The 2007 SWSF Board of Directors
Dave Haworth, President
Dave was involved in the establishment of the South Whidbey Schools Foundation, and has served as president of the Board since 2000. He and his wife, Sue, have lived on Whidbey since 1979, and their three children are all South Whidbey schools graduates. Dave holds an MBA and was involved with a variety of corporate financial and consulting activities until his retirement in 2000. He is an avid masters rower, and a member of Whidbey Island's own Shifty Sailors.
Ed Van Patten, Vice President
Wendy Baesler, Treasurer
Charlene Arnold
Becky Foote
Becky Foote joined the SWSF Board in 2003. She has been actively involved in the South Whidbey Schools for more than 20 years, and now serves on the high school site council. Becky teaches math at Skagit Valley College.
Sue Haworth
Sue Haworth has been involved in education seemingly all her life. After high school and college, she taught school, raised three children, attended the University of Washington to update her credential, and returned to teaching. She was a Langley Middle School teacher for 10 years. After being awarded a masters degree in administration from Seattle Pacific University, she served as an assistant principal in Mukilteo and as principal of Oak Harbor Middle School. In retirement she follows her continuing passion to offer opportunities for youth to learn and thrive. Sue currently volunteers at Bayview School and chairs the board of the South Whidbey Commons, building a future community center for all ages.
Marti Murphy
Nancy Ruff, EdD
Nancy has a Bachelor of Science in Education and Master of Arts in educational administration from Texas Tech University and a Doctor of Education from North Texas State University. During her 30-year career in education, she was a public school speech, drama and English teacher; a consultant in accreditation with the Texas State Department of Education; director of communications for a Dallas school district; and adjunct professor of speech communications in the College of Business at the University of Texas, Arlington. She is an experienced conference planner; professional development coordinator; speaker at local, state and national levels; and contributor to professional publications. Nancy also chairs the Whidbey Writers Workshop Master of Fine Arts degree program Governing Board.
Mike Seymour
Mike Seymour is President of The Heritage Institute, a progressive program of continuing education for K-12 teachers in the Northwest. Previously, Mike was a family therapist treating children, couple and individuals, as well as organizational consultant to schools and small businesses. Mike is author of the recently published book Educating for Humanity: Rethinking the Purposes of Education. Mike is founder and President of the Board of Youth for a New World with a mission to inspire young people globally to contribute to a world that works for all. Formerly, Mike also had experience in marketing management for several national corporations on the East Coast.
Advisory Board
Barb Bennett
Lisa Bjork, EdD
Erica Johnson, Student Rep.
Mary McLeod, Faculty Rep.
Mare has a B.S. in education from Western Washingtton University, and a Master's Degree in Education, specializing in integrated arts in learning from Lesley University. She has been a music educator in Bellevue and Edmonds School District for the past 20 years. She presently teaches visual arts at South Whidbey Intermediate School. As a lifelong advocate for the arts, Mary is passionate about the importance of the arts as a core of the curriculum.
Jean Shaw, Faculty Rep.
Jean holds a Master's degree in Curriculum and Design from Seattle University and has been teaching since 1971. She has been with the South Whidbey School District since 1986 and on staff at Bayview School since 1996 as an arts, English, vocational and CORE instructor. She retired at the end of the 2007 school year.