Shoreline Woman Named Seattle Central CC Classified Employee of the Year

Arlene Bolton of Shoreline has been named Seattle Central Community College Classified Employee of the Year.

Bolton, in her seventh year as an information technician with Seattle Central’s Information Technology Services, was touted for her calm and steady handling of people often frustrated with the vagaries of working with computers. Bolton, deployed on the information services help desk, troubleshoots a wide variety of technical problems to support fellow employees “just trying to do their jobs.”

“If they didn’t care so much about their work, they wouldn’t call us; everyone at this college is working so hard,” said Bolton, who received her award in a Nov. 11, ceremony.

Bolton acknowledged that being at the receiving end of technology complaints isn’t always fun. But, she said, "It’s human nature to problem-solve; people aren’t going to call us up and say 'my computer worked particularly fast today.'"

Bolton grew up in Walla Walla and worked for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. She later came to Seattle, becoming a contractor at the help desk for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Seattle before joining Seattle Central.

“I love my job,” she said. “I really feel like I’m part of a team here – fellow staff, teaching faculty and administration – and its very important to me.” 

Source: Seattle Central Community College.