PTSA board, photographer Don Detrick, partner to decorate Snoqualmie Elementary School office

February 13, 2018 1:45 pm
Snoqualmie Elementary staff and parents thanked photographer Don Detrick for his scenic photos, contributed to brighten the school office. Pictured from left are SES Registrar and school secretary Michelle Pearlstein, artist Don Detrick, secretary Shannon Smith and SES PTSA President Kim Jones. (Photo courtesy of Abbey Cantrell)
Snoqualmie Elementary staff and parents thanked photographer Don Detrick for his scenic photos, contributed to brighten the school office. Pictured from left are SES Registrar and school secretary Michelle Pearlstein, artist Don Detrick, secretary Shannon Smith and SES PTSA President Kim Jones. (Photo courtesy of Abbey Cantrell)

The Snoqualmie Elementary School PTSA started 2018 by giving a fresh look to the front office of their elementary school with help from noted local artist Don Detrick. Detrick, a North Bend resident and an associate network leader with the Northwest Ministry Network, is well-known in the Snoqualmie Valley for his striking photographs of the area landscape.

Detrick teamed up with the 2017-18 SES PTSA board to provide six arresting images of such celebrated local landmarks as the Snoqualmie railroad depot and the Snoqualmie Valley Trail pedestrian bridge over the Snoqualmie River, as well as the falls and Mount Si for the school office. The framed photographs were installed on a weekend, to be a surprise for school administration staff and teachers when they arrived on Monday morning.

“Our office staff is so incredibly wonderful and dedicated to our students, and we wanted them to have a work environment that is just as welcoming as they are,” said PTSA President Kim Jones. “We contacted Mr. Detrick to see if he would be willing to help us spruce up the office with new artwork, and we were thrilled when he agreed to assist us.”

SES parent and Rustic Pines Design owner Jen Shuck, who created an art installation for the school’s new gymnasium, contributed the wooden sign that hangs in the office with the photographs.

The reaction from school staff and visitors has been enthusiastic and overwhelmingly positive.

“Our board is just so happy to have been able to facilitate this,” Jones said. “We are all so grateful to live in such a beautiful place and to be affiliated with such a great school. To bring those two settings together this year is something that we are very proud to be a part of, and we are so thankful to Mr. Detrick for his generosity in sharing his talents with our staff and students.”

To find out more about Detrick’s work, visit www.dondetrick.smugmug.com. For more information on the SES PTSA, visit www.septsa.com.

A sampling of Detrick’s scenic photography decorates the school office wall. (Photo courtesy of Abbey Cantrell)

A sampling of Detrick’s scenic photography decorates the school office wall. (Photo courtesy of Abbey Cantrell)