Grant Griffen appointed to School Board

DAYTON–The Dayton School Board, which has functioned for over a year with four directors and one unoccupied seat, has appointed Grant Griffen, a 1999 graduate of Dayton High School, to fill the spot opened when Dan Butler resigned in October, 2018.

Griffen was appointed at the School Board's December 11 meeting following an interview with directors. He will be sworn in at the December 18 meeting this week.

Success in life, Griffen said in an interview with the Dayton Chronicle, depends a lot on their success as students, and it's his desire to see kids in school be as successful as possible. "I will do the best with the knowledge I've got," he said.

Griffen grew up in the Starbuck area and attended school there until transferring to Dayton High School, stating that Dayton had more to offer him than other schools.

He was attending Walla Walla Community College and took a part-time job at the Walla Walla Foundry to supplement attending college classes. He started in janitorial, advanced to equipment repair and eventually landed on the crucial position of designing the shipping containers for each work of art. Griffen was sometimes tasked with designing a container that could be maneuvered into a museum-up stairwells or elevators, for example.

In his job, Griffen likes the aspect of "problem solving," he told the Chronicle, relating that to his desire to combine his experience in his profession and volunteer work with the Columbia County Fair with the educational programs at Dayton Schools. Work on long-term planning and budgeting are important for the School District to be successful and gain community support for its educational programs and plans for facilities improvements, he said.

He is also on the advisory committee of the Southeast Area Technical Skills Center, also known as SEATech, located at Walla Walla Community College. The program gives area high school students a taste of careers in construction, manufacturing, criminal justice, health sciences, and audio and video production. In this position, Griffen talks with instructors about program schedules and offerings.

Griffen said his involvement as a five-year volunteer as Fair vice president and on the SEATech Advisory Committee emphasizes his passion to be involved in education and to do as much as possible to improve education.

He is related to two members of the Dayton Schools staff. His wife is Zarabeth Griffen, Elementary Secretary, and the other relation is Danon Griffen, Transportation Supervisor. Asked if he could be impartial regarding personnel matters, Griffen replied that he didn't believe he would, but if he had doubts, he would recuse himself.

He has gotten much from living in a small community, Griffen told the Chronicle, adding that he feels it's time to give back.