The Nominees Are

Selah School District Announces its Best—Viking Way Style!

Viking Way:  Best of the Best Awards Scheduled for Tuesday, May 7

As the Selah School District prepares to celebrate staff during recognition week May 6-10, the 2024 Best of the Best nominations have been sprinkled in blue and gold as this year’s nominees are announced.

This year’s Annual Best of the Best Ceremony will be held on Tuesday, May 7, at 6:00 p.m., in the Selah Middle School VPAC.  On this evening, the Selah School District will highlight its finest as it recognizes its Viking Way: Best of the Best award recipients for the 2023-2024 school year.  Also, the 2024 retiree class will be honored.

The Best of the Best awards is a recognition program designed to recognize outstanding certified and classified staff, as well as volunteers in Selah.  The nominations process coincides with The Viking Way culture to honor individuals who, within their role, work to contribute to the District’s culture of excellence.

Individuals nominated for this year’s Viking Way: Best of the Best awards include:

Administrator/Director: Heather Burfeind, Joe Coscarart, Lee Grams, Sarah Hansen, Trina Hovsepian, Betty Lopez, Laurie Ozanich, Chad Quigley, Amanda Scribner, and Irina Stoica.

Certificated Staff: Nicole Alkharanda, Dawn Acheson, Mary Allen, Geoff Anderson, Katherine Anderson, Brandy Anglin, Taylor Babcock, Valerie Barnett, Ali Bernard, Mary Katherine Blue, Monica Bredwell, Shari Brink, Brooklyn Brown, Matt Brown, Monica Carrasco, Lacey Carter, Andre Cavazos, Shelby Clements, Erick Cleveland, Alisha Coon, Ann Marie Cordova, Mikal Crabb, Kim Cruz, Stephanie Cruz, Jolee Custer, Kari deBoer, Bryan Dibble, Kyle Ditter, Stephanie Erickson, Mindy Forbes, Allyson Forenpohar, Tiffany Friday, John Gallegos, Heather Gamache, Yessenia Garcia, Rebecca Gause, Sara Gross, Scott Gunner, Rubi Gutierrez, Kelsey Hagen, Stephanie Hale, Kip Harris, Greg Haste, Nathalie Haste, Lindsay Huck, Alejandra Huitron, Chris Hull, Shannon Hussell, Michelle “Missy” Jackson, Dawn Johnson, Betty Lamb, Laura Lean, Kevin Madson, Kelly Mattson, Kelly McNemee, Daisy Mendoza, Brenda Milas, Maria Moreno, Jennifer Nelson, Lincoln Nugent, Jacinto Nunez, Allie Ollinger, Erika Parks, Courtney Peart, Cathleen Pedersen, Forrest Piatt, Jennifer Quigley, Katie Robert, Lane Roberts, Theena Roberts, Ellie Robins, Rosa Rios, Kelly Rose, Scott Ruark, Julie Rust, Tom Rust, Hannah Schut, Oneyda Starr, Bret Tamblyn, Amy Turcott, Destiny Turner, Marcella Valencia, Chandra Vollendorf Anderson, Tamera Wilcox, and Joan Wood.

Classified Staff:  Carrie Allum, Annabella Andreas, Christy Arenson, Yolanda Badillo, Clayton Beaman, Diane Beaman, Ashley Burmaster, Kim Carter, Victoria Catron, Dora Cobian, Kathleen Corey, Jennifer Davenport, Lori Davenport, Sherry Diaz, Hannah Dixon, Andreina Fajardo, Noel Garabito, Juan Garcia, Diana Gilliam, Nicole Gonzalez, Nathan Gross, Linda Hale, Chris Harris, Natosha Hernandez, Lisa Hires, Heather Holm, Kim Hopkins-Young, Tiffany Jacobs, Kathleen Klein, Lacey Maciel, Maria Mata, Cheyenne Medzius, Nancy Minnick, Juan Morales, Krystyna Morales, Shawn Nelson, Carly Osborn, Elizabeth Pereira, Laura Perez, Heather Queen, Kari Rumble, Veronica Santana, Emily Scherzinger, Lisa Selvidge, Julie Stanley, Travis Sumner, Amanda Sweet, Jennifer Swindell, Anja Thompson, Ashley Tovar, Shawna Treat, Melissa Walker, Janelle Wehrman, Stacy White, Janna Withrow, and Jennifer Wolcott.

Teams:  John Campbell Primary Kitchen Team (Kim Chadek, Michelle Conklin, Kathleen Corey, Cathy Hull, Stacie Leonard, Sandra Williamson), Robert Lince Kindergarten Dual Language Team (Marizol Amezcua, Stephanie Cruz, Brianna Ramirez, Elena Sullivan), Selah High School SLC Trio (Annabella Andreas, Blanca Gutierrez, Katie Havens), Selah Intermediate School PE Team (Angie Brown, Jennifer Quigley), Selah Intermediate Third Grade Team (Madison Black, Allisa Blanton, Summer Cuevas, Max Diaz, McKenna Dinehart, Yessenia Garcia, Shannon Hussell, Kaylee Keddy, Michelle Kerslake, Ryanne Mills, Ellie Robins, Hannah Schut, Marie Smith, Stephanie Smith), Selah Middle School Custodial Team (Stephanie Hays, Diane Mendez, Taylor Morrison, Dale Williams, Matthew Winterfeld), Selah Middle School Dual Language Team (Stacey Beasley, Baneza Berumen, Kim Cruz Bustamante, Araceli Joaquin Juarez, Araceli Macias, Jesuas Muro Murillo, Ezequiel Olivera, Claudia Zamora), and Selah Middle School Music Team (Nathan Gross, Sara Gross).

Certificated Substitute:  Allison Switzer.

Volunteers:  Lynette Denison, Joan Dufault, Samantha Groth, HLA Team of Lisa Adams and Kelly Hendrick, Aubrey Holwegner, Eric Neumeyer, and Gini Obert.

Community Partner:  Nilah Webster for the Wilbur Repp Endowment.

Also, this year the 16 Selah retirees thus far being honored for their Selah service during the Best of the Best Ceremony are:  Julie Archer, Cydney Bacon, Jill Breeze, Candy Calvert, Jeff Fortner, Jennifer Goodpaster, Linda Hale, Tami Jahns-Odinzoff, Kristin Jared, Karen Jochen, Betty Lamb, Donna Marquis, Eric Miller, Nancy Minnick, Kay Smith, and Chandra Vollendorf-Anderson.   

Congratulations 2023-2024 Best of the Best nominees and retirees!