The Washington Association of School Administrators (WASA) – Sno-Isle Region 109 recently recognized these local groups for their unique contributions to the Snohomish School District. Citizens for Snohomish Schools received the 2022 WASA Community Leadership Award, and the Snohomish School District nursing team was the recipient of the 2022 WASA Staff/Student Leadership Award. We are thankful for their contributions to our district and community! 

Community Leadership Award
More than three decades ago, Citizens for Snohomish Schools was formed by a group of concerned Snohomish parents and community members. Throughout the years, the work of this all-volunteer group has continued to center around their manta - strong schools mean strong communities. Working together, they have been consistent with helping the Snohomish School District in its support of passing school levies and construction bonds. The Snohomish School District had two critical funding measures on the February 2022 ballot. Both were approved by local voters ... in large part because of the work of the citizens group. Under the direction of outgoing president Jeff Judy and current president Sonya Siegel Vexler the team of community volunteers spent hundreds of hours fundraising and organizing campaign and get-out-the-vote messaging, events and activities to help ensure the measures would pass. Whether it be doorbelling, writing letters to the editor, educating our community about the difference between levies and bonds, putting up yard signs, creating social media campaigns, or attending dozens of community meetings, Citizens for Snohomish Schools volunteers have been relentless advocates for all Snohomish School District students. Thank you, Citizens for Snohomish Schools!

Staff/Student Leadership Award
The Snohomish School District is pleased to honor our district nursing team with this year’s WASA student/staff leadership award. Using their dedicated professionalism, tireless effort and support, our 15 nurses enabled our schools to continue to educate the students of Snohomish as we navigated the challenging time of the COVID-19 pandemic. Our nurses faced an ever-changing period of time in healthcare in which they were given unprecedented responsibly. This expanded role meant their job was often a balancing act in which they provided reassurance to anxious families, students and staff, while at the same time navigating uncomfortable, and at times hostile, situations with families. I think that they would all say that their skin is a bit thicker as a result. It was often exhausting and frustrating as they navigated changing COVID-19 guidelines, contact tracing and testing, providing data to the departments of health, while also doing the important job of school nursing.  Yet each day they returned to the pressures that awaited them and met the challenges they faced using their nursing skills and training to provide a safe place for our students to learn during a pandemic.  We mean it when we say we could not have done it without you. Thank you, Snohomish School District nurses!