Staying true to our roots

Educators and outstanding students honored at events

[June 8, 2009]

Elizabeth Dubois' gasp could be heard across the room when her name was read at the recent STCU Focus Scholarship Awards reception.

Of 16 finalists, Dubois was one of three who received $2,000 scholarships to help continue their education after high school. Other recipients were Shaleesa Mielke, who has studied architecture while attending Shadle Park High School, and Dylan Wu, a computer whiz at Lewis and Clark High School.

"I really didn't think I'd get it," said an emotional Dubois, a Mt. Spokane High School senior who is studying at Total Cosmetology Training Center. "It was a total surprise."

While it's been many years since STCU opened its membership to non-educators, it remains an organization that's committed to education. Whether it's hosting back-to-school events, speaking in classrooms, mentoring students or working on efforts to better schools, teachers know they can count on STCU and its employees.

And with the school year nearing an end, STCU has been busy with a number of projects to help students succeed, and see that deserving school employees are recognized.

The Focus Scholarships, which honor students excelling in high-school Career and Technical Education, are just one such example. Here are some others:

• Perhaps you've wondered which philosophers influenced Chaucer as he wrote The Canterbury Tales, whether it's true that wearing FitFlop sandals can reduce cellulite, or whether visitors are harming caves at Lava Beds National Monument. If so, then EWU's Student Research and Creative Works Symposium has the answers.
  
  The 12th annual symposium, which was sponsored by STCU, featured some 200 presentations of the best student work in the visual or performing arts, creative writing, filmmaking, and research. After two days, judges awarded prizes to 48 individuals and teams.
  
  

• No one panicked when a fire truck pulled up to Real Life Ministries. The firefighters were simply joining more than 160 other professionals from Post Falls and surrounding areas, who were visiting with 225 high school students.
  
  The third-annual Post Falls Reverse Job Fair was nearly double the size of the 2008 fair, prompting its move into the massive church auditorium.
  
  Seniors from Post Falls schools spent months studying and preparing material to support their fields of interest - everything from carpentry to sonography. They competed for four scholarships, with a combined value of $3,000. STCU helped sponsor one scholarship, and STCU's Anne Hagman, co-chaired the event.
  
  
• Spokane Public Schools used to recognize outstanding teachers. But each time, the honoree would insist that excellence required teamwork, said Superintendent Nancy Stowell. That's why the district now offers Distinguished Educator Team awards twice each year.
  
  Two teams were honored in spring: Kindergarten teachers Mary Golden, Marci McQuary and Sandy Puckett-Simmerer at Logan Elementary School; and the science team at Shaw Middle School, which includes Jennifer Chase, Steven English, Jessica Gaddy, Kymberly Larson, Leslie Martin, Krista Rollins, Christine Solheim and Sharon Urlacher.
  
  STCU sponsored the award that went to the Logan team, and the Wendle Auto Group sponsored the Shaw team.

STCU also helped honor faculty and staff with awards at North Idaho College, dropped off gifts to hard-working secretaries during Administrative Professionals Week, and sponsored the Teachers of the Year awards that were part of the Spokane Lilac Festival.