Auburn School District No. 408
915 4th Street Northeast, Auburn, WA  98002

4/18/07

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District's Board of Directors
to Honor Staff Member Gail Mustain

The Auburn School District Board of Directors will recognize Gail Mustain, a full-time paraeducator in the Cascade Middle School library, for her outstanding service to the Auburn School District on Monday, April 23, at 7 p.m. in the board room at the James P. Fugate Administration Building.

Since 1974 Gail Mustain has steadfastly served the Auburn School District and its students. As a young mom with two little girls at Evergreen Heights Elementary, Gail began volunteering at the school and then was hired as a kindergarten assistant. She had decided that education was her thing years earlier while living in southern California and working in the Education Department at USC and taking education-related classes at Long Beach City College, now commonly known as Long Beach State. After some time at Evergreen Heights, Gail’s calling was affirmed, and she soon landed a paraeducator position at Chinook, assisting in a fourth grade classroom. Then in 1978 Gail transferred to Cascade as an office aide and eventually became a Library/ESL aide. After 29 years Gail is still going strong.

Gail is now a full-time paraeducator assisting in the library at Cascade. She performs a myriad of duties including supervising students, circulating books, tracking AV equipment, managing the library’s computer lab, assisting in student research, tracking inventory and, of course, maintaining the pleasant—shh!—atmosphere. Gail has also honed her manual dexterity by preserving and repairing Cascade’s books when needed. “I’ve extended the life of many books here at Cascade. I put plastic covers on the older books, make new bindings and spine labels, and laminate our new book covers,” remarks Gail. Her pride and joy is when she replaces a worn book’s cover, making the book appear new. “The kids think the books are new and they’ll ask, ‘Am I the first person to check this out?’ It’s great to see kids enthused about reading!” The library houses over 23,000 titles, more books than the high school libraries, so there is always work to be done.

Gail enjoys the variety in her job. “I do whatever is needed to maintain and keep a quality library,” replies Gail. She also bonds with the students and believes that the library is a safe haven for students to turn to. “Students feel safe and secure here; it’s great they have a secure retreat to come to.” Some students volunteer at the library by circulating books and even creating giveaway bookmarks from donated greeting cards and scrapbooking supplies. Gail especially enjoys it when former students pay a visit to the school to share the great things they’ve accomplished. “Some of our students who come to visit are also coming to pick up their kids who now attend Cascade,” chuckles Gail.

Professionally Gail believes in lifelong learning and consistently takes advantage of in-service opportunities, particularly those related to computer skills. She also has taken reading and classroom management classes. She recalls many powerful influences in her career including current and former co-workers and those who passed on too soon like Bill Martinson and Hans Torklep. Gail is proud to be part of a district that embraces diversity and supports the needs of all students.

Gail not only is a committed Auburn School District employee, but she also is committed to her family and community. Currently she, along with her brother, is caring for her father who has dementia and Alzheimer’s, which takes up most of her free time between the actual caregiving and the support classes she attends. She also applauds her two daughters, Cheryl and Michelle, for their service to the local and world communities. “My girls are the pride of my life. I really look up to them for their participation.” Last year Cheryl participated in the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk, raising money and walking in support of Gail’s and other’s fight and survival against breast cancer. Michelle traveled to Thailand to do good works and teach English to Thai. Gail actually flew to Thailand to visit Michelle.

Gail’s commitment to her life and work is apparent and appreciated. Just like she is proud to be part of the district’s growth through the years, so too is the district proud of her service through those years.

For more information contact Amy Spence, public information officer, at (253) 931-4713.