Principal gets to be ‘King for a Day’
November 20, 2008
By Laura Geggel
If radio station 94.1 KMPS staff were to write a country song about Tim Nootenboom — principal of Cascade View Elementary School — they would write about how he knows the first, last and sometimes middle names of about 680 children.
Instead of writing a song, the radio station awarded him “King for a Day,” a monthly honor bestowed upon local people their listeners admire.
Jan Clayton from KMPS presents Principal Tim Nootenboom with a crown and treats from Burger King.
Head cook at Cascade View, Elsie Fuller, heard KMPS advertise “King for a Day” during one of her morning commutes. After some thought, Fuller sent the station a text about how Nootenboom knew all of the students at Cascade View and had great interactions with them.
“I gave them the specific example of when I had received a check (for lunch money) without the student’s name,” Fuller said.
The parent had a different last name than the student, but Nootenboom “was able to tell me who the student was just from the parent’s name.”
Nootenboom’s name-recalling dexterity impressed KMPS and Ichabod Caine from its morning show.
“We chose him because how fun his last name is to say,” Caine joked.
“I’m actually lying,” Caine said. “The fact that he knows everybody’s first name — come on, you got to celebrate that.”
The radio station visited Cascade View Nov. 18 and gave Nootenboom breakfast items and gift cards to Burger King, their promotional partner in the “King for a Day” award. The station also brought KMPS gear.
“It’s our way of recognizing Principal Nootenboom for his great work and attitude,” the station announced on the air Nov. 14.
Nootenboom learned about the award during the flooding last week after one of his wife’s co-workers heard the station mention the principal’s name.
“It’s a nice honor,” said a modest Nootenboom, who added, “There are a lot of people at the school who deserve this.”
He said he decided to learn every student’s name when he first came to work at Cascade View in 2005. He even encouraged them to test him during lunch and recess.
“I know their middle and last names because they challenge me every day,” Nootenboom said. “I get the reward from doing what I do every day. Seeing the kids smile and getting to know them every day is my reward.”
Reach reporter Laura Geggel at 392-6434 .221 or lgeggel@snovalleystar.com.
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