Jackie Merrill, the ever-present office manager at Vashon Island High School, helped kick off the 2026–27 school year by accepting the Doors of Opportunity Award. The award recognizes her unwavering dedication to supporting students, staff, and families as they navigate the VISD educational journey. 

“Jackie Merrill embodies exactly what it looks like, sounds like, and feels like to open “doors of opportunity” for students,” said VHS Principal John Erickson. “She is always in motion and doing her best and doing what is right, especially when it is hard. She does it all with a smile and the most contagious laugh. I cannot imagine serving as principal of VHS without Jackie’s tremendously positive influence, tireless effort, and unwavering commitment to our students, staff, and community.” 

Merrill joined the district in 2012, first serving as a softball coach for five years before becoming a steady and familiar presence in the high school front office in 2019. Since then, she has been at the heart of the school’s daily rhythm. Her phone is constantly ringing, her inbox is always filling, and she is continually helping students, staff, and families navigate logistical challenges, coordinate details, and solve problems as they arise. It is a familiar day-to-day rush—one that requires patience, organization, and a willingness to help—continuing right up until the school year comes to a close. 

Nominations for the award come from fellow staff members and families within the district, and many of the responses bluntly summed up Merrill’s impact on day-to-day operations: “The reason is simple, the high school would not run without her” and “her hard work is invisible to most students, but essential to their experience in a way that every staff member at VHS understands.” One nomination quoted, “There isn’t a day that I don’t call Jackie to ask a question, and if I don’t it’s because I was absent that day.”

As part of accepting her award, Merrill played a video presentation for staff showcasing her family’s generational roots to the island and the education system from centuries ago beginning with the Vermontville Schoolhouse, complete with a 100-year-old refurbished school desk from the schoolhouse, loaned by the Vashon Heritage Museum.
“As I reflected on this award, I thought about how I got here,” said Merrill. “I did a deep dive into my family history and the various connections to the Vashon Schools over the years. As a six generation Vashon Islander, I learned to honor our past, preserve it, learn from it and share it. I try to be a positive influence and emulate school pride. I love helping people and if I don’t know the answer to something I will find out.”

The Doors of Opportunity Award was established in 1998 by Charlie Staadecker with the financial assistance of over 100 seed investors as an annual award to honor a VISD teacher or staff member who best exemplifies someone who goes beyond their job description to open doors and maximize students’ potential.

Previous award recipients have been Roxanne Thayer, Mike Kirk, Doug Kloke, Renae Taylor, Jim Dorsey, Martha Woodard, Cornelius Lopez, Cherry Champagne, Shirley Ferris, Mike Scott, Julie Jaffe, Gail Labinski, Harris Levinson, Lance Morgan, Mary Heath, Geri Wilson, Char Phillips, Larry Dubois, Esther Morrison, Yvette Butler, Dr. Stephen Floyd, Jenny Granum, Lisa Cyra, Sarah Day, Lisa Miller, Nan Hammett, Margie Butcher, and Nidia Sahagun.