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

4/11/08

NEWS RELEASE
Jeani Rottle to be Awarded Auburn School Board of Directors'
Gold Star Volunteer Award

The Auburn School District Board of Directors will present the Gold Star Volunteer Award to Jeani Rottle, in recognition of her volunteer support to Auburn School District, on Monday, April 14, at 7 p.m. in the board room at the James P. Fugate Administration Building.

What has become one of the Auburn Food Bank’s most successful food drives—the Auburn School District All-Schools Food Drive—is owed in large part to retired Auburn School District teacher Jeani Rottle.

Jeani recalls the prelude to the Auburn School District All-Schools Food Drive back in 2003. She was serving on the board of the Auburn Food Bank and was in her last year of teaching at Ilalko. She remarks, “We had a food drive in our school that went so-so, but then the father of one of our students who worked at the White River McDonald’s said he’d cook a free lunch for the class who brought in the most food. The incentive lit a fire underneath the kids. The kids were pumped and brought in a lot of food.”

Feeding off her school’s enthusiasm and success, Jeani proposed to start a competition between all Auburn schools at all three levels. Like most start-up ventures, Jeani’s was all-consuming. “I lived in my car for the first two months just soliciting restaurants to donate free lunches to the winning classrooms at each school,” says Jeani. “We are so grateful to the wonderful restaurant support we have been given each year.” She was also responsible for securing key contact persons from each school who would be in charge of coordinating the drive within their own schools and who would communicate directly with her. Thanks to Superintendent Linda Cowan, the details were arranged for tote deliveries and pick-ups from each school. More challenges arose when looking for extra storage space and the sorting of the food after the drive. The Auburn Food Bank has it all under control now thanks to Director Debbie Christian and Kayla Sargent of the Auburn Food Bank. Jeani also praises the volunteerism of Steve Christiansen, music teacher at Arthur Jacobsen Elementary School, who is the liaison between the school district and Auburn Food Bank Director Debbie Christian and Jeani. Members of the Auburn Food Bank board are now participating in many aspects of the drive as well, and this year the local grocery stores have stepped up to participate in a variety of ways. Jeani is thrilled to see how the drive has evolved into a full community effort.

Now in its fourth year, the Auburn All-Schools Food Drive recently brought in a whopping 65,000 pounds of food and $7,000 in cash. “What is so great about this, especially the cash donations, is that the cash buying power of food for a non-profit is six times more than the retail value. So our $7,000 really totals $42,000 worth of product,” explains Jeani.

According to Jeani, the Auburn Food Bank, with the support of the district, is hoping to move next year’s All-Schools Food Drive to March instead of January. Typically January is a good month to secure a large amount of donations due to the fact that most people who’ve donated during the holidays forget about the continued need once the New Year begins. However, the Auburn Food Bank discovered an East Coast philanthropist who will match the amount of money raised at food drives that occur in March. “This is a great opportunity and just one more way the Food Bank can expand its resources,” says Jeani.

What sticks with Jeani more than the thousands of pounds of food and money donated has to be what the food drive teaches children. “As a teacher, what got me started with the food drive was using it as a vehicle to demonstrate to children how important it is to give back. It’s important to get kids thinking how they can think beyond themselves and help others, which is exactly what the food drive gets kids to do,” remarks Jeani.

Jeani also volunteers at the local food bank in Othello, Washington, when it’s open on Fridays. She and husband George’s business is in Othello, so it’s important to her and her husband that they give back to that community. One year their hunting club published a game bird recipe cookbook and donated 100 percent of the proceeds to the Othello Food Bank.

When not volunteering, Jeani is most likely traveling around the nation teaching other educators the ins and outs of differentiated instruction as a consultant for the Bureau of Education and Research. “I enjoy teaching best practices and helping other educators institute them at their schools,” says Jeani.

Jeani is looking forward to next year’s fifth annual Auburn School District All-Schools Food Drive and can’t wait to see those overflowing totes.

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