Rainier Elementary School

We’re showing our CPSD pride by giving a #SuperSchoolShoutout to Rainier Elementary School, which welcomed its new principal, Joshua Rockey, last fall. 

“Rainier is a great school because of the amazing staff and community support,” Principal Rockey said. “We have a diverse student population, and our staff build a supportive atmosphere where everyone feels empowered to collaborate and meet any standard.”

Growing up, Principal Rockey had contemplated becoming a doctor because of his strong desire to help others. Luckily, he realized that education was the correct career path for him. “I love working with great people to uplift students and watch them realize their own potential and accomplishments,” he said. “I was a teacher for 10 years before I realized that I could better help my school as a principal and have now been an administrator for 13 years.”

This is Principal Rockey’s first year serving students and families on a military base. The uniqueness of seeing students playing on the playground while soldiers conduct their training in the mornings and helicopters fly overhead on training missions was an exciting change for him. “It is a great honor to help make sure that the men and women who are defending our great country can rest assured knowing that their students are getting a great education to prepare them for the world,” he said. 

Principal Rockey is happy to complete his first year at Rainier and plan for the years to come as principal. “I have learned so much about working in a new state, a new district and on Joint Base Lewis-McChord,” he said. “We’re all learning together to improve, and I’m thrilled to continue working with the great students, staff and community here.”

To continue our #SuperSchoolShoutout of Rainier, we’re celebrating the work of second grade teacher Shannon Hawthorne and third grader Tremayne Hayden.

Shannon had previously taught third grade at Custer Elementary School before joining the Panthers two years ago to teach second grade. “I had seen where students were in third grade, preparing for testing, and I thought I could help by giving students the knowledge and tools they need beforehand,” she said. “For instance, we’re working on writing sentence-structured answers to math problems to get them familiar with testing expectations before they even begin third grade.”

Shannon is grateful to her excellent team of teachers for being great collaborators that continuously reflect on how they can improve student success. “We all have parts that we’re really good at and we talk about it together while focusing on the data,” she said. “It’s a very positive place to be, and the team, the building, the families, the students, all work together to create this atmosphere.”

Shannon believes that hands-on learning and exploration is a powerful way for students to learn. She enjoys science because it allows students to combine math, reading and writing principals with tangible projects that engage their curiosity. “We’re lucky to have received a grant to raise salmon in the classroom,” she said. “We recently took a field trip to Kobayashi Park where students walked the trails, made observations about the plant, animal and insect life before releasing the salmon back to their natural habitat. I’ve rarely seen students more captivated.”

Shannon is proud of her own dedication to being a lifelong learner by adapting each year and instilling confidence in her students. “I work really hard to make every student feel connected and I hope that they leave my class enjoying school and understanding the balance between the fun things and the importance of learning, focusing and making mistakes to grow,” she said. 

Tremayne joined Rainier this year and has enjoyed learning and growing with his new friends. He has been recognized for being a kind, respectful and welcoming presence at school. “I like to make new friends and welcoming other kids when they’re new,” he said. “It’s great to have a lot of friends for games at recess and PE.”

Tremayne is in the highly capable class and is delighted with his accomplishments as a student, including his participation at the CPSD STEAM Fair. “This year, I’m really proud to have gotten first place at the district STEAM Fair,” he said. “I did an engineering project on earthquake resistant buildings, so I tested my hypothesis by making the buildings and observing how stable they were when I put them on an earthquake table. I found that adding cross-shaped stabilizers to the sides made them much stronger.”

Tremayne loves science because it combines his two favorite subjects, writing and math. “I like math because it’s challenging and I like to solve problems,” he said. “I also like writing a lot because I like writing stories, opinions and just being able to write my heart out.”

Tremayne is still exploring his goals for the future but has taken an interest in engineering after completing his STEAM Fair project. Before getting too far ahead of himself, he is focusing on completing third grade, enjoying his summer and preparing for next year. “I’m very excited for fourth grade,” he said. “I’m excited to meet a new teacher, make new friends and learn new, challenging things along the way.”

Go Panthers!