The Gold Star Awards are prestigious honors in our school community, recognizing Highline Public Schools best and brightest — celebrating the outstanding Teachers, Volunteers, Alumni, Staff and Administrators throughout the district. These awards provide our community the opportunity to honor those who have shown outstanding support of students and their education, and those inspire us. Anyone can nominate a Gold Star, we rely on our community and Highline Schools staff to put forward their nominees for these awards.
2024 Gold Star Awards
In front of a sold-out crowd of enthusiastic supporters, the Highline Schools Foundation presented the 2024 Gold Star Awards at the annual Gold Star Bash, held at the SeaTac Community Center. In all, eight awards were presented, honoring the outstanding work and deep commitment of teachers, staff, volunteers, and others throughout Highline Public Schools. These individuals live out the district’s commitment to know every student by name, strength and need.
This year’s Gold Star nominee field was the largest in five years, with nearly double the nominations over last year — 156 nominations for 118 individuals, representing 36 schools, programs, and departments across Highline.
And the 2024 Gold Star Award Winners are...
- Outstanding Administrator: Kevin Takisaki, Principal at Innovation Heights Academy
- Outstanding Classified Staff: Lisa Lay, Office Manager at Hilltop Elementary
- Outstanding Professional Staff: Jill Wilson Zahn, EBC Social Worker, Secondary Schools
- Outstanding Volunteer: Nimat Aljabori, White Center Heights Elementary Family Resource Center
- Outstanding Alumni: Sean Goode, Mount Rainier High School Class of 1999
- Special Recognition Award: Scott Logan, Chief Operations Officer, Highline Public Schools
- Outstanding Rookie Teacher: Kristen O’Conner, Special Education Teacher at Gregory Heights Elementary
- Outstanding Teacher: Erin Enquist, 4th Grade Dual Language Teacher at Mount View Elementary
Learn more about the 2024 Gold Star Award Winners here!
