Dick Scobee Elementary School office manager Ann Gilbert is STAR 101.5’s “School Star of the Week” in a Western Washington contest. Gilbert was nominated by her principal, Greg Brown.

On Thursday, STAR 101.5’s Kent and Alan will introduce Gilbert on-air and honor her with multiple prizes, including $100 from the Washington State Employees Credit Union, dinner for two at Ivar’s, and a free massage at Massage Envy. She also will also be entered into a drawing to win $500.

STAR 101.5’s “School Star of the Week” honors classified staff in public schools who help both schools and students succeed. Bus drivers, paraeducators, teacher’s aides, secretaries, custodians, cooks and cafeteria workers, security guards, health and library technicians, playground supervisors, and many other “unsung heroes” are recognized each month throughout the school year.

Elsewhere

• The Auburn School District Board of Directors will recognize Micaela Boettcher, a fifth-grader at Ilalko Elementary School, for being an outstanding student at 7 p.m. Monday in the board room at the James P. Fugate Administration Building.

Micaela is one of the most dedicated and hardworking students in Amy Grijalva’s classroom. She takes full responsibility for the entire scope of her education and gratefully accepts any interventions as opportunities to receive the extra help she needs to be successful. She is a confident young lady who understands that school is not easy for everyone, but with effort success is possible.

In the last three years, Micaela has participated in Ilalko’s “Early Intervention Class,” which provides targeted assistance to students one hour before the school day starts. She participates in summer school and often attends Tier III interventions, such as working with a high school mentor from Auburn Riverside High School. Micaela’s focus and determination helped her achieve standard last year in reading as measured by the MSP.

When asked what her favorite school subject is, Micaela replied, “I like all subjects except for math, but I still try really hard because I want to like it.”

Her favorite part about being a student at Ilalko is the “P.R.I.D.E. Assemblies,” because she enjoys watching students be recognized for modeling a P.R.I.D.E. attribute.

Outside the classroom, Micaela is actively involved in competitive soccer and plays right defense for the Synergy Soccer Club. She participates in a small group at her church and enjoys water skiing, wakeboarding, downhill skiing, and just being outdoors.

• The school district will recognize Kim Hart, paraeducator at Chinook Elementary School, for her outstanding service on Monday.

Hart works with students with special needs in the structured learning center. Hart’s primary role is to assist her teacher in carrying out the daily learning for all 11 students and helping them meet their reading and math IEP requirements. Hart engages students through hands-on learning activities such as using building blocks to master math counting concepts.

Hart also serves on the school’s math committee. She is impressed by the staff’s strong commitment to improve student learning for all students.

“No matter where a student is at our goal is to increase their learning,” she said. “We can never know too much or learn too much.” This sentiment is similar to the quote inscribed on one of Kim’s favorite teacups: “The brain is not much bigger than an ordinary teacup, but all the knowledge in the world could not fill it up.”

Hart is a longtime district employee, having worked in various pareducator positions throughout the district for the past 20 years including positions in West Auburn’s former childcare center and Auburn High School’s Career and Technical Education (CTE) classes. Hart savored every moment nurturing babies and toddlers in the childcare center, yet learned to love fixing lawn mowers, welding machinery and harvesting plants in the various CTE classes.

Before her career in the Auburn School District, Hart volunteered on the 1984-85 citizens’ ad-hoc committee that recommended the restructuring of the junior high schools into middle schools. She also volunteered as a district health tech aid.

Hart has a bachelor’s degree in child development from UC Davis. She has always wanted to work with kids in education and is thankful to have been able to effectively help students reach their learning goals.

Hart has four grown children who are all college graduates. She and her husband, Jay, reside in Auburn.

She enjoys making period costumes from Medieval Times and is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism.