The PTA Honorary School Service Award Program recognizes service and dedication of both individuals and organizations for outstanding service to the welfare of children and youth in our school.

* 2021-2022 Honorees *

Nancy Riffle

Nancy has been a parent and valued volunteer at AV for 16 consecutive years!  Nancy has volunteered as a room parent for nearly all of those 16 years.  She is the ultimate super volunteer and super mom.  In addition to being room parent, volunteering for classroom centers, art, library and pretty much everything, she has also chaired the Hearing and Vision and Weights and Measures committee for as long as everyone can remember, organizing volunteers and schedules alongside the school health clerk and district nurse to ensure that every AV student is tested every year.  On top of that, Nancy always has a smile on her face and brings smiles and laughs to all that know her and work with her.

Patti Urzua

Patti Urzua is another super volunteer!  Not only has Patti served officially as the Recording Secretary and the VP of Programs and Assemblies on the PTA executive board, she has also acted as co-chair of the AV Equity Committee for the last 2 years and co-chair of the 5th Grade Promotion Committee this year.  Patti is one of the hardest workers we know.  We don’t know how she accomplishes all that she does, but she would never have it any other way. It is clear to everyone who works with Patti that she does what she does because she is passionate about the work, has a huge heart, cares about equity and ensuring that all AV students have the very best elementary school experience. 

Jennifer Wang

Every board should have a Jen Wang.  Instantly, you are like a professional organization that has been humming along for years.  From the minute she joined the board several years ago, every event and program Jen touched was seamless and professional and truly elevated AV PTA. During her tenure as VP of Ways and Means, AV had it’s best fundraising results in history.  Jen elevated the effectiveness and the execution of both the No Sweat and the Jog-a-Thon fundraisers, and managed fall and spring spirit wear sales, helping to bring on the era of new, modern AV spirit wear designs.  During the pandemic, when a traditional Jog-a-Thon was not possible, Jen re-envisioned it as a community-wide outdoor scavenger hunt called the AV Wildcat Adventure, which was wildly successful and an immediate AV family favorite.  Not only did she turn up the fundraising dial, she also took on AV Marketplace, growing that opportunity for students to learn about starting and running a business, developing it into the hugely successful and beloved event it is today.  And if that weren’t enough, Jen also took it upon herself to provide tech support and pre-production rehearsal management for every virtual assembly and virtual event (including the two parent party trivia nights) produced since the pandemic began.  This year, Jen took on the role of 5th Grade Promotion Chair, bringing all of her amazing professional event-planning and organization skills to the challenge of fundraising for and planning a promotion ceremony, a yearbook, a class gift, a class party and a class lunch for the 5th graders.  That takes lot of time and a lot of heart.  That’s the kind of person Jen is.

Amber Jaeger & Andy Perry

Amber & Andy built the AV Equity Committee, which has become a hallmark of AV PTA, from the ground up 2 years ago and have been co-chairing it ever since.  Andy took the lead in ensuring that we understand what equity, inclusion, and diversity mean and how they should be considered when thinking about the big picture in our community and surrounding communities. Amber, whose brainchild the Equity Committee really was, has among many other things, spearheaded AV’s monthly cultural assemblies, which have resonated beyond the PTA into the classrooms, the library, schoolwide art projects, and the overall look and feel on campus throughout the year.  Amber and Andy are tremendous, empathetic leaders, valued by all who work with them.

“I love my mom because she is so kind!  And she makes great stuff. Like noodles.” – Redford Jeager, son

“I’m proud of my dad because he cares about fairness, like me.” – Amelia Perry, Andy’s daughter

Anna Festa & Tim McMullen

Tim McMullen and Anna Festa solved a problem at AV that has been trying to find a solution for over 6 years!  Tim’s company, Wove Arts, designed and implemented a new, user-friendly pulley system for hanging banners over AV’s outdoor stage.  We could not be more thrilled and more grateful for Tim’s vision and follow-through!  In addition, Anna spearheaded AV’s first Autism Acceptance month initiative, which had a huge impact at AV this past April.  To increase awareness of and acceptance of autism in our school and in the school district as a whole, she planning and implemented a school-wide art exhibit as well as a hugely impactful virtual assembly and video featuring one of AV’s very own students with autism. Anna is always willing to lend a hand, and when she does, she puts her whole heart and all of her fantastic project management and creative skills into it.

Stella Jang

Stella is currently serving on the AV PTA Executive board as the VP of Ways and Means, which means she is in charge of the No Sweat and Jog-a-Thon fundraisers as well as spirit wear sales and distribution. This is no small job!  Stella handles it with flawless execution and grace.  Stella has amazing organization and management skills and is incredibly creative to boot.  In addition to her VP duties, she also co-chairs the Wildcat Adventure and AV Marketplace, two other major AV PTA programs.  For programs she is not co-chairing, she is always at the top of the volunteer list.  There is not one PTA program that Stella doesn’t volunteer to be a part of, and she also tops the list of volunteers for classroom activities like library, classroom centers, room parent, and art docent. You name it, Stella does it. Stella is every teacher’s right-hand woman, even for the teachers her own child never had!  And there’s more. When she noticed in the fall of this year that AV was short on playground supervisors, Stella volunteered for that job as well.  Stella is truly an AV treasure.

“My mommy is the best mommy in the world because she cares for me and my family and she loves me.” – Aiden Jang, Stella’s son

Jaime Thompson

Jaime is completing her 2nd year on the PTA executive board as the Website & Technology Chair.  Sometimes people aren’t aware of all the behind the scenes work that goes into all of our programs. It takes web design skills, spreadsheet skills, attention to detail, lots of patience with troubleshooting, and it’s a year-round, day-in and day-out obligation.  Not only does Jaime keep the public-facing pages of the PTA website updated and create every form that you fill out on our website, she also has to deal with all of that data that you put into those forms and make sense of all those payments that come in through PayPal. And let us tell you–that data is not always pretty!  On top of all that, Jaime continues to come up with ideas to make our processes smoother, and best of all, she continues to educate herself in the name of improving the AV PTA.

Judy Asakura

Judy Asakura has served as treasurer for AV PTA for two years. Although treasurer is a a demanding job, Judy has made herself available to answer every question and follow up on every request quickly.  And she always does it with a smile and a positive attitude.  Judy is incredibly organized and intelligent, and always willing to go the extra mile, attend the extra meeting, and explain the ins and outs of the financials no matter how many times she has to repeat herself.  

“I can’t imagine having another mom. She’s always there for us when we need her, and she tries her very best at everything she does. Addi, Logan and I love her to the moon and back.” – Devon Asakura, Judy’s husband

“I could not ask for a better mom. You are always playful, cheerful and nice!” – Judy’s kids