A passion for teaching

It’s no surprise that Cody House grew up to be a Special Education teacher. After all, his mother was a paraeducator in a self-contained classroom and Cody spent a lot of time helping her out.

“When I went to college, it was a pretty easy choice to jump into education, because I had a pretty solid background already,” Cody said.

Cody, who grew up in Marysville, knew he wanted to be a SPED teacher early on, and he hoped to build his career in Western Washington.

Now in his fourth year in the district, and first at Nelson Elementary, Cody has enjoyed the many challenges of his job.

“A big piece of it is that you get to be really creative with how you instruct and work with the students because they have a lot of lagging skills in many different areas. Trying to bridge that gap in a way that meets their needs is a challenge, but it’s a worthy challenge,” he said. Working in Special Education is a calling. Cody says it takes a lot of patience, creativity, and flexibility.

"I want to give a shout out to all the special education teachers out there. It’s a tough job, especially these last few years,” he said. “It’s not easy, but people are doing really good work out there.”

2023 Daffodil Princesses

Congratulations to this year's Daffodil Princesses!

Melony Bridgeman (left) is from Bethel High School. Melony is a student in the Cambridge program. She is also a member of the National Honor Society and is the activities coordinator for the Future Business Leaders of America club. She works as a referee and umpire for Bethel Rec.

Carissa Milton (center) is from Graham-Kapowsin High School.

Carissa plays varsity softball and is the ASB President. She volunteers her time at Kapowsin Elementary, the GKHS softball camps, the Pierce County 4-H Equestrian Department and the Orting Food Bank.

Sarah-Angeles Edmonson (right) is from Spanaway Lake High School. Sarah plays an active role in her school community by participating in Leadership, Link Crew and the Ethnic Studies committee. She is also president of the Black Student Union and the E-Sports club.