Golden Acorn and Outstanding Educator Awards
At the March PTA meeting, IVE honored this year’s Golden Acorn and Outstanding Educator Award winners. Congratulations to Jana White, Kim Murphy and Diane Bankson for all their hard work and commitment to our school and our students! For those of you who were not able to attend the celebration, here are some excerpts from their nominations.
Jana White: Jana has served on the IVE PTA Board as VP of Enrichment for two years. The Art Docent program has been re-invented under her leadership and is now a thriving program with a full cadre of parent volunteers. Her knowledge and passion for education were exemplified earlier this year with her quick and thorough understanding of the potential ramifications of closing Clark Elementary School. Jana spent countless hours spearheading the IVE response that helped keep Clark open. Jana has two children at IVE and she teaches English and Drama at St. Joseph’s School in Snoqualmie.
Kim Murphy: Kim has been involved in a myriad of PTA programs and activities. Kim’s organizational skills and attention to detail are renown at IVE. Her ability to lead and inspire others has enabled Kim to chair some of IVE’s most successful fundraising events. Kim was the co-chair of this year’s auction that raised over $50,000!! In addition, she is the co-chair of Eager Reader, an art docent, room mom and classroom helper. Kim has held other PTA leadership positions including co-chair of last year’s Walk-a-thon. In her spare time, she is also involved in Cub Scouts. Kim has two children at IVE.
Diane Bankson: Diane teaches Physical Education, but she is really teaching her students much more than skills and game rules on a daily basis. She teachers students how to work together in groups, she models how to solve problems and she encourages cooperation and open-mindedness. One of the powerful attributes about Diane is that she models these same traits with her colleagues through her actions, words and statements. Diane truly encourages all people that she comes in contact with to be their best emotionally, physically, and mentally.
