School employee named regional employee of year

MOSES LAKE - Friday morning in the life skills classroom at Longview Elementary meant songs about seeing blue cats and red mice, hearing bees and sirens, creatures of white who stay up all night and creatures of red who get hit in the head. It's the basics from the ground up, for children who face some pretty big obstacles.

Carol Garneau leads the singing group, and when she's called away a colleague steps in to take over. Teamwork in the life skills class is the way it works, and Carol Garneau's place on the team earned her the Classified Employee of the Year award for the North Central Washington Education Service District.

Garneau and the winners in the eight other ESDs around the state will be the guests of honor at a ceremony in Olympia April 14. A luncheon to announce the winner of the statewide award is scheduled for April 19.

"Carol is committed to the success and well-being of every life skills student and indeed, all the students at Longview Elementary," wrote principal Robbie Mason. "She goes above and beyond for our staff and students."

She will stay after school to work with kids or on school-related projects, Mason wrote. "She is a 'go-to' person for many of us," she said.

Garneau was nominated by Life Skills teacher Ted Mack, who said Garneau is "an invaluable contributor to my classroom. Carol demonstrates great insight and is able to reach each child, regardless of the student's ability level or behavioral impact."

"We have a great group of staff here. It's a nice place to work," Garneau said. "This will get in your blood. And it's enjoyable with these kids."

There are four people working in the life skills room, and each is trained to step into any task if a crisis erupts or someone needs a break. "We work as a team," she said. "This honor is shared equally among us. So it's for all of us," she said.

"We work with some of the higher-needs kids," she said, kids who suffer from cognitive and behavioral disorders. "Our role is support," she said, for the teacher and the children. The staff has a lot of opportunity to make suggestions and contribute their ideas, she said.

Life Skills class is not easy. "If we have a child that's upset, it's stressful because you want them to be happy at school," she said.

Teaching them takes extra attention, but it's a great feeling when they get it, she said. "What really is the awesome thing is when you have a student that has hit a roadblock in their development, and then you see that breakthrough," she said. When that moment comes, "your heart goes pitty-patter. That's why you do it."

Garneau really likes her students. "These are good kids."

Garneau is a native of Odessa who eventually settled in Moses Lake. She's a nurse as well as the life skills aide.

She said the award came as a big surprise. "I had not (learned of the award) until it came across my email. I was very surprised. Very surprised and honored."