Class Notes
1997
Angela (Dillman) Birney (M.Ed., Professional Development) was elected mayor of the City of Redmond, Washington. She started her term in January and will be in her position through December 2023. Before becoming mayor, she served as a member of the Redmond City Council, having been elected to the position in 2015.
Shirley Pleasant Sutton (M.Ed., Community and Human Resource Development) serves on the Lynnwood Washington City Council. She was elected to the position in 2015 and started her four-year term in January 2016. Sutton built a career in K-12 and higher education administration prior to entering into city government. She worked in several director positions in Yakima-area school districts before moving to Lynnwood to be the Executive Director of Diversity Affairs at Edmonds Community College. She retired from education in 2013.
1998
Carol (Powell) Ellingson (B.A., English/Language Arts) taught at Fort Simcoe Job Corps from the time she graduated from Heritage until her retirement. She is active in the Republican Party and worked on the campaign to elect Donald Trump. She is now running for secretary of the Republican Women of Grant County. Ellingson reconnected with her high school sweetheart and the two were married in 2010.
2005
Marie Avalos Guerrero (BSW, Social Work) is the owner and clinical director of the Innovation Resource Center, which provides outpatient substance abuse treatment to clients living in Yakima and surrounding counties. Avalos Guerrero opened the clinic in September 2011.
2008
Jenny (Sutter) TeGrotenhuis (M.Ed., Counseling) is a certified Gottman Relationship Therapist and Clinical Trauma Professional working in private practice in the Tri-Cities and through distance therapy. In addition to her practice, she manages the mental health wellness blog and newsletter Ask Jenny T, is the author the ebook Draw the Line with the One You Love: Set a Boundary That Can Strengthen Your Bond, and is a contributing writer to The Gottman Relationship Blog and Thrive Global.
2015
Allison Nystrom (M.Ed., Counseling) joined Community Health of Central Washington-Ellensburg as a behavioral health consultant. She is a designated mental health professional with experience in family support services advocacy, mental health case management and mental health therapy.
2018
Kelsey Carrigan (B.A. Ed., Elementary Education) is teaching first grade at a public charter school in Phoenix, Arizona through Teach for America and was offered another position teaching special education at the same school next year.
April (Kent) Holmes (B.A., Business Administration) works in the finance department as a revenue auditor at Legends Casino Hotel in Toppenish, Washington. In September she married Cleo Holmes.