District’s champion volunteers honored

MAT-SU — Leaning on his crutches, foot in a brace, Greg Ray fought back tears Friday evening as some of the basketball players he coaches heaped praise on him.

Ray was one of 20 individuals recognized during this year’s Champions for Children event, an evening paying homage to some of the unsung heroes of the Mat-Su Borough School District.

Put on by the Mat-Su Education Association, the event brought school volunteers from every corner of the Borough te be recognized for their dedication to volunteering.

For Ray, who has been a volunteer coach in the Mat-Su Borough School District for several years, that means donating his time and talents for no pay or compensation, but for great rewards.

“I just have fun with them,” Ray said about the students he coaches.

The volunteers who received awards Friday evening ranged from sports coaches to students, old and young. Even something simple like a sewing needle and some thread can shapes a student’s education.

When Rosemary Bernard, a retired home economics teacher, turned 80, Pioneer Peak Elementary School threw the longtime volunteer a party in her honor. For the past eight years, Bernard has been volunteering two mornings a week in Diana Sloan-Basher’s second-grade class, often bringing her sewing machine along to help the students with myriad projects.

Inside the hall at the Grandview Inn Friday, posters thanking various volunteers decorated the walls and the buzz of excited nominees and nominators filled the air.

Michael Curran, project coordinator for the Office of Faith Based and Community Initiatives in the Department of Health and Social Services, said the honorees in the room were of the highest caliber.

Curran reminded the audience that Alaska is among the nation’s leaders in volunteerism.

Perhaps the easiest way to see the caliber Curran talked about was when Ray’s team walked through the door. Just moments before Gabrielle Menard, one of Ray’s basketball players, summed up the volunteer coach, and perhaps everyone

“He’s very dedicated to what he does,” Menard said.

Champions of Children

• Veronica Comacho — Iditarod Elementary

• Fred Keller — Teeland Middle School

• Rebecca Blohm — John Shaw Elementary

• Greg Ray — Finger Lake Elementary

• Aula Moore — Larson and Shaw Elementary and Wasilla Middle School

• Rosemary Bernard — Pioneer Peak Elementary

• Tanya Mossburgh — Palmer Junior Middle School

• Jody Fitzgerald — Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School

• Jenny Krepel — Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School

• Steve Hicks — Su Valley Jr./Sr. High School

• Linda Conover — Meadow Lakes Elementary

• Susanna Polushkin — Student, Wasilla High School

• Rick Ernst — Trapper Creek Elementary

• Lisa Shield — Midnight Sun Family Learning Center

• Kathy Sage — Swanson Elementary

• Donna Odegard — Palmer High School

• Tammy Hall — Finger Lake Elementary

• Devva Elmore — Sutton Elementary

• Juanita Jones — Glacier View Elementary

• Fireside Books — Palmer

• Anne Kilkenny — President’s Awards

Contact Michael Rovito at michael.rovito@frontiers-man.com or 352-2252.