Candace Bullard, Queen Anne resident since 1988, has been named a Mayor's Office for Seniors honoree for outstanding volunteer service. Bullard works with students, helping with academics, securing internships and scholarships and mentoring through their high-school years.
Bullard has worked as a writing coach and test-prep tutor at several schools. Her poems have been featured for years on KBCS-FM.
"I did have a poem riding around town on a bus as a Metro contest winner," Bullard said, "but this honor is even better."
Honorees will be recognized with a luncheon ceremony at City Hall Dec. 16.
It was Pat Sobeck, current director of the Queen Anne Helpline who first inspired Bullard to volunteer more than five years ago at McClure Middle School. She worked with professionals such as teacher and Shakespearean scholar Jan Robbins and librarian Kristin Gale. She followed students to high schools all over the city, from Garfield to Franklin to Ingraham.
"I loved it from day one," She said.
Bullard is carrying on her family's tradition of service. One grandfather flew in both world wars and was a member of the Illinois National Guard. Her other grandfather was a doctor in the mining town of Gunn, Wyo., and later in Gary, Ind. in the early 1900s. He was the only Caucasian doctor who would treat African American patients - and the only Protestant doctor with privileges at the Catholic hospital.
"He never made much money. The miners were Japanese, and they paid him in kimonos and swords," Bullard said. "He simply took care of people who needed help."
Bullard's love of education and books also runs in the family. One grandmother owned a bookstore in Chicago, the other was a teacher for 30 years in Gary. Bullard's mother also taught--all while rearing nine children. And her father was the president of the Urban League and the Board of Realtors simultaneously. He too was a teacher at Indiana University/South Bend. Life in the Midwest wasn't always easy.
"The late 1960s in Indiana were perilous times with our neighbors arming themselves with shotguns," Bullard recounted. "My father was very brave, standing against red-lining and job discrimination. My family acts from a quiet sense of common decency. I'm proud to walk in their footsteps."
Now in her 22nd year in Seattle, Bullard has made indelible marks on the city's schools. Joe Day, a science teacher at Franklin High School said Bullard regularly goes beyond the call of duty and shows a "deep concern and willingness to help students."
Kevin Chu, who went to McClure and graduates from Franklin in 2012 said Bullard found him a job with the Seattle Audubon Nature Camp. "I love nature but I never got to go there," Chu said. "I appreciate Miss Bullard so much."
Bullard will continue with the schools too. She will continue providing grammar and book tips, coaching test-prep strategies (where she has helped build an 82 percent success rate), preparing college applications, or leading field trips to Folklife or Sen. Maria Cantwell's office.
"The kids are the best. I'm more than lucky they let me hang out with them. My other passion is dance. If I could turn kids into lindy-hoppers or tangueros my life would be complete."
Mohamed Adan, who graduates from Garfield High School in 2012 (also a former McClure student), said Bullard has always been there to "help me and my family." A Somali immigrant and 2010 winner of the Holocaust Center essay contest, Adan added, "Ms. Bullard is awesome."[[In-content Ad]]
