Valley values educators: Schools Foundation honors Educators of the Year

Published 6:09 pm Tuesday, March 17, 2015

It’s time again to celebrate the best and brightest of Snoqualmie’s educators.

The Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation’s 2015 Educators of the Year are: Karen Seiser, secretary at North Bend Elementary School; Toni Canady, language arts teacher at Mount Si High School; Renee Gray, eighth grade language arts teacher at Chief Kanim Middle School; and Melanie Christian, third grade teacher at Snoqualmie Elementary School.

These four teachers shared their thoughts on teaching and the award recently.

They will be recognized Thursday, March 19, during the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation annual fundraising luncheon. Doors open at 11:30. Learn more at www.svsfoundation.org.

Karen Seiser

The playground is where it started, for Karen Seiser, North Bend Elementary School secretary and recently named Classified Educator of the Year. She played there as a child, volunteered there as an adult, and now, as the school secretary, still gets out there when she can.

A lifelong Valley resident, Seiser says, “I come from an entire family that works in a field that helps others.” Her father was a North Bend fire chief, her mother taught at North Bend Elementary for 30 years. She and her husband have two daughters.

What drew you to working in the schools?

A few things drew me towards the education field. When I was in the fourth grade at North Bend Elementary, I fell off the bars at recess and broke both my wrists. The recess aide on duty, who worked with my mom, was right there to comfort me and brought me to the office and to my mom. I knew that one day I was going to be there for someone like she was for me.

What did winning the award mean to you?

This award was very humbling. I feel very honored and blessed to have received it. Every day I go to work to do the job that I love, which at times can be challenging and pulls me in many different directions.  It is heartwarming to see how much my students, staff and parents notice and appreciate all that I do.

What do you learn from the kids?

Sometimes I learn more than I need to know or should know from their innocent minds, but their jokes, fun facts and stories everyday put a smile on my face.

What’s most rewarding at work?

Receiving handmade cards and books from my students, thanking me for the various things I may have done for them over the years, the friendly hello and smiles they share with me every day, and of course being honored with this amazing award.

What’s the community-building aspect of the award for you?

This award brings awareness to the impact and influences we have on our youth.  I am only one part of the big picture.  This award builds community within our schools as it unites parents, staff and children.  This incredible award was not only for me, it was an honor for the entire North Bend Elementary family, too.

Melanie Christian

Elementary School Educator of the Year, Melanie Christian, has worked with the Snoqualmie Elementary School since 1990, following the natural trajectory of parent, volunteer, substitute and finally career educator. Christian grew up in Bellevue and lived in Snoqualmie for 25 years with her husband of 41 years, while her daughter resides in Portland, Ore. Christian enjoys reading and gardening when she isn’t educating young minds in the classroom.

What drew you to teaching?

Throughout my school years, I had very positive relationships with my teachers and enjoyed the learning process. So, when I was going through the young-adult, what-am-I-going-to-be-when-I-grow-up phase, it came to me that I would be a teacher.  I have always been very happy with that decision.

What did winning the award mean to you?

It  meant that my teaching career has been successful because those who I work with and for have confidence in my skills.

What do you want your students to take away from your class? What do you learn from them?

I hope my students take away from my class a respect for themselves and others along with a joy of learning.

I have learned many things from my students but what primarily resonates with me is that each one of them is always trying to do his or her best and my job is to help them be the best they can be.

What’s most rewarding as a teacher?

The “Kodak” moments happen when I can see my students taking responsibility for our learning environment and their own learning individually and collectively.

What’s the community-building aspect of the award for you?

Teaching is an art as much as it is a science.  Relationships and academics go hand in hand for our time in school and in the greater community.

Toni Canady

High School Educator of the Year, Toni Canady, has taught language arts and reading at Mount Si High School for the last 17 years. Canady is a Bellevue native, but has called Fall City home for more than 26 years with her husband Brad.

They have a son, Dominick, a 19-year-old Mount Si High School graduate currently studying pre-med at the University of Washington. During her free time, Canady loves to spend time with family and friends, travel and cook Sicilian dishes to celebrate her heritage.

What drew you to teaching?

I learned at an early age that it was important to give back to my community. Teaching is a way for me to give back by helping young teenagers see their full potential and access their special abilities. I love seeing the spark ignited when students access their higher critical thinking skills and realize what great writerw they have become.

What did winning this award mean to you?

Of course I felt honored and humbled to be recognized by my peers, students and their parents. It has been so heartwarming to hear congratulations, and from former students and their parents once this was announced. But everyone who works as a teacher is “teacher of the year” – every person I have worked with over the past 17 years has a dedication and love for students and helping them access their full potential.

What do you want your students to take away from your class? What do you learn from them?

When students leave my class, I want them to have confidence in their ability to write well and have the tools/strategies to read with confidence – even when they encounter difficult text. My number-one goal is to assist students in improving their self-esteem and their ability to express themselves in the written form. I am hoping they discover a love for reading… (and) that they become life-long learners.

What’s most rewarding as a teacher?

Helping a student become a writer when they have told me they either cannot write or they hate language arts. The moment when they believe what they have written is of value, and I get to share in that moment.

What’s the community-building aspect of the award for you?

Again, we are all “teacher of the year.” I believe in any profession, especially teaching, we need to support one another and continue to find ways to teach our craft that students improve their skills and encourage them to become life-long learners, while helping them learn how to compete and thrive in a technically motivated society.

Renee Gray

Renee Gray, center, Middle School Educator of the Year, with Chief Kanim Middle School Assistant Principal Beth Castle, and Principal Kirk Dunckel.

Middle School Educator of the Year Renee Gray, language arts teacher at Chief Kanim Middle School, has worked for the Snoqualmie Valley School District for six years, subbing for a year at Twin Falls before moving to her current post.

She came to the Valley from Alaska, where she grew up, and now lives in North Bend, with her husband and their two sons. They enjoy “basically anything that has to do with the outdoors,” she said.

What made you want to be a teacher?

I worked as a classroom assistant my senior year. Watching that classroom teacher impact those students’ lives, made me quickly realize the power of a teacher. I have grown to love language arts because it is a subject that encourages students to think outside the box; there isn’t a right answer all the time.

I love when the light bulb goes off because they took a risk.

What did the award mean to you?

Educator of the Year means so much to me because it means my efforts to impact students have been successful. I come to work each day because I want to positively influence all of my students. Winning this award reinforces the importance of that belief.

What do you want your students to take away from your class? What do you learn from them?

I hope that my students learn they are important, that no matter where they came from, their academic level, or their confidence level, they are here for a purpose; to understand the importance of taking risks and critically listening and understanding each other; to understand the value of hard work;  to respect each other’s viewpoints; and to develop a love of reading and writing that spans all areas of learning.

What’s most rewarding as a teacher?

I get to be a positive role model for students who are at an extremely pivotal point of their life.

What’s the community-building aspect of the award for you?

It shows the level to which my efforts extend into the community. It is not just students I impact, but parents and other members of the community. I hope I can change a student’s confidence and self-esteem which will affect their choices later in life.