The Friends of Renton Schools will host its sixth annual benefit breakfast, headlined by speaker Barbara Madsen, the chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court, on April 27.
Madsen, a 1970 graduate of Hazen High School, earned her undergraduate degree at the University of Washington before going on to Gonzaga University School of Law.
After earning her law degree, Madsen worked as a public defender in King and Snohomish counties. She was first appointed to a bench in 1988, when then-Seattle Mayor Charles Royer added her to the Seattle Municipal Court, where she served as presiding judge.
Voters elected her the third woman to serve on the Washington Supreme Court in 1992, and re-elected her in 1998, 2004 and 2010. She began her second term as the 55th chief justice of the Washington Supreme Court after colleagues unanimously elected her Oct. 31, 2012.
As chief justice, she is the court’s chief representative, presides over Supreme Court hearings and conferences, and co-chairs the state’s Board for Judicial Administration.
Madsen, a member of Hazen’s very first graduating class, has received numerous awards for her service, including the 2010 Seattle University School of Law Woman of the Year and Gonzaga University’s Myra Bradwell Award, honoring an outstanding alumna of Gonzaga University School of Law who has made great strides on behalf of women.
The benefit breakfast is the main fundraiser for the school foundation that provides supplemental funding to support the Renton School District. Funds raised go directly toward paying for after-school and summer robotics programs, music programs and repair of student musical instruments.
Donations to the organization are 100 percent tax-deductible. The fundraiser annually raises about $200,000.
The Friends of Renton Schools’ mission is to develop a sustainable funding resource that bridges the gap between federal and state funding for schools, so students can obtain an exceptional, world-class education.
The breakfast begins at 7 a.m. at the Renton Pavilion Event Center, 233 Burnett Ave. S.
Learn more about the April breakfast and the Friends of Renton School organization at www.friendsofrentonschools.org.