CPSD Staff Spotlight: Wayne Osborn

A Clover Park School District story.

It’s School Library Month and our CPSD Staff Spotlight this week features Hillside Elementary School librarian Wayne Osborn.

Wayne is celebrating his 25th year in the district and his 21st year at Hillside. Since joining Hillside in 2001, Wayne’s love for his fellow staff members and his role as the librarian has grown tremendously. “I just love working here with everyone, but my job has changed a lot because technology has become a major part of my role, especially since we’ve become a one-to-one district where every student has an electronic device,” he said. “I remember when there were just two old-school projectors in the whole school!”

Wayne joined the district after years managing a grocery store. He realized he may enjoy his job, but he needed something more fulfilling. “My goal was always do something I’m good at, something I enjoy, and make a difference in other people’s lives,” he said.

When it comes to his students, Wayne’s goal is to instill enthusiasm for reading at a young age with activities like Battle of the Books where students team up to read nine different books and use their collective knowledge to answer Jeopardy style questions. “The main purpose of this event is to get kids excited about reading and to encourage them to read something outside of their comfort zone,” he said.

Wayne focuses on making reading engaging and fun, but he also wants to showcase his students’ creativity. “Some kids are better at art than they are at reading and that’s a major part of literature, so I try to encourage them by incorporating that in my lessons and even working with students to create picture books!” he said.