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

6/6/07

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District's Board of Directors to Honor
Staff Member Karen Weiman

The Auburn School District Board of Directors will recognize Karen Weiman, a third grade teacher at Washington Elementary School, for her outstanding service on Monday, June 11, at 7 p.m. in the board room at the James P. Fugate Administration Building.

Who are we?
We are totally terrific third graders
What do we like to give?
Put ups
What do we like to make?
Good choices

Karen Weiman and her third graders at Washington Elementary School like to shout out this cheer. “We do a lot of things in here for encouragement,” says Karen. “I feel honored to get to mold these students and help them experience things in a positive way.” Karen’s classroom and teaching methods are 100 percent positive reinforcement. Instead of highlighting a child’s negative behavior, Karen calls out the good: “Children, did you see that good choice he made?” “We call them put-ups,” says Karen. “It is so effective with the class. I think I got this trait from my dad who was a wonderful role model; he had high expectations for me and encouraged me to reach them.”

Karen, like most teachers, cherishes the moments when children reach new heights in their learning. She also feels successful as a teacher when children begin to enjoy school, even becoming disappointed when it’s vacation and school is not in session. Karen works hard to ensure her students feel good about themselves and the progress they are making. “If a child is getting a C and that is their best at the moment, it is a good job. I have different expectations for each child, which goes hand in hand with individualized teaching methods.”

There is no shortage of fun in Karen’s classroom—even when it’s time for math multiplication tables. “We like to sing songs,” says Karen, “so students sing their multiplication tables.” She also uses rewards to encourage her students to learn their multiplication tables, like banana split parties. After each student passes their 2s they earn a bowl, once they pass their 3s a spoon, their 4s a scoop of ice cream, their 5s a banana and so on until they’ve earned an entire banana split.

Karen also incorporates a “Good Effort Counts” chart in her classroom. This class building activity rewards children when they obey directions, sit quietly, complete homework on time and so on. The current wall chart is in the shape of a jelly bean jar. Whenever a child is recognized for a good deed, Karen adds a jelly bean to the jar. When the jar is full the class is rewarded with a special activity.

Throughout Karen’s 16 years of service at Washington, one of her highlights was teaming up with a Trucker Buddy program. Two truckers were assigned to her students to correspond by mail as they trucked through the United States. They sent the students postcards and updates of their adventures. Twice the truck drivers visited Karen’s classroom and enjoyed pizza and conversation with the students. During one of the visits Karen and her class were interviewed and photographed for an article that appeared in Road King magazine.

An annual highlight for the students is an end-of-the-year squid dissection that corresponds with a unit on water and the ocean. “The kids do investigative research,” says Karen. “Kids just love this event.” Other annual activities include making gingerbread houses, participating in two spring auctions and organizing a fall festival party. Another favorite activity among children and parents is the portfolio pizza party. Throughout the year the children choose their favorite paper of the week and mount it on the “Pick of the Crop” wall. Karen collects each child’s selection of papers and then creates a portfolio of best works for the children and their parents—what great WASL prep for these third graders! Then children celebrate during a pizza party.

After receiving a B.A. from Bradley University in Peoria, Illinois, Karen’s teaching career began in a first grade classroom. She taught in Peoria for 5 years and then moved to Longview, Washington, with her husband, and taught kindergarten for one year. Soon thereafter they relocated to the Auburn area and started a family, adopting their first daughter in 1977 and their second daughter two years later. Then Karen gave birth to a boy and four years later had a baby girl. During those years with four small children, Karen worked part-time outside the teaching profession. However, she couldn’t wait to get back to teaching, and when the time was right, Karen was hired full-time at Washington.

Karen is a favorite teacher among her colleagues and the Washington PTA. She received the very first Washington PTA Golden Apple award this year. Throughout her teaching career she has felt very fortunate to have been influenced and motivated by the dedicated staff she has worked with such as former principal Sandy Turner, the late counselor Bonnie Olson, and custodian Bernie Botz. Karen is retiring this June to keep up with her growing family and plans to have double knee surgery. She looks forward to what the future will bring and is thankful for her family’s support over the years and her relationship with the Lord. She will miss her students and will never forget times like the earthquake in 2001 when everyone was waiting outside and earthworms began to surface everywhere. “The boys were tantalizing the girls with earthworms,” smiles Karen. “It was priceless.”

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