For the Reporter
The Auburn School District Board of Directors recently recognized Terri Herren, principal at Auburn Mountainview High School, for her outstanding service.
Herren began her teaching career in Auburn in 1981. She taught P.E. and was the gymnastics coach for three years at Auburn High, took a two-year break to teach in California and returned to Auburn High in 1986. She became an assistant principal at Auburn High in 2003, moved to Auburn Mountainview when it opened in 2005 and has been the principal at Auburn Mountainview since 2007.
She loves everything about Auburn Mountainview. She enjoys the culture, the school spirit, the teachers, the sporting events, the band and even the orange and blue school colors.
But most of all, Herren said, “I love the kids the best.”
Herren and her husband of 33 years, Dee, who retired from teaching at Rainier last year, have three adult children – all Auburn School District grads. They have two grandchildren, with a third grandchild due in July.
The school board also recognized Katie Estep, an eighth-grader at Cascade Middle School, for being an outstanding student.
Estep is in honors classes and participates in yearbook, ASB and other school activities. She shows kindness to all students.
“Katie is a great kid,” said Steve Homfeldt, Estep’s social studies teacher. “She has a bright smile and is fun to be around. She sets the bar for excellence as she is one of our top students. She has high goals for her future and is developing the skills and attitudes that will take her where she wants to go. Katie shows every day that our students can do anything if they set their minds to it.”
In her off time, Estep has taken up competitive weight lifting. She participated in her first meet at Youth Nationals and won first place last June. At her second meet in September, she broke the snatch American record and total American record. In her most recent meet in December, Estep improved her total record by 4 kilograms and now holds the American records for snatch and total.
Elsewhere
Auburn’s James Sutrick has graduated from the United States Sports Academy with a master of sports science degree in sports coaching, with highest honors. The Daphne, Alabama-based academy is an independent, nonprofit, accredited, special mission sports university created to serve the nation and world with programs in instruction, research and service. The role of the Academy is to prepare men and women for careers in the profession of sports. …
Jonathan Kosaka was inducted into the Alpha Chi Beta Chapter of Phi Theta Kappa at Green River College on Saturday, Jan. 27. Kosaka, a high school junior doing Running Start, is majoring in business administration. He also a member of the Auburn Junior City Council. He is the son of Mark and Kate Kosaka of Auburn. Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, headquartered in Jackson, Miss., is the largest honor society in higher education with 1,285 chapters on college campuses in all 50 of the United States, Canada, Germany, the Republic of Palau, Peru, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, the British Virgin Islands, the United Arab Emirates, and U.S. territorial possessions. …
Auburn’s Mackenzie Campbell (junior, exercise science and athletic training); Paul Gallagher (junior, communication arts); Leanna Harris (sophomore, information systems); and Mason Koch (junior, finance) were among those who earned dean’s list recognition at George Fox University (Newberg, Ore.) for the fall 2017 semester. Traditional undergraduate students must earn a 3.5 grade point average or above on 12 or more hours of graded work to earn a spot on the dean’s list. … Kira Smith of Auburn was named to the University of Delaware’s dean’s list for the fall 2017 semester. …
Derek Dzingle, Leila Lewis and Ava Catherine Welch earned placement on the Gonzaga University president’s list for fall semester 2017. Students must earn a 3.85 to 4.0 grade-point average to be listed. Dominic Collantes, Jordan Cotton, Dominic Hori, Marina Rojas, Matthew Saunders, Mitchel Schelling and Celine Woo made the university’s dean’s list for fall semester. … Joshua Avila and Grace Finstrom made the fall semester honor roll at Montana State University. … Zane Coble earned his degree in business administration, cum laude from Whitworth University. … Colin Lempert and Timary Mathena were named to the Whitworth University provost’s honor roll for fall semester. …
Nine teachers in the Auburn School District earned National Board Certifications (NBC) in 2017. NBC is one of the highest designations of professional excellence in the nation. With this new group, the school district has a total of 78 NBC teachers working in ASD school. While state licensing systems establish a baseline of requirements for teachers, NBC teachers have successfully demonstrated advanced teaching knowledge, skills and practices. NBC is the only credential process that compares a teacher’s knowledge and skills with a national set of professional standards. The teachers who earned certification are: Orlyn Carney (Olympic Middle School); DeDe Garcia (Washington Elementary); Vallery McCann (Auburn Riverside High); Daniel Mickelson (Auburn Mountainview High); Katherine Mikel (Lake View Elementary); ; Tony Paustian (Auburn High); Keegan Ryan (Mt. Baker Middle School); Tiffany Taylor (Arthur Jacobsen Elementary); Laura Williams (West Auburn High). The following teachers renewed their certifications: Teri Churchill (Gildo Rey Elementary); Treena Daniels (Lea Hill Elementary); Heather Hartley (Lakeland Hills Elementary); and Deanna Tompkins (Lake View Elementary).
