At the February 23 meeting, the Arlington Public Schools Board of Directors recognized five staff members for exemplary service.

The employees introduced at the meeting were Stephen Bassford, Laurie Breon, Tyler Payne, Kimala Stewart and Jeff Swanson.

Stephen Bassford is a custodian at Weston High School who is also a mentor to the students there. He provides guidance for students during and after school, reminding them what is appropriate and what is not. Most recently, Bassford was instrumental in helping a student struggling with substance abuse locate the necessary resources to get into treatment.

Music teacher Laurie Breon is a great asset to the Kent Prairie "family." She provides a solid music program for the students. Breon insures that her students have an opportunity to learn to be performers by planning assemblies, "informances" and in-class performances. In addition, the music teacher formed "Choir on Fire" a number of years ago, and she works with the 4th and 5th graders three mornings a week before school. Students learn music through keyboards, recorders, and movement and dance, and they also learn about music history.

Throughout the year, she takes them to events sponsored by the City of Arlington, grocery stores, Lights of Christmas, Arlington School Board meetings and any other events that will give the choir opportunity to perform. In past years, this group has performed for the City of Everett Volunteers Breakfast, for Folk Life Festival in Seattle and more. The students at Kent Prairie Elementary have learned how to read music, interpret music and love music because of Laurie Breon's guidance and expertise.

In the season of giving, Tyler Payne, a marketing educator at AHS, and his wife gave more than hope to thirteen families wishing for a merry Christmas. The snow not only caused havoc for our schools, our roads, and our holiday plans, but also threw a huge curveball for many organizations planning to spread some holiday cheer.

Santa's Helpers, a program run by students in the DECA/Marketing program, assists families in the Arlington community by gathering donations of food and gifts for those less fortunate. With the last three days of school before the winter holidays canceled due to snow, and much of the work still to do, it looked like Santa's Helpers would not be able to follow through with deliveries for the first time in many years.

However, Payne and his wife somehow managed to forage through the snow, purchase over $1000 worth of presents at local stores, gift wrap each present, sort thousands of pounds of food in a very chilly snowed-in school, and then drove all over the community delivering food and gifts.

Santa's work is never done, and with so much generosity given by our community, Payne's classroom was still filled with food even after all of the families had been provided. Once again, Payne loaded up his sleigh and made one last trip to the Arlington Food Bank to ensure that as many Arlington families as possible could experience the true spirit of the season.

Kimala Stewart is the special education resource room teacher at Pioneer Elementary. She has a tremendous amount of patience and fairness with her students, and will always get whatever her students need in order for them to feel successful in the classroom and beyond.

Stewart is very caring and has a great sense of humor, which makes work fun. These qualities help her students relax, have fun, and find the process of learning to be more enjoyable. Her collaborative nature touches not only the students and staff but also extends to families. She works as a teammate with parents to provide the best opportunities for students as she addresses the needs of the whole child. She has a challenging job and does it well.

Jeff Swanson, a music educator at Haller Middle School who also teaches students the skills needed to make the world a better place. Swanson gives his time and energy to make students better and more comfortable playing in front of people while asking for nothing in return.

Swanson's mode of operation is like a river, slowly working, breaking down the walls that stand in his way, patiently working his way toward his goal of making an excellent jazz band. The music can be challenging, but he patiently helps the musicians through and will not stop until each student understands. His calm demeanor and abundance of patience inspires many. According to his students, Mr. Swanson speaks peace, breathes love, and lives life to the fullest.