooms) exist in other schools around the district but this is the only program offered at Mead. “By calling it a ‘Continuous Learning Environment,’ the focus stays on the learning that is taking place, not on the age of the kids,” said Austin. More...
Doug Kimball, English teacher, Redmond High School
“Teaching kids helps to keep me young and in step with what’s happening.”
June 2008 - On August 23, 1973, Doug Kimball received a call from Ed Dorothy, the principal at Redmond High School (RHS). Dorothy was calling because he needed a teacher who could do three things: advise the high school newspaper, teach accounting, and teach English. As you can probably imagine, such a teacher was hard to find but Kimball had all of the credentials necessary to fill this position. Doug Kimball, an English teacher at RHS is retiring after 34 years of teaching in Lake Washington School District – all of which were spent at Redmond High School. More…