The Bainbridge Island School District said goodbye to school board member Christina Hulet at its latest meeting.

The March 9 meeting was the last for Hulet, who served from 2018-23.

Superintendent Peter Bang-Knudsen said she was “steadfast” and “brave” during her years of service, and that her heart and mind were always focused on kids.

Hulet said being on the school board the last several years was hard. “It’s been really rough, through COVID, and culture wars and level of division in our country and challenging our public institutions.

“I’m incredibly grateful that I got to experience what being in community looks like. This is work that is real, and it’s work that is worth doing well. At the end of the day, it is beyond bigger than any one of us, and at its core, it’s about our kids.”

For Women’s History Month, the district highlighted female educators.

Bang-Knudsen recognized Elizabeth Ordway. Ordway Elementary School was named after the late 1800’s educator. Ordway was a BI teacher and Kitsap County superintendent of schools. “She was a pretty amazing person, a real leader of her time,” Bang-Knudsen said.

Ordway was one of many “Mercer Girls” who migrated from the East Coast to marry early settlers in Seattle. But didn’t end up doing that. Instead, she was an arts educator who became one of the foremost teachers in the Kitsap Peninsula in the 1870s.

“She was known as the best teacher and someone who could go into a troubled school and make it right,” Bang-Knudsen said, adding she was a women’s rights advocate who spoke with the legendary Susan B. Anthony at a women’s right to vote rally in Seattle.

The district also honored the Education Support Professionals whose classified individuals work in front of and behind the scenes throughout the district.

“These folks include: our bus drivers, transportation department, food service, front office workers and paraeducators. We have hundreds and hundreds of people who are there to make sure that our kids and our staff in our buildings have all the things they need. It is with great appreciation that we are thankful for the work that they do,” Bang-Knudsen said.