MLSD employees recognized at PSE banquet
Ronna Johnson (left) accepts a certificate from Carol Garneau (right) commemorating 10 years of employment with the Moses Lake School District during the Public School Employment employee banquet Tuesday.
MOSES LAKE - Classroom aides, bus drivers, office staff and all the employees who keep the wheels turning at school were recognized at the annual dessert banquet sponsored by the Public School Employees chapter Tuesday.
The PSE is the union representing classified (non-teaching) employees.
"My dad drove school bus for 25 years," Rich McBride said, citing the contribution made by classified employees. McBride is the superintendent of the North Central Washington Education Service District and was the keynote speaker.
Kim Johnson, a secretary at Chief Moses Middle School, was recognized for 35 years of employment with the district. Margaret Zarate, who works in the kitchen at Peninsula Elementary School, was recognized for 25 years as a school employee. Diane Dufault, a classroom aide at Midway Elementary, Sylvia Perez, a secretary at Lakeview Elementary and Frontier Middle School secretary Susan Root each received certificates for 15 years of employment.
Cynde Goldsmith, Rebecca Bittner, Carol Cosper, Leonard Friedlander, Estella Gonzales, Ronna Johnson, Curtis Obershaw and Viktor Yaroshchuk each received 10-year employment certificates.
The theme of the banquet was "Everyday Heroes." McBride said society is looking for heroes; "some say they are closer than you might think." He cited people he had met who fit, in his opinion, the definition of hero. They included a woman who had turned back from the summit of Mt. Everest when her husband became ill and couldn't finish the climb. (Husband and wife finished the climb together a couple years later, he said.)
School employees show those same characteristics, McBride said, the same determination, willingness to work together and willingness to help their students.