By Senators McAuliffe, Hasegawa, Dammeier, Ericksen, Hill, Litzow, Rolfes, Jayapal, Kohl-Welles, Mullet, Chase, Fain, Billig, Conway, Fraser, Parlette, and McCoy

WHEREAS, Washington's Teacher of the Year program provides recognition for outstanding teachers and informs the public of the dedication and commitment that Washington teachers contribute to the education of their students; and

WHEREAS, Washington's Teacher of the Year program honors those teachers who represent the best teachers in Washington; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Lyon Terry, a multiage classroom teacher at Lawton Elementary School in the City of Seattle, Washington, and an educator at Lawton for 10 years, is the 2015 Washington Teacher of the Year; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry is recognized as a National Board certified teacher; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry recognizes the benefit of physical activity for his students, and after noticing how many students were being driven to school, recruited older students to act as crossing guards and bus greeters, and successfully organized Seattle's first walking school bus program; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry embraces teachers as agents of social change and looks to shape young learners into confident, hard-working, thoughtful citizens who treat others with kindness; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry is a compassionate educator who is concerned about the whole student, and seeks to strengthen the relationship between school and community so that educators can teach students creatively to help them grow into smart, caring adults; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry understands that student engagement is created through relationships, high expectations, and relevance in the content students are learning, and is dedicated to creating the relationships that drive his students to learn; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry enriches his classroom through his community connections in scouting, sport programs, and various nonprofit organizations, and consciously seeks to build community by encouraging engagement between community members and his students in the classroom; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry advocates for reading and writing proficiency through his numerous leadership roles in his school and district, and by working to integrate elements of Writer's Workshop into Lawton Elementary's curriculum; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry serves on a district committee focused on aligning reading and writing standards with the Common Core; and

WHEREAS, Mr. Terry's time at Lawton Elementary has seen 4th grade writing proficiency rates on the Measurements of Student Progress rise over 10 percentage points;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate encourage all teachers to aspire to excellence in their profession and that the Senate pay a special tribute to Mr. Lyon Terry as the 2015 Washington Teacher of the Year.