WHEREAS, Meghan Wagner is an award-winning music teacher who started playing in the band taught by her father, Kevin Paustian, at Auburn High School; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner continued pursuing her love for music at Pacific Lutheran University and graduated in 2004 with a Bachelor's of Music Education degree, and then later graduated from Central Washington University with a master's degree in music education; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner is loved by many students for having incredible patience and inspiring them with her passion in music; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner is active in the Washington Music Educators Association and the Green River Music Educators Association; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner comes from a musically talented family where her brother, Tony Paustian, is now the band teacher at Auburn High School; her husband, Ryan, performs in symphonies; and her twin stepdaughters, Hailey and Mya, play in Auburn Riverside High School's wind ensemble; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner has been a band teacher at Auburn Riverside High School for eleven years, teaching two jazz bands, three concert bands, a percussion ensemble, and a marching band; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner was a quarterfinalist for the Grammy Teacher of the Year in 2013, and in 2014 her Auburn Riverside wind ensemble had the chance to perform in New York at Carnegie Hall; and

WHEREAS, Last April Ms. Wagner helped recruit students to attend the Washington Ambassadors of Music band trip; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner has been selected to lead the Washington Ambassadors of Music band trip for 2016 through Voyageurs International, Ltd. which has, for more than forty years, selected music groups from all around the United States to travel abroad and perform at venues in Europe, China, the Philippines, and the former Yugoslavia; and

WHEREAS, Ms. Wagner will get to travel and perform in Europe as the band's conductor this summer, leading a group of about 100 students from Washington state, including seven students who are from Auburn Riverside High School; and

WHEREAS, This year the Washington Ambassadors of Music group will travel and perform in England, France, Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and Liechtenstein;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognize and support the good work of Ms. Meghan Wagner; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Ms. Meghan Wagner, in recognition and appreciation of her commitment to the students of Auburn Riverside High School.