Council Award Recipients - 2019-2020

Each year, Northshore Council PTSA recognizes a few special people who have gone above and beyond in service to our community and who promote the well-being and education of children in our district and beyond. This year, Council was proud to recognize seven amazing individuals.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Oustanding Educator Award recipient, Gary Keeler

Outstanding Educator - Gary Keeler
The Outstanding Educator Award honors individuals who go beyond the normal expectations of their jobs to make the learning environment fun, beneficial and challenging.

Mr.  Keeler was the principal at Bear Creek Elementary for quite a few years before moving over to lead Lockwood Elementary, where he retired. He came out of retirement this year to guide the Bear Creek community in its transition to a home for the Northshore Family Partnership. His community overwhelmingly expressed their gratitude and love for this “one of a kind” principal. They talked about his “kind and gentle leadership style”, his ability to listen and to be a problem solver and, most of all, about his compassion for his staff, families and students. Over his years of work in Northshore, he has worked tirelessly to put the needs of his students first and foremost in every decision he has made. One of his famous sayings is, "Folks, the kids are the heart of everything we do!"

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Outstanding Advocate Award recipient, Mayela Martinez

Outstanding Advocate - Mayela Martinez
The Outstanding Advocate Award honors individuals for their continued and dedicated service to all children demonstrating a commitment to speaking up for children in the areas relating to health, welfare, safety, and education of children and youth.

Mayela has been a dedicated educator and advocate all of her life. She has been with the Northshore School District for over 20 years working in the dual language program, as an interpreter, with the ELL program and as a Family Outreach Liaison. Mayela goes above and beyond the call of duty for her students and their families making sure that needs are met, no matter where she has to look for the support that a student might need. She has provided invaluable outreach that is needed to communicate and engage the parents of our English learners. She has championed the Natural Leaders program at multiple schools and created a pipeline of engaged parents in grades K-12. Mayela was recently selected as the Regional Classified School Employee of the Year for Puget Sound ESD 121 by Office of Educator Growth and Development in the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) and is a finalist for the Washington State Classified School Employee of the Year.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Outstanding Student Advocate Award recipient, Julia Gonzalez

Outstanding Student Advocate - Julia Gonzalez
The Outstanding Student Advocate Award recognizes students who have made significant contributions through leadership and service in their school and community.

Julia Gonzalez has been an advocate all of her life. She has been involved with WE Day events, has won the C.P. & Dorothy Johnson Humanitarian award, been asked by WSPTA to testify in Olympia on mental health and school advocacy, and was a keynote speaker at our 2019 Presidents and Principals luncheon. In 2018, she created the "ME Space" program at Northshore Middle School. "ME" stands for "Mental Emotional" or "Mind Escape" and the space is a dedicated room for students struggling with anxiety or overwhelming emotions to visit during the day when they need a mental health break. The program continues to serve 25-30 students every week, providing them with a safe space to reset and recharge so that they are able to re-focus on learning. Julia's program has inspired other schools within the district to create “ME Spaces” of their own.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Golden Acorn Award recipient, Jane Chiodo

Golden Acorn - Jane Chiodo
The Golden Acorn Award is presented to a Northshore Council PTSA volunteer in recognition of their dedication and service to children and youth.

In Jane’s first year serving on Council, she not only embraced her role as First VP, she quickly became an integral part across many aspects of Council, taking on projects such as editing and drafting existing and new standing rules and policies, spearheading the Speaker & Events Grant program, chairing this year’s Nominating Committee, planning and organizing our Reflections celebration, coordinating Awards and more. If there was a need-- Jane was there to help with grace, humor and an awesome ability to get things done. Her dedication and willingness to lead and serve have enriched Northshore Council beyond measure.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Golden Acorn Award recipient, Michele Holowachuk

Golden Acorn - Michele Holowachuk
The Golden Acorn Award is presented to a Northshore Council PTSA volunteer in recognition of their dedication and service to children and youth.

Michele is the Special Education Representative for Council (she also holds that position at BHS PTSA as well). Over the three years she has been on Council, Michele has done a great job connecting with the Special Education parent community at every school, working to ensure that each local PTA has a representative and gathering them together to share issues, concerns and how they can help and support each other. Michele also works to bring in presenters and education events showcasing relevant topics for the Special Education families in our district. She has also been working towards the creation of a Special Education resource fair. Her dedication to the Special Education community is phenomenal and she has helped to magnify their voice.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Honorary Lifetime Membership Award recipient, Grace Jurado

Honorary Lifetime Membership - Grace Jurado
The Honorary Life Membership recognizes an individual who has contributed significantly to a PTA at the local unit, council, or state level.

Grace has worked at many levels of PTA including local, council and region. She has served in many roles over the years including elected positions, chairs of events and as a volunteer. She is always ready to help, even when she is running out the door to go to work, her kids dance competition and sports. In her current role as Council president, Grace has created opportunities for our local units to connect and share information about how to work through the current COVID-19 crisis. Her leadership has been invaluable.

Northshore Council PTSA 2019-20 Outstanding Service Award recipient, Nancy Chamberlain

Outstanding Service - Nancy Chamberlain
The Outstanding Service Award is the highest volunteer award given by the Washington State PTA. It is awarded to someone who has gone beyond his or her own school community, job, or PTA in order to give dedicated volunteer service to children.

Nancy has been taking on leadership positions for 12 years. She has volunteered tens of thousands of hours in our school, council and state PTAs as well as in our communities in various positions. She has received multiple PTA awards including Golden Acorn, Outstanding Advocate at the school, council and just this year at the state level as well as earning the Crystal Level in the WSPTA Leadership Academy.  During all that, she also served on at least eight time consuming education coalitions and workshops as well as co-moderated a NSD Discussion group on Facebook. Nancy is a true PTA professional and her work supporting students and families at the school, district and state level is incalculable.

Congratulations to this year's winners!

Northshore Council PTSA recognized its 2019-2020 award recipients at its general membership meeting on June 1, 2020 which was held online.