Best Practices, Volume X, 2008

2008 Educator STAR Award winner and nominees

« Table of contents

2008 Student STAR Award winner
Trudy Keller, East High School 2008 Educator STAR Award winner Educators are the vital link between business partners, school administrators, and students. Throughout the district, at any hour of the day or night, SBP teachers can be found brainstorming with business leaders, pitching ideas to principals, and drumming up enthusiasm in students. They field phone calls, devote countless hours to service projects, and work to make our schools better places. Without these valued adults, the SBP program could not exist. Trudy Keller is one such educator, and it is with great pride that she has been awarded the 2008 Star Educator Award. Ms. Keller is a marketing and business teacher at East High who works in partnership with Wells Fargo to operate the Bank Within East. This on-campus branch of Wells Fargo is open before school and during lunch; it is operated by students and its primary services are to accept deposits and provide cash for the East High community. This year, the school’s activities department also moved its account to take advantage of the branch literally next door. Wells Fargo employees interview Ms. Keller’s marketing students before being allowed to work at this unique banking branch. The Bank Within East opened in 1998, but it was not an easy process. At that time there was only one other oncampus high school banking program in the country, so Ms. Keller had to create the program from scratch. It would have been impossible to overcome the numerous challenges without her dedication, enthusiasm, and creativity. How would the bank be staffed? By students in her elective marketing class, she said. How could they be trained in all aspects of banking transactions and customer service? Through the partnership with the bank and its employees, of course! How would deposits be transferred from East to other bank branches? Ms. Keller offered to courier them herself. For every roadblock, she offered a solution. The Bank Within East was clearly a labor of love! Today, the Bank Within East and the Mustang Money Coop, a similar program at Chugiak High School with Mat-Su Valley Federal Credit Union, are the only programs of their kind in our state, and one of only a handful throughout the nation. It is clearly a model that cannot be easily emulated. Students in Ms. Keller’s marketing class learn the basics of banking and are taught customer service skills. Wells Fargo employees reinforce the training and interview students for the bank’s positions. As a result, financial services are provided to students, staff, and teachers at East High on a regular and reliable basis. More importantly, students in the program learn valuable business skills, gain experience with cash handling, practice interviewing techniques, and are given real life job experience. The financial community knows well that this program has brought many local banks, not only Wells Fargo, skilled employees to their doors. Students have also learned that they can take their skills to Wells Fargo branches around the country and secure employment, even while attending college. Wells Fargo employee Elaine Junge said, “Trudy Keller is Bank Within East. From the day she approached us, her eyes bright with enthusiasm at the prospect of bringing this program to East High, Trudy has brought energy, excitement, and commitment to Wells Fargo’s Bank Within East. Every challenge was overcome. Every roadblock removed. Every accomplishment celebrated. Trudy, you are an honorary banker and we are proud to have you on our team!”
2008 Educator STAR Award nominees
Janna Walker, Central Middle School of Science Not surprisingly, many other educators were nominated for STAR Awards this year, and deserve to be recognized. Janna Walker of Central Middle School of Science is one such teacher. In addition to her core class teaching requirements, Ms. Walker is the SBP Class teacher as well as the coordinator for the school. She facilitates activities between Central students and several different business partners, including ACVB, Aurora Vending, REI, Key Bank, Kids’ Kitchen, Learning for Life, Hilton Anchorage, Ft. Richardson School/Military Liaison, and Blockbuster Video. Together with her students and business partners, Ms. Walker has coordinated the following worthy events: United Way Food Drive, Kids’ Kitchen Pennies for the Penniless, Camp Fire Service Learning Project, Boxes for Bean’s Café, City of Lights Stringing for ACVB and the Hilton, Challenge Course at Ft. Rich, Kids’ Closet Clothes Collection, Bike Helmet Giveaway, ACVB Wild About Anchorage Trivia Contest, and Baby Blankets for Shelters/ Military Families. In addition, her students sponsor dances, attend board meetings at Key Bank, write a monthly newsletter for the Hilton, and participate in mock job interviews. This is clearly one busy elective course with an even busier teacher!		Michael Clarke , Mears Middle School Michael Clarke is the School Business Partnership teacher at Mears Middle School, and another STAR Educator Award nominee. He and his students participated in a uniquely Alaskan service project for the Willow Dog Mushing Association. Together with members of Campfire USA, SBP students built emergency dog houses for mushers to use in the event of a catastrophic disaster. They also gave the Willow Dog Mushing Association 500 color-coded identification tags for the animals. In the event of an emergency, these tags will help reunite dogs with their owners. The students were thrilled to help with a hands-on project, and happily worked in -5 degree temperatures! These four educators reflect the devotion that is given by many SBP coordinators, SBPC teachers and volunteers throughout the district on a daily basis. Thank you to all the fine educators who make the SBP program so successful, and a special congratulations to Ms. Trudy Keller of East High for her well-deserved 2008 STAR Educator Award!
Jasmin Wilson, Denali Montessori School Another STAR nomination was received for Jasmin Wilson, who has been a pivotal part of the Denali Montessori Peer Mediation program for ten years. As Peer Mediation Coordinator, Ms. Wilson facilitates a partnership with NECA/ IBEW, trains student mediators, and manages mediation schedules. Intermediate students at Denali who serve as mediators must obtain recommendations from parents and teachers before attending a three-day peer mediation training, where they work hard and commit to making up any missed class work. Ms. Wilson plays an integral role in this training and as a result the entire Denali community benefits. She began her role at Montessori as a Campfire staff member before becoming a special education teacher aide, and is currently pursuing a teaching degree. She has completed a practicum in a Denali classroom and is a vital member of the Denali community.

NEXT: Carlile Transportation System and Mountain View Elementary School »

Please note: The information on this page is from the 2008 edition of Best Practices. The people, programs and contact information included were current at the time of publication, but may have since changed.