The Academy Awards take place Thursday, March 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Production Shop, 14634 9th Ave. S.W. in Burien.
No—not the one for movie actors, directors and producers.
We’re talking about the Academy Awards for Highline teachers, administrators and classified employees.
Each year, the Highline Schools Foundation for Excellence announces the much-anticipated Gold Star awards recognizing outstanding adults in Highline public schools.
The annual Gold Star Awards Breakfast honoring the winners is during the school day so teachers can’t participate.
So this year the foundation decided to throw a Gold Star Awards Bash in the evening on March 22 to announce the winners.
“It’s the schools version of the Academy Awards,” foundation executive director Ashley Forsberg declared.
The bash will be a red-carpet style unveiling of the 2012 winners, complete with drinks, light appetizers, dancing and an emcee.
Fosberg predicts the event will be “festive, fun, lively and full of anticipation.”
Tickets are $15 per person and can be ordered online at www.highlineschoolsfoundation.org.
The bash will be the first place the names of the winners are announced.
“These are pretty prestigious awards and we have not made a big deal about them before,’ Fosberg said. “This way everybody will find out at the same time.”
Awards will be given for outstanding teacher, alumnus, volunteer, administrator and classified employee.
The bash will be held in a new venue for Burien called the Production Shop.
It’s an old auto-repair warehouse just east of Ambaum Boulevard that has been turned into an event space.
Fosberg concedes it looks like a dingy warehouse on the outside but inside is decorated in neon.
“It’s a really fun party place,” Fosberg said.
In a community looking for more entertainment venues, the bash will give people a chance to check out the new space, Fosberg added.
The Gold Star winners will be formally recognized at the Gold Star Awards Breakfast held Friday, April 20 at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Conference Center, 7:30-9 a.m.
The breakfast is free to attend but a minimum donation of $125 is suggested at the event.
Register at www.highlineschoolsfoundation or call 206-248-5196 to receive an invitation.
The foundation received Discover Burien’s Non-profit of the Year award on March 2. The foundation raised $1,450 at the Discover Burien dinner and auction.
In the past 11 years, the foundation has contributed over $1 million in funds to programs and students in the Highline district.
The foundation is the only non-profit organization that supports all the public schools in the district.
It provides private support in areas where state funding cannot through grants for classroom innovation, arts funding, pay-for-play fees and college scholarships.
