Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation has new interim president
September 2, 2010
By Sebastian Moraga
NEW — 6:00 a.m. Sept. 2, 2010
Carmen Villanueva began volunteering at Snoqualmie Valley schools in 1994.
The same year, her daughter Jasmin took her baby sister Chloe to kindergarten class for show and tell.
Sixteen years later, Jasmin is living in Hawaii, Chloe is a junior at Mount Si High and Carmen is the newly-appointed interim president of the Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation.
And she has another show and tell on her calendar.
This one has not happened yet, but Carmen knows how she wants it to look: She wants many people there.
Villanueva said that when her time at the helm is up, she wants to show and tell people about how more people cared about the foundation.
“I’d like to see more parents involved,” she said. “Not just the same group of people in many organizations.”
A member of the board of directors of the foundation for almost three years, Villanueva was appointed interim head three weeks ago to replace then-foundation president Carolyn Simpson.
The nomination scared her a little, Villanueva said.
“It’s a big responsibility,” she said. “But I’m excited about the challenges. Filling her shoes is going to be a big task.”
Simpson said she stepped down because her youngest son graduated in June from Mount Si High School.
The main reason was time. Simpson had been involved with the foundation for eight years, the last two-plus as president.
What was an interest at the beginning had become a full-time volunteer job at the end.
“I’ve given it a good, strong eight years,” she said. “And it’s time for me to work on some other areas of my life.”
Simpson said she will continue volunteering in places like the valley’s chamber of commerce and the high school.
Her successor at the foundation, Simpson said, will need committed volunteers.
The foundation is growing, but it is small when compared to school foundations in places like Mercer Island and Bellevue, she said.
Villanueva said funding will remain the foundation’s main focus.
The state’s weak economy aside, she said she hopes the foundation’s mid-September phoneathon doubles last year’s $20,000 total.
“Unlike the PTSAs we don’t focus on one school,” she said. “We take pride on making a difference for every student.”
The foundation and the PTSAs complement one another, Villanueva said, but they also compete.
“We’re trying to get the same dollar from one family,” she said.
The foundation has made a big difference in science at the schools, and it has struggled with membership, she said.
PTSAs are nationally known. School foundations are more local and people assume the foundations belong to the PTSAs, she said.
Villanueva said she wants to be president for a couple of years after Chloe graduates. However, she is a volunteer like the rest of the foundation, so she can’t be certain.
“I have other interests,” she said. “I would like to see how things develop over the next few years.”
Besides, she is still the interim president and an election date has not been set.
Because the schools’ needs will not likely change much, neither will her approach to the job, she said.
“The requirements are the same — the passion to do what we can to make a difference,” she said.
Sebastian Moraga can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 221, or smoraga@snovalleystar.com.
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