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PSESD Board of Directors Recognizes Classified Teacher of the Year Julie Herdt
An image of Julie Herdt with the PSESD Board

Classified Teacher of the Year Julie Herdt was recently recognized at the February 19, 2025 PSESD Board of Directors meeting!

Her honor as Classified Teacher of the Year in June 2024 capped Julie’s seventeen-plus years of working in the educational field, where she continues to dedicate herself to removing barriers to education for students who are experiencing homelessness, foster care, or economic difficulty, and where she works to assist all families with basic needs (housing, food, clothing) and other resources so that the students can concentrate on academic success.

Julie is an advocate for all students and families, and she has partnered with many organizations, including School House Washington, Road Map Project for Family Engagement, and Building Changes, where she has been asked to speak at many trainings to help fellow school districts on McKinney-Vento data practices and on the importance of building community relationships to help families and students. She is also a City of Tukwila Human Services Advisory Board member. Julie feels very fortunate to be able to follow her passion for helping others through her job, and will continue to work to support students and families going forward.

Congratulations again to Julie!

Archive

Laura Eidson Talks About the Importance of National Board Certified Teachers and Improving Student Discourse

Laura Eidson is a teacher in the Sumner-Bonney Lake School District, where she currently teaches first grade, and she just went through the National Board Certification process and received her certification. The process had a positive and powerful effect on her approaches as a teacher.
 

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Bridging the Gap

Here's some news to spotlight from Federal Way Public Schools! Transitioning to a new grade level can be a big deal for students and families alike. Sometimes, transitions can bring about mixed feelings of both excitement and anxiousness around what comes next. At Family Academy’s Bridging the Gap: Supporting Students Through Change, students and families can learn more about how to confidently support smooth school year transitions.

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Lucyka Clark

Lucyka Clark is a Resource Room Teacher at James Sales Elementary School, in the Franklin Pierce School District. As the proud home of the Jaguars, James Sales is located in Tacoma, Washington, and we recently had the chance to talk with Lucyka about how becoming Nationally Board Certified enriched her teaching.

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Come support PSESD's Latinx Family Advocacy Program at a Tacoma Rainiers Baseball Game!

We’re excited to announce a new three-year partnership between PSESD's Latinx Family Advocacy Program, BECU and the Tacoma Rainiers Baseball team! As part of this partnership, BECU has chosen to honor and support our Latinx Family Advocacy Program at five games each baseball season. Proceeds from these Copa Games will go directly toward supporting us.

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Celebrating our Education Support Professionals at PSESD

In education, the thousands who serve among the support professionals are an integral part of the industry and its importance.

That’s why it’s so important to celebrate their contributions each year for Education Support Professionals week, which takes place this year from March 10–14, 2025. The week was first noted for celebration in 1975 by PSE in order to salute the irreplaceable contributions of Education Support Professionals (or ESPs, for short) in the public school system.
 

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Teacher Rachel Wegener

Rachel Wegener is a high school English teacher in the Federal Way Public Schools who teaches 10th and 12th grade English. She's been with Federal Way for seven years, and we recently sat down to talk with her about what she's gained by becoming Nationally Board Certified.

Read More about National Board Certified Teacher Rachel Wegener Talks About the Importance of Family and Parental Support