Jim Char, Mt. Baker Middle School choir teacher, recently was named the Green River Music Region Teacher of the Year.

Char was honored during the Washington Music Educators Association State Solo and Ensemble Contest at Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

Pam Smith, the school district’s performing arts program coordinator, was honored as the Green River Music Region Friend of Music. She oversees the three school district theaters and supports music education programs in the district.

The GRMR includes Auburn, Kent, Enumclaw, Tahoma and White River School Districts.

Elsewhere

Auburn’s Rhianna Neal received a $1,500 Scholarship for Military Children awarded at Fort Lewis. Neal, daughter of Karen and Jeff Neal, plans to attend the University of San Diego to study accounting and fine arts. She hopes to become a leader in the university’s student government program and eventually to study abroad in Italy. At Auburn Riverside, Neal participated in student government and the National Honor Society. She was involved in soccer and tennis and volunteered with the Harborview Medical Center. She also is a Foursquare Church Youth leader. …

The Auburn Mountainview High School yearbook staff recently won Best Theme Statement during the Sound Yearbooks Workshop on July 14-16 at the University of Puget Sound. Four members of The Pride staff – co-editors-in-chief Darrell Chitwood and Carly Anderson and editors Solomon Lockhart and Taylor Strobeck – created an original and verbal theme, design and layout for the upcoming school year’s yearbook. Judges selected it for Best Theme Statement. High school yearbook staffs from Western Washington and Oregon attend the workshop and contest. It is The Pride’s first award since Auburn Mountainview High School opened five years ago.