Acalanes District Taps Las Lomas Parent Volunteer Carolyn Boord

Carolyn Boord, an active parent volunteer at Las Lomas High in Walnut Creek, was honored with a Su Stauffer award recently from the Acalanes Union High School District Governing Board. Her volunteerism and dedication to Las Lomas "were exemplary in serving as a volunteer in the Career Center and facilitating the email communications to our parent community."

The Oct. 19 meeting of the Acalanes Union High School District Governing Board took time to honor the "civilian" volunteers and parents whose commitment to local schools has helped make the district one of the strongest in the state, according to a district news release.

Board members lauded five local residents for their hard work on behalf of the district and presented them with the Su Stauffer Award for 2011. During lean economic times in the 1970s, Su Stauffer helped maintain the music program at Acalanes High School and was instrumental in lobbying for music and arts at schools throughout the state.

In her memory, the Acalanes Union High School District created the Su Stauffer Friends of Education Award to present annually to those extraordinary volunteers who make the Acalanes Union High School District an exemplary district.

Others honored were:

Laura Reiling, Acalanes High School. Laura served in various positions of the Acalanes Parent Club and most recently was the Acalanes Parent Club president. She worked closely with the Acalanes High School administration and was a link between the staff, students, and parents. She spent countless hours overseeing the budget, leading parent club meetings and worked very closely with the Lafayette Partners in Education Foundation to maintain strong relationships to the benefit of Acalanes students.

Chris Banard, Campolindo High School.  Described as "a supportive and tireless volunteer and basketball coach," Banard not only put in countless hours as a parent of two Campolindo students — Brett, who now attends Cal Poly and Ryan, a sophomore — but also served as Parent Advisor to the Class of 2010 for four years, Parent Club Board member and webmaster, member of the School Advisory Council, and a parent representative on the WASC Focus on Learning Assessment and Accountability committee for the past two years.

Arlene White, Miramonte High School. As a Class Parent Advisor, Arlene dedicated four years of service to the students and parents of the Class of 2011.  She was responsible for all communications to class parents, recruited parents to help with Junior Prom, Senior Breakfast, Senior Ball, Baccalaureate and Grad Night, and also took an active role in each of these events. In addition, through their four years, she guided the student leadership in all of their community service and fundraising efforts. Arlene also served several years as a parent leader of one of our largest teams on campus, the swim team.  She organized team dinners, photos, special meets, and countless field trips.

Vanessa Crews, Acalanes Union High School District. Vanessa retired from the AUHSD Governing Board in November 2010, after providing nine years of leadership and service in that volunteer elected position. Prior to serving on the Governing Board, Vanessa was an active parent volunteer in the Miramonte and the AUHSD community. Vanessa was driven by the simple philosophy… whatever was best for students. She applied that philosophy to the academic or athletic arenas. Vanessa has been the foundation and provided leadership and guidance for all the successful District parcel tax and bond measure campaigns of the past two decades.