Courtnee Hamity
Co-President |
Courtnee was excited to join SchoolCARE because she sought a way to make a difference district-wide. SchoolCARE’s ability to restore and fund staff positions solidified her interest in joining the impressive (and fun!) board, especially in the face of State budget cuts for education. Her favorite memory is of joining another board member at an elementary school site to take photos of an art enrichment instructor that SchoolCARE funded. "The classroom teacher’s gratitude for having a creative outlet for her class and the students’ joy in creating their work was like seeing SchoolCARE’s mission in action."
Fun fact: Over 10 years ago, Courtnee had the hard decision of what to wear on her wedding day. She shared that decision and experience with viewers on Say Yes to the Dress, where she did indeed say "yes!" |
Amy Yamashiro
Co-President |
Amy decided SchoolCARE was doing the work in AUSD she wanted most to support - she dropped in to a meeting, they invited her back, and she stuck with it. One of her favorite memories with SchoolCARE is the 2019 AHS Back to School Night (in PERSON!), where she delivered the SchoolCARE message. "I felt like it helped people understand our niche a little better, and was grateful to be able to publicly express appreciation for how much of a difference every single contribution (money AND time AND effort) makes toward helping our public schools provide an excellent experience for our kids."
Fun fact (almost a haiku): I'm one of three (Yamashiro) girls; my husband took my last name; now we have three (Yamashiro) boys! |
Erin Albert
Secretary |
Erin joined the board because a couple of friends were involved with SchoolCARE and talked it up as a fun way to hang out while doing something good for our schools. Her best memories are of the SoulCARE parties and SchoolCARE benefits.
Fun fact: Erin is working on her degree to be a garden designer. Go Merritt Community College! |
Candace Renger
Treasurer |
Albany schools have been so good to her girls and Candace is glad to help with fundraising. "Plus, Yael asked me to help, and who can say no to someone as awesome and hard working as Yael?!" Candace is SchoolCARE's expert Treasurer.
Fun fact: Candace's family hiked the John Muir Trail all together (263 miles with side trips and resupplies) during the 2020 summer of COVID. It was amazing family time just before her oldest daughter started college! |
Michelle Aselstine
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Michelle heard from her Marin core parent friends about the amazing things SchoolCARE was doing for AUSD and saw first hand the impact SchoolCARE was having with her high school students. With young children and working at the high school she wanted to be part of an organization that gives back to students at every level within Albany schools. Michelle's favorite memory of School Care is the SoulCARE event: "Seeing families, staff and the community supporting all of Albany's schools was so much fun. The live band and dancing was a great highlight."
Fun Fact: Michelle is a daughter of the American Revolution born in San Salvador, El Salvador. |
Jenny Blattner
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Jenny had worked tirelessly on the auction for Marin school and with a middle and elementary school student wanted to work on something that would benefit both their schools and their potential high school. SchoolCARE seemed like the group that did it all and she knew fun people who did it already! Sam's Log Cabin fundraiser and the two SoulCARE parties were some of her favorite times - particularly the chicken game!
Fun fact: Jenny lived in a village of 600 people in the Ivory Coast in West Africa for 2 years helping to eradicate the Guinea Worm. |
Kat Bliss
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Kat originally got involved with SchoolCARE about 10 years ago helping with the annual Spring brochure drop. A friend was helping organize the effort and it seemed like a fun way to help out with kids in tow. Through the years she has enjoyed supporting various community and donor outreach efforts, and every year has been impressed by and grateful for the amazing support for education in our town!
Fun Fact: Kat is an avid puzzle-solver, and especially loves cooperative puzzle-solving such as escape rooms and puzzlehunts. She is looking forward to participating in her first MIT Mystery Hunt in 2021. |
Yael Bloom
Past President |
Yael got involved in SchoolCARE when her daughter Eliana (AHS '19) was in Kindergarten. She heard a presentation at the PTA meeting and was inspired by the emphasis on an organization that was deeply involved in the education, funding and policy of all AUSD schools. She has coordinated the phonathon & brochure drop and was President of SchoolCARE for 8 years. She was thrilled that we pulled off the 15th anniversary event at Sam’s Log Cabin and loved being presented with an air-plant crown by Anne Marie Sanders.
Fun fact: Yael recently acted as the volunteer responsible for coordinating photos and autographs at a Flip the West fundraising event for David Crosby of (Crosby, Stills and Nash). It was a highlight to talk politics with him! |
Lindsey Burbage
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Joining SchoolCARE through the encouragement of a couple friends on the board has been a highlight of Lindsey’s pandemic dominated year. "It’s been wonderful to be part of such an active organization within the community during this period of social isolation and encouraging to be a part of something making a difference in students’ lives in the midst of so much uncertainty." A highlight was participating in the flyer drop off fundraiser over the summer - it was a great way to support the schools while getting some exercise with her two kids.
Fun fact: One of Lindsey's favorite vacations was a 12 day cross-country road trip with her family when her kids were 2 and 4 years old. Highlights included camping in alpine forests of Utah and on a beach in Virginia, visiting hot springs In Colorado and staying in a haunted Airbnb in Kansas! |
Karen Buttwinick
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Karen's dad was a public school teacher and left the public schools to open up an art school for kids with her mom. She felt lucky to be exposed to art and felt it was important to do whatever she could to help Albany students stay engaged in an enriched school environment. SchoolCARE was the right organization for her to fulfill this goal. Karen has led the Needs and Resources committee for most of her SchoolCARE tenure. One of her favorite memories is dancing at the SoulCARE party while friends snaked through the house in a conga line.
Fun fact: Karen chased down the “Big Suited” performer David Byrne from the Talking Heads after his debut of "Stop Making Sense" in Florence, Italy and got him to autograph her ticket after chatting about the “Big” Duomo. |
Mike Chin
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Mike first got involved with SchoolCARE when his daughter and a board member's son shared a nanny. His favorite SchoolCARE memories are the positive responses from the community when he tells them about SchoolCARE.
Fun fact: Everyone in Mike's family speaks Chinese except for him - Mike speaks Spanish. |
Helene Class
Founding Member |
When AUSD was facing severe cuts, Helene joined other parents in realizing: “If we want to have great schools, we are just going to have to start paying for them!” And so this group of parents began to ask for donations to make up the difference in needed funding. Helene has helped with practically every aspect of SchoolCARE. Helene's favorite memory is of helping in the middle school library at lunch, where many kids go for refuge. Without SchoolCARE there wouldn’t be a library space to go during lunch.
Fun fact: Helene loves teachers. Her parents were both teachers. But she hates speaking in front of crowds. It would terrify her to be a teacher! |
Natasha Khokhar
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When Natasha's kids started at Cornell Elementary, a friend introduced her to Yael and SchoolCARE. She knew immediately this was the right place to put her energy - she knew that this crew got things done! Her favorite memory is of someone walking up to her on the dance floor, at the second Soulcare fundraiser and asking very matter of factly, if her pitbull was chicken-friendly and if it was safe to bring the girls into the backyard. "Because, you know, just because it was a house party, it didn't mean we couldn't use poultry to raise money for our schools. This team will go THAT far to help our teachers, our schools, our students!"
Fun fact: When Natasha was little, she had a lion cub as a pet. |
Jodi Raggio
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After being introduced to the amazing work of SchoolCARE and their ability to make things happen, Jodi knew she wanted to contribute. "SchoolCARE is supportive to the district and facilitates our kids getting the most from their education." Her favorite memory was SoulCARE, an event to raise money for our students and teachers and give parents an excuse to dance the night away to the wee hour of 9 PM.
Fun fact: Jodi was a LifeTouch photographer in the late '90's. She may have taken your prom or graduation pictures. |
Marin Van Young
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Marin joined the Board in 2017. Since then, she's helped with the writing side of things: from invitations to flyers, scripts to brochures, she's our resident expert on the vital difference between hyphens, en dashes, and em dashes. She has two kids in AUSD schools and is an advertising copywriter by day.
Fun fact: Marin appeared on the local TV show "Nash Bridges" as two different characters (one of whom got murdered)! |
Board Co-Presidents 2020-21: Courtnee Hamity & Amy Yamashiro |
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