34th Military Citizen Announced

The Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber presented the 34^th annual John H. Anderson Military Citizen of the Year Award to Sergeant Robert Pangaro today. Sgt. Pangaro is currently an active duty servicemember assigned to Rear Detachment, 2^nd Battalion, 3^rd Infantry Regiment, JBLM.

 

MG Lanza (7th ID, JBLM), Amy Tiemeyer (ACU), Stephanie & Robert Pangaro, Tom Pierson (Chamber)

 

 

 

Sgt. Pangaro volunteers at the Park Lodge Elementary School in Lakewood, Wash. and currently serves a two-year term as the PTSA President for Park Lodge. His role includes being responsible for the overseeing decisions for the allocation of the non-profits funds, including school bus transportation, field trips, field days and extracurricular events such as school dances and graduation for the 350 students at Park Lodge.

 

Sgt. Pangaro volunteered for every PTSA sponsored event, whether it was a book fair, a sock-hop, a curriculum night or a spruced-up date for the school grounds.

 

For the upcoming Veteran’s Day assembly at the school, he arranged for a color guard unit to attend, to bring a more exciting and professional feeling for the event.

 

Sgt. Pangaro also takes requests for funds from teachers to help offset their personal purchases in classrooms and arranged for parents to vote for allocation of funds online.

 

Last year, Sgt. Pangaro helped start a local Watch Dogs program, (Dads of Great Students), where father figures, (fathers, step-fathers, grandfathers, uncles and others), work with kids in group or individual settings.  This year, he is a volunteer Watch Dog – having handed over the coordination to another person.

 

To help all parents, deployed soldiers or civilian, Sgt. Pangaro leveraged social media and other sites as a way for parents to engage and be a part of their child’s school experience. He spends time emailing meeting minutes to deployed servicemembers whose children are students at the school and then posts to their social media pages.

 

Sgt. Pangaro is helping reestablish a PTA Council and is putting together the first PTA Presidential Committee.

 

Sgt. Pangaro is also a member of the Clover Park School District DTAP (District Teachers and Parents Team) and a member of the Site Council for Park Lodge Elementary – deciding on how the transition to a Title 1 School (a vast majority of poverty-level students) will take place next year.

 

“There is no question that Sgt. Pangaro devotes countless hours and boundless energy to improving and serving his community,” said Amy Tiemeyer, award sponsor America’s Credit Union’s representative.

 

Award Sponsor:

America’s Credit Union has been serving the military here at Joint base Lewis McChord (JBLM) since 1954; ACU has been active in creating a community that is aware of soldiers needs and able to serve our military who give so much for all of us. Amy Tiemeyer America’s Credit Union’s Military Relations Liaison is a veteran herself and presented the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber’s 34^th John Anderson Military Citizen of the Year award.

 

About John H. Anderson:

The Chamber created the John H. Anderson Military Citizen of the Year Award to honor an outstanding military citizen to commemorate the civic contributions by our resident military personnel. John H. Anderson, a veteran, served as Tacoma’s mayor in the early to mid-1950s. An accomplished civic leader, he is also a past Chair of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber Board of Directors, as well as a successful local businessman.