Each week, Clover Park School District (CPSD) will highlight a school or profession in our district on our social media pages with a #SuperSchoolShoutout where we celebrate the students and staff that make our district beam with pride.
Earlier this month, we celebrated Beachwood Elementary School!
Beachwood is one of six CPSD schools located on Joint Base Lewis-McChord. The school is within walking distance from American Lake, which led to the school’s unofficial motto, “Life is better at the beach.”
This year, Principal David Pogson began his first term as a principal and couldn’t be more excited to join the Bobcat community. “I’ve been very excited to meet all our families and wonderful teachers and learn what being a member of the Beachwood team is all about,” Principal Pogson said. “The saying about life being better by the beach couldn’t be more true.”
Like our other JBLM schools, Beachwood serves military children who are stationed here from all over the world. The needs of these students are unique, and students must be able to succeed whether they are in Beachwood’s care for one month or five years. This is why Beachwood prides itself on providing strong partnerships between its teachers, school administration, students and their families.
“This is my first time working at a school on base, and I applied to this position for that reason,” Principal Pogson said. “I’m eager to work with military families and serve a unique and important population who have given so much to our country.”
We continued our shoutout to Beachwood with resource teacher Karin Brown and kindergartener Ezekiel Simpson.
Brown first joined CPSD as a substitute for Hudtloff Middle School before becoming a Bobcat six years ago. “I love teaching elementary students and working with every grade in the resource room,” she said. “It’s always exciting because kids come and go all day, so no day is the same.”
Students see Brown for extra support in reading, writing and math, and to explore different learning strategies. Because Beachwood serves military students, Brown sees kids with vastly different backgrounds and works to make sure each student gets the support they need. “I feel connected to these students because I went to CPSD schools and grew up around this military community,” she said.
Brown loves being a Bobcat because of Beachwood’s hard-working and supportive community of students, staff, administrators and teachers. The best reward is watching her students thrive and earn accolades like Student of the Month.
Ezekiel is a confident student and leader. He loves being at school and looks forward to recess, especially when he can play soccer on the field. “Three things about me are that I’m fast, strong and smart,” he said. “Nobody can beat me in a race.”
Ezekiel loves all the teachers at Beachwood and enjoys learning about numbers and letters. He also likes practicing his reading skills by reading books about animals at home with his mom. “My favorite animals are cougars and jaguars,” he said.
Ezekiel and his friend Penny pride themselves on participating in class by raising their hand, helping their teacher and helping their friends. “I have thousands of friends, and I think it’s important to always be nice,” he said. “When I grow up, I want to be a police officer to help people.”
Go Bobcats!
