North Mason commemorates passings, service

Kirk Boxleitner | Jun 09, 20220

North Mason School Board members marked the deaths of two people before recognizing the civil service of two others during their May 19 meeting.

District 4 Director John Campbell moved to amend the meeting’s agenda to discuss sending the board’s condolences to the family of Shelton-Mason County Journal columnist Mark Woytowich, who died May 6.

Campbell described Woytowich as an environmentalist, activist and “very good friend” of the North Mason School District who helped make the community aware of the school district’s needs as both a columnist and a videographer.

District 5 Director Arla Shephard Bull moved to amend the agenda to add a moment of silence for North Mason High School student Aubrey Trammell, who died near the end of April.

NMHS Principal Chad Collins and his team had already mobilized counselors to be in place for the school’s students and staff at the start of May.

The district declined to share further details about Trammell’s death.

Trammell’s art attracted a spotlight when she submitted “Looking in a Mirror,” a self-portrait rendered in graphite and white charcoal, to the 2021 Olympic Educational Service District 114 High School Art Show, which in turn was highlighted by the Journal in the spring of last year.

The then-16-year-old Trammell told the Journal she “got serious” about artwork when she was in middle school at 13, but she also credited her high school art teacher, Gin Lucas, with encouraging all of her students.

The Washington Association of School Administrators Certificate of Merit was presented to Mike Young in recognition of his “outstanding community leadership and service to education and the young people of Washington.”

The North Mason School District deemed Young a “longtime supporter” of the district, who was “instrumental” in passing the bond for its high school. Superintendent Dana Rosenbach credited Young’s leadership with helping to furnish the school’s “beautiful upper campus.”

Young has also built up a history of involvement in youth sports as a coach, referee and umpire, and as “the voice” of the North Mason “Bulldogs.”

“Mike Young has contributed, and continues to contribute, to this district, and to the benefit of our students, in so many ways,” Rosenbach said. “We know he’ll keep doing it, and we’re not going to let him stop.”

Joan Moore, director of facilities for the North Mason School District, was presented with Mason County’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response Recognition award, which Rosenbach said Moore should receive on behalf of the district as a whole.

Rosenbach deemed Moore pivotal in facilitating the school district’s response and support to the county through the long haul of the pandemic, in particular the smooth execution of the vaccine clinics conducted in the district’s community gym.

“When people were lined up, and somebody was having trouble standing in line, she found a wheelchair, or extra water or blankets,” Rosenbach said.

“She’s stayed extra on her own time, outside of her normal work days, to ensure the personnel providing the clinic had what they needed for it to be successful for our community. She coordinated our efforts with all the responders, with Public Health, with the Department of Emergency Management and everybody else to make sure that it went well and effectively, month after month.”