🎉 Congratulations to Laura Harper! 🎉

We are thrilled to announce that Laura Harper, our outstanding 8th Grade ELA and Social Studies teacher, was selected as the 2024–2025 Excellence in Service Award recipient by the Union Gap School Board🌟 We celebrated her at April's board meeting.

Laura’s passion for teaching, her deep care for students, and her ability to bring learning to life are just a few of the many reasons she is so deserving of this honor. Her dedication and leadership continue to shape not only her classroom—but our entire school community.

Help us celebrate Laura and thank her for the incredible impact she makes every day! 💙📚

Laura was nominated by Joshua Butrick, another fantastic middle school teacher here at Union Gap.

Here is his nomination speech presented to the Board of Directors:
What draws us into education varies.

Some enter the field because it offers a stable lifestyle—time off in the summers, holidays at home, a schedule that supports family life. Others are drawn to education through a sense of public service—a desire to give back. Many are pulled in by a deep love of literature, or music, or science, or math, or art. Some simply love working with children. Others feel called to share a special talent or passion. A few might choose teaching because the degree path seems more accessible. And for some, teaching is just the first stop on a longer career journey.

Whatever the reason, the statistics are sobering. By some estimates, 54% of teachers leave the profession within the first five years. To those outside of education, that may seem alarmingly high. To those inside, it may seem... understandable.

Because the truth is, the reason we enter education can sustain us for a while—but not forever. Passion for a subject is powerful, but it only goes so far when you’re facing a room full of students who openly declare their hatred for math, or reading, or science. Natural talent is wonderful, but it can feel wasted when met with apathy or hostility. A love for children is vital, but it doesn’t erase the trauma, poverty, or neglect some students bring with them to school. And dedication to public service can often feel like witnessing the slow unraveling of young lives without having the tools—or the authority—to stop it.

At some point in those early years, every educator faces a reckoning. When the reason you started teaching stops being enough to keep you teaching, a choice appears.

You can leave. Many do.

You can stay, but shut down. Keep showing up physically, but emotionally drift—rudderless, cynical, defeated. In doing so, you risk being overtaken by burnout, anxiety, depression. And many are.

But there is also a third path.

You can choose to stay with intention. Not because it’s easy. Not because everything gets better. But because you discover a deeper "why"—one not based in idealism, but in resilience.

You find meaning not in grand transformations, but in small moments: a breakthrough conversation, a returned smile, a student who finally feels seen. You learn to measure success not by test scores, but by human connection. You realize that while you cannot fix every problem, you can be a steady presence in the chaos. And sometimes, that is enough to make a difference even if often it is not.

The third path is not the easiest. But it is the one that keeps the soul of education alive. It’s the path that demands courage, compassion, and consistency—and in return, it offers the chance to grow, not just as an educator, but as a human being.

And it is in the way that Lara Harper champions this third path that I am here to honor her today with the Excellence in Service Award.

Mrs. Harper is relentless in holding our students accountable—not just to their schoolwork, but to their growth as young adults. She reaches out to parents. She assigns lunch detention and zero hour when necessary. She hosts VIP lunches to connect with students, even when the progress feels small. She plans and funds monthly homework awards for the entire upstairs hallway—offering not just the stick, but the carrot, too.

She is a stickler about dress code, sagging pants in particular.  Not because it will make anyone a better person, and not because she needs to lord her power or position, but because she believes in structure, in rules, in consistency, and what that offers.

She notices when something seems off—and she takes action, contacting counselors to ensure students get the support they need beyond the classroom. She doesn’t hesitate to speak up to administration when she believes something needs to be said. She keeps herself grounded and connected—staying in touch with the world, with herself, and with her colleagues.

And of course—she sings terribly, joyfully, off-key in the stairwell, reminding us all that this job is hard, but it should never lose its heart.

Mrs. Harper shows us what it means to stay committed, stay present, and stay hopeful. She reminds us that the work matters—and that we do, too. We all notice when she isn’t here. And we notice even more when she is.

Congratulations, Lara. And thank you—for choosing the third path, and for walking it with strength, humor, and grace.