Edmonds Community College Foundation

Echelbarger-Sherman Faculty Award

The Exceptional Faculty Award is an annual award funded by the Edmonds Community College Foundation thanks to the generosity of Dean and Gladys Echelbarger and Vaughn and Jan Sherman and matched by a state endowment.

Congratulations to the 2008/09 Exceptional Faculty Awardees!

Janet Guenther

Jan went from growing up on a farm and lifting thousands of bales of hay to becoming a excellent instructor in the Physical Education department.  She has been teaching full-time at the College since 1978.  She is a perfect example of “practice what you preach” as she has won 11 body building championships over the last four years, including the Vancouver Natural Open “Overall Champion” in which she was pitted against women 25 years her junior.  Frequently Jan can be seen in Seaview, helping and correcting students posture, weight-lifting routines, eating habits, and attitudes.

James Polley

Jim went from being an Alaskan fisherman to being a teacher at our college.  He has been teaching in the Washington State Reformatory Unit and the Minimum Security Unit at the Monroe Correctional Facilities since 1998.  Jim actively teaches Basic Skills and has had many successes in an environment that is incredibly tough to teach in (e.g., limited access to students, students transfer to another facility before completing the class, students have had limited engagement in education prior to his classes).  One huge success was when the Minimum Security Unit was selected to house parole violators, who stay for only three weeks.  Jim immediately created an intense abbreviated program and provided instruction to these students.  Some of these students even earned their GED during that time.