Welcome to the Norman Rockwell Elementary PTA. We are happy to serve our school community as board members because we love this school! Come say hello or contact us anytime and please join us at the upcoming meetings! The Board meets monthly - please contact any of us if you would like to attend a board meeting or bring something up for discussion.
General Membership Meetings are typically in the Thursday evenings quarterly...keep your eye on the Bugle for an announcement and please attend the General Meetings!
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President Cydney Knapp president@normanrockwellpta.org
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Cydney is excited to take on the role of PTA President this year. With three young kids at Rockwell, she has been an active participant with the PTA for many years now. She has a son in 5th grade, a daughter in 3rd grade, and four-year-old daughter eager to join Rockwell next year! In addition to serving as Art Docent and Room Parent for her kids’ classrooms, she has served on the PTA board as both Disability Advocate and Communications VP and has enjoyed chairing her favorite event, Teacher Appreciation Week, for the past several years.
If she has any spare time, Cydney dreams of reading books, sewing, taking up pottery again, and spending time in the outdoors exploring with her husband and their kids. Cydney is excited to serve Rockwell students and looks forward to getting to know more families in the community through volunteer efforts and fabulous family events!
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Vice President Rose Brundritt president@normanrockwellpta.org
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Rose is serving as Vice President. She has one son in 5th grade and a daughter in 1st Grade. She is a Brit loving life here in the PNW. It's her third year on the PTA Board. |
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Treasurer Sharayu Ketkar treasurer@normanrockwellpta.org |
This is Sharayu’s first year serving on PTA as Treasurer. She has twin daughters going into the third grade this fall. She has been a Rockwell mom for the past seven years, as her older daughter was a Rockwell student as well. Pre-Covid, Sharyu was an active volunteer for class parties, and she thoroughly enjoys working at Rockwell in any capacity. |
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Secretary Nazneen Damkewala secretary@normanrockwellpta.org
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Nazneen has been an active member of the school community since 2021. She has two children, who are currently in 1st and 5th grades at Rockwell. With a strong passion for community service, she is dedicated to enhancing the school experience for students, teachers, and families. Nazneen has a degree in Psychology and in the past has worked with non-profits and tech companies in the field of Marketing and Communications. During her tenure, Nazneen hopes to increase parental involvement, and enrich the learning environment through PTA led programs. She is looking forward to serving and meeting the needs of her community and school in the best way possible. In her spare time, Nazneen enjoys reading and volunteering for her local Zoroastrian community in the Pacific Northwest. |
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VP Communications Katie Herzog communications@normanrockwellpta.org |
Katie is the VP of Communications. Over the past two years, she has worked as the VP of Enrichment and as one of the Rockwell Spring Play Producers. Her daughter graduated Rockwell last spring, and is in 6th grade at RMS and her son is in 3rd grade at Rockwell. Katie has 20 years experience working for the City of Mercer Island, in the field of Recreation programming and event management. In her spare time enjoys reading, traveling with her family, and watching her kids participate in sports and other activities. |
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Co-VP of Fundraising Hanaa Rifaey fundraising@normanrockwellpta.org
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Coming soon! |
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Co-VP of Fundraising Emily Taylor fundraising@normanrockwellpta.org
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Emily is excited to join the PTA Board as a new member of the Rockwell community. She and her husband, Camden, have one son in Kindergarten. Prior to her role as a stay at home mom, she enjoyed a vibrant 15 years long career in humanitarian and education sectors which took her around the globe. Her background relevant to serving on the board is in advocacy and policy, fundraising and grant writing, community engagement, institutional capacity building and partnerships. She is passionate about disability rights and special education. In her spare time, Emily enjoys living room dance parties and air guitar, experimenting with salad dressing recipes, kayaking, and adventures with her family soaking in the beautiful PNW. |
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Funds Allocation Co-Chair Denice Gagner
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Denice is the Funds Allocation Chair. She has a daughter in 7th grade and a son in 5th grade. She’s been a proud member of the Rockwell PTA since 2017 and a board member since 2019. She works as a criminal defense attorney and loves to play poker on the weekends. She loves reading and is excited to help with the book fair this year. |
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VP Volunteer Services Kainoa Patterson volunteering@normanrockwellpta.org |
Kainoa is the VP of Volunteer Services. She's previously held board roles in volunteering, membership and events, as well as room parent duties. She has a son in the 7th grade at Redmond Middle School and a son in 1st grade at Rockwell. Kainoa is looking forward to engaging with parents and supporting the PTA's relationship-building with all families in the Rockwell community.
Outside of school, she has a degree in Psychology and works in the non-profit sector in the field of domestic violence. She has an unhealthy obsession with books (reading them, buying them, borrowing them) so feel free to come up and tell her about a book you think she needs to read!
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VP Events Neha Yagnik
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Coming soon! |
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VP Academic Enrichment Janet Vuong enrichment@normanrockwellpta.org
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Janet is the VP of Enrichment. Previously serving as the VP of Fundraising and organizer of STEAM Night, this will be her 3rd year on the PTA Board, which she has loved being a part of! She has two children, a 2nd and 4th grader. When she's not subbing at different schools or volunteering, she enjoys traveling, and spending time with friends and family.
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VP School Services Luiza Trifton schoolservices@normanrockwellpta.org
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Coming soon! |
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VP of Membership Lani Lum membership@normanrockwellpta.org
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Lani is currently serving as the VP of Membership. She ihas an 8-year-old son in 3rd grade and a daughter in 7th grade at Redmond Middle School. This is Lani's sixth year of active involvement in the PTA, where she continues to be passionate about contributing to the community that enriches our school. Over the past five years, Lani has served as VP of Communication, VP of School Serviced, Co-President, the Yearbook Chair, and a Producer for the school musical for two years. Outside of her PTA duties, Lani works as an Executive Producer at Xbox Game Studios, where she is currently developing an undisclosed game project.
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Co-VP of Advocacy-Legislative Nicole Dahl legislativeadvocate@normanrockwellpta.org
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Nicole is serving as Legislative Advocate. She and her husband, Anthony have an 11 year old son in 6th grade and a 5 year old daughter starting kindergarten at Rockwell. This is Nicole’s first year on the PTA Board. Outside of PTA, Nicole manages a Microsoft Azure Engineering team. She enjoys Peloton, cooking, reading, and snuggling her dog, Mojo. |
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Co-VP of Advocacy-Legislative Natalia Dyba excellence@normanrockwellpta.org |
This is Natalia's first year on the PTA Board. She will be working with Nicole on the School of Excellence application process. Natalia has a daughter in 1st grade, so she's still learning a lot about the ins and outs of school and joining the PTA is a great way to do that! She hopes to contribute to making Rockwell an enriching and inclusive school for all families. Natalia grew up in Poland and has also lived in Spain and Argentina. Her professional experience is in international education. She works at the University of Washington Bothell, promoting global engagement opportunities for students, faculty, and staff. She enjoys traveling - in person and through reading - skiing, hiking, and baking. |
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VP of Advocacy-Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Sirine Maalej DEIadvocate@normanrockwellpta.org
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Since joining the Norman Rockwell community nearly two years ago, Sirine has been dedicated to creating a welcoming environment for all families. Over the past year on the PTA board, she has focused on advocating for diversity, equity, and inclusion. Sirine’s background spans three continents—she grew up in Tunisia, completed her graduate studies in France, and lived in British Columbia, Canada for over 14 years before moving to Washington. As a mother of two daughters, including one with special needs, Sirine is deeply committed to fostering inclusion both in her personal life and within the community. Professionally, Sirine serves as a Mechanical Engineering Faculty and Program Head at Edmonds College. In her free time, Sirine enjoys traveling and spending time with friends and family. |
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Emergency Preparedness Chair Susan Walker
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Susan has been in Rockwell community since 2021 and this is her 4th year as the PTA Emergency Preparedness (EPrep) Chair. She has two boys currently attending Rockwell, in grades 1st and 4th. She is passionate about educating students and families on how to be more prepared for emergencies in our area and assists Rockwell staff with the school's emergency supplies.
Susan brings a variety of experience from previously holding administrative and teaching positions in elementary and middle schools in CA, AZ and even Japan! She has a BFA in Art History from the University of Kansas and also teaches in the art docent program. She loves event planning and Heritage Night is one of her favorites!
In her spare time, Susan visits the library with her kids, catches up on podcasts, and takes family bike rides along the Sammamish River Trail.
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School Principal/Board Member Ex-Officio Principal Adam Couch |
Meet our Principal Here! |
