The Times - Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley

RICHLAND – The Waitsburg Resource Center, Dayton Chronicle, and Dixie Store were all recipients of the 2016 (Southeast Washington Association of School Administrators) SEWASA Community Leadership Award at an honorary awards banquet held at Meadow Springs Country Club in Richland on June 9.

The banquet is SEWASA's opportunity to recognize community individuals and groups throughout EDS 123 for their outstanding contributions toward education. Superintendents of 13 districts acknowledge their community leaders by sharing the impact of their contributions on their students and schools. Specific criteria include benefit to students, leadership, motivation, success, cooperation/coordination with the local school district, recognition by others, and history of service.

The Waitsburg Resource Center, represented by Margie Benson and Pam Conover, was nominated by Waitsburg Superintendent Carol Clarke for ongoing support of the school. The WRC is in regular contact with the school to help meet needs as they arrise. Some past school-related WRC activities include supplying backpacks and school supplies, providing meals and activities during winter break, hosting dental care visits and organizing a summer program.

"The Waitsburg Resource Center is another 'one of a kind' example of how our community comes together to support one another.   The WRC is more than a food bank.  It is an active organization that seeks to serve all members of our community who are experiencing physical, relational, or spiritual needs," Clarke said.

"In addition to providing food, the Center provides activities, information and referrals to other resources that will best serve all who live within our area.     For that reason, the WRC clearly deserves to be recognized for all that it does for our students, their families and our schools," she added.

Dayton Superintendent Doug Johnson nominated the Dayton Chronicle for the paper's support of athletics, academics and special interest stories about students and school staff. Johnson said the paper's publishers, Loyal and Charlotte Baker, are members of the Dayton Citizens for Education group and gave of their time, talents, and funding to share the needs of the district and promote a "yes" vote on recent M&O and capital projects levies.

"This past year the Bakers and their paper have provided a valuable opportunity for the students, staff, and families of the Dayton School District to share the great work of children and the positive impact of district employees on those children," Johnson said in his presentation speech.

Courtesy Photo

Dixie school business manager Debbie Miller, Patty Bunch and Cindy Tate from the Dixie store, and Dixie Superintendent Kevin Graffis.

The Dixie Store, represented by Patty Bunch and Cindy Tate, was nominated by Dixie Superintendent Kevin Graffis. As a first-year superintendent in Dixie, Graffis said this was the first he had heard of the award and he thought immediately of the store when he did.

Graffis said he visited the Dixie church earlier this year and shared about different needs the school kids had. Graffis said he told the church members the number one need was that of time – for family, friends, and relatives to read with kids and to volunteer.

Graffis stopped by the Dixie Store later that year and was impressed by what he saw. Groups of kids wait at the store after school for their parents to arrive and pick them up, and it has become a gathering place. Store owners and staff read with the kids and help them with homework.

"The term TKO means 'technical knock out' in boxing, but in education we use it to mean 'taking kids on.' As community leaders, the folks at the Dixie Store took it upon themselves to take kids on," Graffis said.