The Auburn School District has selected Carol Barker, a Child Nutrition Services Department assistant supervisor, and Kathy Schumaier, Washington Elementary School office manager, as its 2010-2011 Classified Employees of the Year.
Barker and Schumaier will be entered into regional competition with an opportunity to move on to the state-level contest.
Barker, who is in her fifth year at her position, has dedicated 22 years of service to the school district. Her primary goal is to offer and serve whole, nutritious foods to students.
“We hope to improve healthy eating for all kids by not only serving them nutritious foods, but also teaching them how to eat healthier and enjoy what they eat,” Barker said.
Barker’s department is leading efforts to eliminate processed foods and serve fresh, whole foods. She has helped implement multiple child nutrition programs including: an organic district garden that yields fresh produce for the district’s lunch and summer feeding programs; a fresh fruit and vegetable grant for two of Auburn’s elementary schools; a summer feeding program that serves more than 80,000 meals to hungry children in Auburn throughout summer; and a first-ever whole foods cooking training that will be offered to 60 school district kitchen employees and eventually 500 kitchen employees throughout Western Washington thanks to a half-million dollar grant awarded to the school district.
Deputy Superintendent Mike Newman nominated Barker.
“Mrs. Barker goes way beyond the responsibilities of her role in meeting the needs of our kitchens and students,” Newman said. “She is willing to go the extra mile, literally sometimes, to make things work for our kitchen managers and staff in getting out the best breakfast and lunches possible. At times, this involves running to the store to get a missing ingredient and even managing the fresh produce by growing it in the district garden.”
Schumaier, who is in her 13th year as the school office manager, also has dedicated 22 years of service to the district. Her primary goal is to provide a welcoming, safe, learning environment for students.
Colleagues say her warm smile, friendly demeanor and strong work ethic are unparalleled.
“If you can help make a difference for a child when they come to the office scared, sick or unhappy, you have succeeded for that day,” Schumaier said.
Schumaier supports the smooth, daily operations of Washington, including: managing school budgets and substitutes; publishing school newsletters; organizing daily schedules and the principal’s calendar; leading the school’s American Cancer Society Relay for Life staff team; and participating on the school’s safe walking committee, which was recently awarded a Washington Traffic Safety Commission grant to improve visibility of Washington’s school crossing zones.
Principal Pauline Thomas nominated Schumaier.
One of Schumaier’s favorite Washington traditions occurs during fall open house.
“I take family photos and before the end of the evening we have printed, cut and displayed the photos on the school’s Family Wall. It’s our way of welcoming families into the Washington community,” she said.
Elsewhere
Auburn’s Rebecca Cavalieri, a student at Denison University (Granville, Ohio), is studying off-campus for the spring semester. Cavalieri, a member of the class of 2012, is studying with the College of Global Studies program in New Zealand. She majors in English with a writing concentration at Denison. …
Daniel Schreiner, a 2008 Auburn Riverside High graduate, recently won the Opus 7 Choral Composition contest for his composition, “Cain,” which will be performed at the Opus 7 Northwest Composers Concert on Feb. 26 in Seattle. Schreiner is a music education sophomore at Central Washington University. He is the third CWU student to win this contest in the past four years. …
Auburn’s Nicolai Boysen recently received his degree in liberal arts from Metropolitan State University in Minneapolis, Minn. …
Trait of the month winners from Evergreen Heights Elementary School were: Dovelyn McMahon; Moses Castillo-Mendez; Bryan Galeana-Mendoza; Renee Robles; Elijah Ford; Liliya Rozumna; Brooke Keeley; Kathleen Mai; Dina Everson; Keegan Yu; Shelby Nonan; Calvin Liulamaga; Devan Pearson; and Hailey Malloy. Courage trait winners were: William Choe; Arianna Thornton; Cole Freeman; Blezyl Santos; Le’gend Howard; Jose Salazar; Desi Mihaylova; Ashley Tofstad; Sweeta Maharaj; Kaileena Saechao; Mike Olson; Jonathan Sundt; Ashley Castellanos-Alvarez; Kelcy Maun. …
Auburn’s Stella Kiarie was awarded a $400 Washington State University Education Abroad Scholarship Endowment, established by Victoria, Patrick and Daniel Barney in memory of their daughter and sister, Ann Elizabeth Barney. The scholarship is awarded to make an education abroad experience available for students who otherwise wouldn’t be able to study overseas. Kiarie graduated from Jefferson High School in 2007. Kiarie is graduating this May from WSU with a biology and psychology degree. She plans on studying abroad in India to gain more exposure of public health programs and policies in modern and rural regions. Kiarie is the daughter of Anne Kiarie and Patrick Kihuria of Auburn.
