Caitilin Newman Velazquez Receives Washington State Bar Association President's Award

Seattle, Washington, September 15, 2000 — Caitilin Newman Velazquez was presented with the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA) President's Award at a luncheon held in Spokane today. The President's Award is given annually in recognition of special accomplishment or service to the WSBA during the term of the current president. Ms. Velazquez received the award from President Richard C. Eymann for her service as the volunteer statewide coordinator of Law Week 2000. She shares the award with Wenatchee lawyer Russell J. Speidel, who was chair of the Law Week 2000 Committee.

The goal of the WSBA Law Week 2000 Committee was to have a lawyer and judge in every Washington school during the week of May 8-12, 2000. The Committee coordinated existing programs run by local and specialty bar associations throughout the state as well as developed new ones in areas where none previously existed. They realized that such a monumental task required a statewide coordinator — someone to fully develop the program, recruit volunteers and work with schools. With a minimal budget, it did not seem likely that such a person would be available.

Ms. Velazquez learned of the Law Week 2000 program and agreed to act as the program's volunteer coordinator. She worked 20-25 hours each week recruiting and matching volunteer lawyers and schools, and served as a statewide resource for everyone involved. In a matter of just a few months, she created a strong link between Washington's education and legal communities. As a result of Ms. Velazquez's efforts, nearly 400 lawyers, 40 judges and more than 6,000 students in 14 Washington counties participated in Law Week 2000.

Prior to serving as the statewide coordinator for Law Week 2000, Ms. Velazquez was a teacher at Jason Lee Middle School in Vancouver. A 1993 graduate of the University of Puget Sound, she taught adult English as a second language (ESL) in Quito, Ecuador, in connection with World Teach in 1993 and 1994. During that time she also served as the translator for the Harvard University medical and educational team exploration of Ecuadoran wilderness documented nationally by PBS. In 1994, she developed and taught an ESL curriculum for the Fulbright Scholarship Commission in Quito, Ecuador. From 1996 to 1998, Ms. Velazquez taught in a bilingual fourth grade classroom in Wenatachee. She currently teaches gifted students part-time in the Eastmont School District.

The Washington State Bar Association is a private, non-profit organization authorized by the Washington State Supreme Court to license the state's 26,000 lawyers. The WSBA both regulates lawyers under the authority of the Court and serves its members as a professional association — all without public funding. As a regulatory agency, it administers the bar exam, provides record-keeping and licensing functions, and administers the lawyer discipline program. As a professional association, the WSBA provides continuing legal education for attorneys, in addition to numerous other educational and member-service activities.