Gov. Jay Inslee visited Ridgecrest Elementary on September 5 and presented a shiny red apple pin to kindergartner Kiera Robison for being a good student and braving the first day of school the previous day.

Robison, a student in Kim Amsden’s class, was featured in a photograph in The News Tribune on September 5 showing her crying before school started on the first day. After seeing the photo, the governor asked his office staff to contact the Puyallup School District and request a visit with her that same day.

The kindergartner was all smiles on her second day of school as she shook the governor’s hand and listened to him praise her for being such a good student.

The word “Washington” is inscribed across the middle of the red apple pin that he removed from his suit jacket and pinned onto the kindergartner as her proud mother, Catherine Robison, looked on and snapped photos.

The governor also greeted other students and staff, including a visit to Carolyn Anderson’s sixth-grade class.

Principal Dana Harris walked the governor through the school and was joined by Puyallup School District Superintendent Tim Yeomans, Chief Academic Officer of Regional Learning Community #1 Vince Pecchia, Executive Director of Communications, Information, and The Arts Brian Fox, members of the governor’s staff, and Inslee’s wife, Trudi.

Read more about the governor’s visit to Ridgecrest Elementary in the next issue of the district’s Connections newspaper, which publishes in November.

See more photos of Gov. Jay Inslee's visit to Ridgecrest Elementary.