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Most Valuable Parent: Judy Bartlein, Laguna Blanca School

The avid parent volunteer has surpassed even her own expectations for her involvement.

By Sonia Fernandez, Noozhawk Staff Writer | Published on 12.26.2008

Parent volunteer Judy Bartlein has put her talents to good use for Laguna Blanca School as a contributor and proofreader of its magazine and as the designer and author of its e-mail newsletter. She also serves as a member of the school’s Board of Trustees, its Strategic Planning Committee and the Parents Auxiliary. (Jake Bartlein photo)

When Judy Bartlein’s son, Jake, started at Laguna Blanca School 10 years ago, she, like many parents, thought she was too busy to be a volunteer.

“I didn’t plan on getting involved,” she said. “I thought I would be pretty low-key.”

She had a consulting business and was in the middle of various other projects. The volunteering, she thought, she could leave to the other, more experienced — and perhaps less busy — parents.

Little did she know that just a few years later, she would be one of Laguna Blanca’s most avid parent volunteers, surpassing even her own expectations of the things she could do for the school. Where once she merely showed up where she had to, when she had to, now she was coordinating things behind the scenes, planning events and keeping everyone in touch with her marketing and communications savvy.

“Gosh, now I’m one of the ‘old parents,’” she joked.

What made her come out of her shell, she said, is the openness of the school’s Parents’ Auxiliary, its organized team of parent volunteers. By letting her do what she could and what she was good at doing, the group gained a communications whiz who eventually would lend her talents to Laguna Blanca Magazine as contributor and proofreader.

For the past six years, she also has been the designer and author of Laguna Links, a regular e-mail bulletin sent to the school’s parents, faculty, staff and administrators. It was a no-brainer for her.

“Now we don’t have to rely on kids remembering to bring home notes from school,” she said. The newsletter weaves together information across Laguna Blanca’s lower, middle and upper divisions, informing a legion of parents for students in kindergarten through 12th grade.

When she’s not working to keep everyone in the know, she’s fulfilling her responsibilities as a member of the school’s Board of Trustees, its Strategic Planning Committee and the Parents Auxiliary, the group that got her started. In fact, she has served as president of the auxiliary for two years.

While she enjoys all the behind-the-scenes work, she also has fun with the stuff that puts her in direct contact with the students. As a Monday lunch server in Laguna Blanca’s Fresh Lunch program, she is working to keep the students eating health foods, refining her condiment skills for Burrito Day, and keeping in touch with other parents and the children, including her own.

“Just to get that face time with the kids, and to get to know them all a little better every week, that’s why we’re doing it,” she said. Aside from the kids, she also gets to stay in the thick of things by meeting with parents from other grades.

The attention to the students is a dynamic she notices from the faculty as well, which is one of the reasons she and husband Bob chose the school 10 years ago.

“The nice thing is that the teachers know all the kids,” she said.

Looking back, she said, her experience with Laguna Blanca was definitely not the toll on time and energy she thought it would be at first. Instead, she said, it has become a time she loves because of the amount of contact she gets with Jake.

“At this point, I’m treasuring this time because I can get involved with his life and his school, and feeling like I can make a difference,” she said.

In fact, she’s already thinking ahead two years to when Jake graduates: “What am I going to do?”

MVP: Judy Bartlein

School: Laguna Blanca School; independent; kindergarten through 12th grade; co-ed; 376 students on two campuses

Locations: Kindergarten through fourth grade at 260 San Ysidro Road, and fifth through 12th grades at 4125 Paloma Drive

Write to sfernandez@noozhawk.com

Comments

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» Pat Heesch on 01.04.09 @ 04:43 PM

I’ve been there on burrito day and seen Judy using her culinary skills serving up the kids’ lunch. Also, it was fun hearing all about the Parents’ Auxiliary fund raising auction—talk about a ton of work!!

I agree that Judy is a definite asset to Laguna Blanca. ‘Course, I’m her mom so may be a tad prejudiced.