Kasie Hansen - 2020 Educator Recipient
Kasie Hansen is a Learning Specialist and Special Services teacher at Lake Oswego Junior High. Last year, she worked with Special Olympics to create the first Unified Club in Lake Oswego. A Unified Club is a club for students with and without disabilities who come together for sports, games, community service, school events, and most of all, to have fun. This year, she added Unified Sports, with Soccer and Basketball. Unified Special Olympics programs are inclusive programs made up of students who experience disabilities and non-disabled students working together as friends and teammates. Needless to say, this kind of activity fits perfectly with the School District mission of equity, diversity, and inclusion. She also led her students in the Polar Plunge fundraiser for Oregon Special Olympics. The group raised the most funds of any K-12 school in the greater Portland area.
Gerrit Koepping - 2020 Educator Recipient
Gerrit Koepping teaches Advanced Constitutional Law at Lake Oswego High School. For the past sixteen years, he’s expanded the learning experience to include participating in the Oregon State Constitutional Law Competition, also known as We The People competition. His team members compete at the District and State levels of the nationwide program, We The People, created by the Center for Civic Education. He takes students on a weekend retreat, where they work with lawyers and judges to practice their speeches and answer questions similar to those they’ll be asked in the competition. In those sixteen years, every one of his teams has done well enough at the District level to compete at State level.
David Rodenkirch - 2020 Educator Recipient
David Rodenkirch is a learning specialist at Lake Grove Elementary School, who also serves as an Access case manager. He embraces the opportunity to work with any student who experiences or learns about our world a bit differently. He teaches classes in Social Emotional Learning, where his students learn about empathy, inclusion, equality, and acceptance. Additionally, he holds classes and workshops with parents to extend the learning experience for the whole family. He created additional opportunities for student learning and social enrichment with “Lunch with Mr. R in Room 22.” This gathering offers a safe place for students to experience, engage, and practice social and emotional development. Parents have said, “I can’t think of anyone who is better suited for a SASEE Award because he embodies Service Above Self and demonstrates the core value of inclusiveness."