Pleasant Valley Primary School’s Barb Holterman named Elementary Art Educator of the Year

BATTLE GROUND — The Washington Art Education Association named Pleasant Valley Primary School art teacher Barb Holterman as Elementary Art Educator of the Year. The award, presented annually, recognizes a teacher for outstanding professionalism, service, promotion and support of the arts. Holterman, a National Board Certified Teacher, has worked for Battle Ground Public Schools for 14 years. Previously, she taught art at Amboy Middle School. Holterman was nominated by Cynthia Gaub, a visual art educator at North Middle School in Everett. “Barb is an enthusiastic educator who is always looking for new ways to engage her students,” Gaub said in a news release. The award will be presented to Holterman at a WAEA event Nov. 1-2 in Leavenworth. “Giving my students the opportunity to drive their own learning and helping them reach the next level has given me great joy, and I love coming to school every day just to see what they will do next,” Holterman said in the release.