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

6/8/06

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District Selects
Outstanding Teachers of the Year

The Auburn School District announces the 2006 award winners for Teacher of the Year. One high school teacher, one middle school teacher and one elementary school teacher were selected at the district level—Judith Shaw, Dale DeVries and Vickie Leaf. Two of the teachers, Judith Shaw and Dale DeVries, have been selected to move on to the regional competition. One teacher from each region will move on to the state competition. Then the state winner will move on to the 2007 national competition.

Judith Shaw
Auburn Riverside High School
Science Teacher and Department Head
“My deepest passion in teaching is to reach all students in my teaching.”

Mrs. Shaw believes in reaching all of her students in the classroom, and she does so through inquiry-based learning and hands-on activities. Mrs. Shaw’s working relationships with Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center (FHCRC) and Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI) not only allow her classroom use of modern biotech equipment—equipment most other high school students do not have access to—but also the opportunity to develop a biotechnology course for high school students in the Auburn School District.

Mrs. Shaw spends countless hours outside the classroom serving as Science Club Advisor and Assistant Drama Coach. She also assists students after school, helping them review material for the Advanced Placement Exam. Furthermore, Mrs. Shaw takes on multiple leadership roles at the building, district and state levels. She serves on a number of committees, including the state’s Science Assessment Leadership Team (SALT), which prepares the Science WASL for its final operational form. She is also the regional representative for the Washington Science Teachers Association (WSTA). Mrs. Shaw is currently connected with University of Washington’s Genetics Project. One of her students recently landed a summer internship in the program. Mrs. Shaw also develops curriculum and is a trainer of trainers for both the district and outside organizations such as the Highline School District, Eastside Catholic High School, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Green River Community College.

Mrs. Shaw’s classroom contributions and professional development growth are lauded by many of her colleagues. Auburn Riverside math teacher Mr. Arrigoni states, “Her teaching is a poster board for what should take place in the classroom.”

Dale DeVries
Olympic Middle School
Sixth Grade Teacher
“I find that the best way to effectively reach my students is to put myself in their place by asking myself the question, ‘What keeps my attention?’”

Mr. DeVries believes in building relationships with his students in order to engage them in active learning. “The students see commitment and honesty from a trusted adult/mentor, and they see a teacher who won’t let them down,” states Mr. DeVries. He also establishes connections with parents, believing that their involvement in their child’s educational journey is a key factor to the child’s success.  He always strives to use materials that are relevant to his students. For example, when he teaches Ancient History, he always connects the past with his students’ present life situations.Mr.

DeVries has been honored at Olympic by both his principal and fellow teachers as the “instructor you would most like to model.” He has been selected out of the building staff to set up a reading strategies program for sixth graders. He teaches these strategies to eight other sixth grade classrooms, which help the students better understand science texts, social studies texts, math texts and so on. At the same time, he is able to model teaching strategies to all of the teachers.

Mr. DeVries’s impact reaches beyond the classroom. He coaches football, basketball and track at Olympic. He also co-teaches the Native American Summer Academy every July, and he is involved with FFA. He is a member of the music and drama teams at his church and volunteers in the nursery. Recently, Mr. DeVries had the opportunity to travel to Senegal, Africa, to teach kids and other teachers, and to help run a basketball camp in a remote village. “Mr. DeVries is one of those rare individuals who does not let school, city or world boundaries keep him from working with children in need,” states Olympic Principal Paul Douglas.

Vickie Leaf
Ilalko Elementary School
Primary Specialist
“If something doesn’t work, I don’t give up. Instead, I try a different perspective and maintain my high expectations.”

Mrs. Leaf is responsible for social studies, science, health and integrated technology instruction for first and second graders. Students participate in technology-based activities such as photography and movie production, as well as gardening, mapping, measuring and cooking. Mrs. Leaf’s classroom is currently the home of Pomeranian goslings, listed by the Livestock Conservatory as critically rare (less than 500 in the U.S.). These rare goslings started as eggs, which were incubated, turned, hatched and cared for by first and second graders during science class. Ilalko will be recorded in record books for helping to reestablish the rare birds that will be given to a local poultry farm. Real-life activities that captivate and engage students make learning real and important in Mrs. Leaf’s classroom. First-grade teacher Mrs. Surber recalls Mrs. Leaf’s “Little House on the Prairie” activities, where children traveled back in time to experience “covered-wagon packing” challenges. Students actually made butter and even candles.

Mrs. Leaf is highly active in Auburn School District’s science alignment team. She rewrote science curriculum that has been disseminated district wide. In addition, she is a member of Ilalko’s SIP committee and a building technology leader for troubleshooting hardware, software and integration problems.

Mrs. Leaf has participated in McTeacher Night, a fundraising event for the Algona-Pacific food bank. She organizes the Dr. Seuss/Geo Night, an event celebrating Dr. Seuss’s birthday and the unique characteristics of other countries. She also teaches Sunday school and works on the video team at her church.

On top of everything else, Mrs. Leaf pursues educational grants to benefit her students. She has been the recipient of multiple grants, including a Boeing Science and Technology Grant, enabling her to purchase technology  pieces for greenhouse record keeping and greenhouse equipment; a Fred Meyer Foundation Grant that helped purchase a greenhouse for Ilalko students; and others focused on science, music and technology.

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