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

5/14/07

NEWS RELEASE
Auburn School District Selects 2007 Outstanding Teachers of the Year

Lew Keliher
Auburn High School Construction Manufacturing and Power, Energy and Transportation Teacher

“I strive to make students participants, not observers, in the learning process,” remarks Lew Keliher. Lew is passionate about providing kids the education necessary to graduate and move forward in life. “I encourage them to work hard to make a good life for themselves,” says Lew. Lew teaches students the ins and outs of construction manufacturing—everything from furniture to home construction to blueprint reading to power energy transportation. He also provides them opportunities for advancement through the National Center for Construction and Research’s pre-apprenticeship construction and metals program. It is a program designed for students who desire to go straight into industry after high school to earn national certification in safety and other construction-related areas.

Lew provides students the life skills necessary to reach their goals. “I let my students know it is okay to make mistakes. They will find success if they learn from their mistakes,” remarks Lew. Lew makes it a point to get to know his students, asking them about their other classes and how they are doing. “Sometimes kids aren’t getting good meals at home or don’t have someone asking them about their day, so I ask them how they’re doing, showing them I care,” says Lew. Lew also encourages students to become leaders in the school and community. Recently his advanced students decided to begin a woodworking project where they made 80 flag display boxes for the families of Washington State soldiers who were killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Differentiated instruction is a priority in Lew’s classroom as he prepares his curricula for students who may be at different stages in the learning process. All students will blend the subjects of math, science and writing into their woodworking and other projects, not only meeting standards on state Essential Academic Learning Requirements (EALRs), but also discovering that a trade is more than a technical skill, it is an opportunity for lifelong learning. Lew and the district’s woodworking instructors have redesigned the entire woodworking curriculum to align with the new educational reform standards and state EALRs. Student leadership, work-based learning and national certification in core construction areas are emphasized.

Lew has taught in the industrial arts field for over 28 years, and he has coached football, wrestling and weight training for 21 years. Outside of the classroom, Lew is the current president of the Washington Industrial Technology Education Association (WITEA). Through this role, Lew guides Career and Technical Education (CTE) at a statewide level. “It’s important to show people how important CTE is, and one way to do this is by working with other instructors and state legislators,” says Lew. “My students learn math, science and writing in their CTE courses, and this is important to emphasize especially with the WASL creating changes in their schedules.”

One of Lew’s other professional development accomplishments is the 400-plus page safety/training manual he created for other instructors and professionals in the field to use as a resource. It is a comprehensive manual that contains information on safety and classroom management, lesson plans, safety sheets, assessments, tests and so on. This manual integrates with state EALRs and is available on CD for all educators. Lew is pleased to see it benefits others. “I’ve had instructors tell me things like, ‘You’re the man,’ for putting together this resource,” says Lew. “It took me 26 years to get the nerve to do it, but I’m glad I did.”

Despite a new leadership role, a stellar resource manual and his experience in the classroom, Lew’s goal is still simple and heartfelt: to make learning enjoyable and relevant so students can find success in life.

Susan Kindem
Olympic Middle School Sixth Grade Language Arts, Reading and Social Studies Teacher

Phrases like “explore your world” and “kaizen = continuous improvement” adorn Susan Kindem’s classroom walls and communicate two of her passions. Susan acknowledges she grew up in a less integrated society than today’s America. As she got older and had the good fortune to travel throughout the world, she began to embrace diversity and incorporate its importance in her classroom. “When students are able to share their cultures with each other it makes for a much better learning experience,” states Susan. Susan uses a variety of methods to help students be more accepting of other cultures. For instance, whenever she travels she brings back mementos to share with her class such as books, posters and photos. She encourages students from other cultures to share their experiences with the class. Susan also believes diversity and acceptance lead to better communication. “When everybody is involved in conversation—especially about topics like academic reform—it raises the level of consciousness and we need that to know where we’re at and where we’re heading.”

Recently Susan read an article on the Toyota Company and walked away with a new word and, quite frankly, a new life motto. “‘Kaizen’ is one of the reasons Toyota is so successful. They tie everything together with the idea that success is on a continuum; there is always room for improvement.” Susan was inspired by the idea and introduced the concept to her students. She encourages her students to work hard, emphasizing that there is always room for improvement. She also shares with the students that it is okay to make mistakes as long as they continue to strive to get better. Susan has adopted this theme not only with her students but also with her colleagues, committees and so on.

Susan teaches honors students and emergent readers, as well as a general education class. She is the adviser for Olympic’s Builders Club and throughout her 23 years in Auburn School District she has worked with students on multiple community service projects. One of her favorite projects came out of a personal experience she had as part of the delegation for the City of Seattle’s Peace Park Project in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. After returning from a five-week trip to Tashkent to help build the park, she was asked to join the steering committee for the Goodwill Games’ Million Cranes Project. At the time Susan was at Terminal Park Elementary and was responsible for recruiting students and staff to help fold thousands of Japanese origami paper cranes for the 1990 opening ceremonies. “We had 13 students march in the opening parade and pass out cranes,” says Susan. Susan’s students have also volunteered at local nursing homes, walked in the Children’s Hospital Heart Walk and more.

Susan never passes up an opportunity to engage a child in learning whether the vehicle is a child’s parent or a hands-on activity. Every week Susan’s students contribute articles to the class newsletter and write a journal entry to parents discussing the highlights of the week. She has even had students create their own pushcarts out of discarded wood to better understand the book, The Pushcart War.

“We can all talk about improving,” remarks Susan, “but I want to put my words into action. Susan will no doubt always be improving and asking herself, “How can I do my job better?”

Clark Crace
Hazelwood Elementary School Self-Contained Special Education Teacher

For Clark Crace, reaching new heights in the classroom means bridging the gap between general education students and students with special needs. “That is my number one goal,” states Clark. “As a special education teacher I want to stay connected with general education so I can push my kids to reach new levels of learning.” Clark stays connected primarily by bringing the general education curriculum into his classroom and volunteering on state leadership committees.

Clark and his colleague, Wendy Titus, work hard to provide social development opportunities for their students with special needs. Their lunch buddy program is a volunteer program where grade level peers come into the classroom and eat lunch with the students. Additionally, at the beginning of the school year, Clark travels to each general education classroom to share what his students like to do for fun and how they like to learn. “This is a time when kids can connect to their peers with special needs,” says Clark. “They can ask questions about things they’ve observed. It has really made our school a compassionate community.”

Parent communication is also an essential element of bridging the gap. One of Clark’s student’s parents recently had this to say about Clark’s support for her child: “Clark and I can communicate about a lot of my son’s issues—and not just about things that occur at school. We’ve made a lot of changes to better improve our home life through Clark’s input, which in turn benefits his time at school. When you have a child with special needs, communication is vital because it allows us to come up with solutions and a plan.”

Clark also believes in strong communication between himself and his students. He holds his students to high expectations and does not make excuses for them. “It’s important that if we want students to reach new heights we don’t give them leeway; we hold them accountable, too,” says Clark. “I want kids to be successful. I want to help them push themselves harder than they thought they could; it’s about raising expectations, not lowering them.” One of Clark’s students who is nonverbal first entered the classroom unable to communicate his needs and feelings. Now this student can identify objects, ask to use the restroom, excuse himself from his desk, notify Clark he finished his assignment and so on. “My goal is to help my students be able to function, interact and communicate in today’s society,” remarks Clark.

In the last two years Clark has devoted himself to better understand the government’s position on state education reform. “Since I am responsible for No Child Left Behind and students’ success on the WASL, I want to better understand it and find out why we’re doing it. The only way for me to do that is to get involved,” says Clark. Thus, Clark has joined the state’s Writing Assessment Leadership Team (WALT), which is comprised of a collaborative team of teachers from across the state developed by the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). They are charged with ensuring there is a consistent focus and high standard in the area of writing assessment and instruction. As a member of WALT, Clark receives direct communication from OSPI that he is then able to share directly with his colleagues in the district through numerous in-service workshops and trainings. Clark is also on the district math steering committee, the special education curriculum committee, and he is the special education representative for the building leadership team.

Clark is heavily involved in scoring and writing the math and writing sections of the WASL. He works directly with the state on the writing assessment, which has allowed him to see what students are missing in quality writing. He provides teacher trainings to primarily share with teachers how to improve the quality of writing for all students. He has trained teachers in Auburn School District and at Seattle’s Zion Prep Academy. Clark has participated in math range finding and item writing at the state level, too. Clark has even scored the Washington Alternative Assessment System (WAAS), a portfolio-based assessment for students with special needs. Since Clark began training teachers in the district on the requirements of the portfolios, more teachers than ever before are incorporating them into their curricula. “When I started there were only about three teachers doing it,” says Clark.

“I like to educate teachers,” remarks Clark, “because they can make a difference.” Clark acknowledges that assessments like the WASL are not perfect, but they are there, and they are there for good reason—to help students reach new heights in academics. “When I explain to teachers the exorbitant amount of work that goes into one math question, it helps them understand it better,” says Clark. For Clark, fearing education reform is not the answer: “It’s there, so let’s make the most of it.”

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