Theo Mills of Shuksan Middle School in Bellingham has been recognized as the 2014 Regional Classified Employee of the Year by the Northwest Educational Service District.

Mills will move on to compete for the Washington State Classified Employee of the Year.

Mills was honored, in part, for her recent efforts to mentor at-risk students through the formation of a counseling group for young women that has been able to decrease participants’ rates of class absence and disciplinary suspension. The program has inspired additional, similar outreach efforts at Shuksan Middle School.