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

 12/14/01

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School Board Directors Recognize
Auburn Riverside High School Teacher Bill Sumner

On Monday, November 26, the Auburn School Board of Directors recognized Bill Sumner, Auburn Riverside High School engineering drafting teacher, for his excellence as a comprehensive educator.  Mr. Sumner has taught his entire twenty-year teaching career in Auburn School District.  He began as a shop teacher at Cascade Junior High and was later selected to be on the staff of Rainier Middle School and Auburn Riverside High School as they opened their doors.  Mr. Sumner currently teaches engineering drafting at ARHS.  He really enjoys classroom teaching as well as all of the extracurricular activities with which he is involved.  He is the head coach for the high school’s cross country and track team and has been the catalyst and advisor for two school activities, the Dream Team program and the Technology Students’ Association (TSA) club.  The TSA club was started two years ago and participation in the DaimlerChrysler “Design Your Dream Vehicle” competition began six years ago.  Under Mr. Sumner’s guidance, ARHS Dream Teams have continually won at state over the past six years and, last year, won first place at the national competition.  Bruce Phillips, ARHS principal, observes, “Mr. Sumner provides his students with a postsecondary plan that enables them to apply their drafting skills to their future education and training.”  Mr. Phillips says, “He really excels in the classroom and in the activities he coaches and advises.  He is a role-model of what a well-rounded teacher should be. ”  Mr. Sumner earned his industrial engineering degree from Washington State University and his masters in technology from Lesley College.