Diane Karl

RIGHT NOW, somewhere in the world, a teacher is admonishing students: "Don't copy!" But within the Bethel School District, in Spanaway, Wash., educators and staff are applauding Diane Karl for nearly 26 years of consistent, finely executed copying (and printing). As the district's print shop manager, Karl oversees graphic design, production, reproduction and print distribution services for 17 elementary schools, six junior high schools, three high schools, an alternative school for grades eight through 12, an online academy and district administration.

The in-plant for the Bethel, Wash., public school system turned out more than 44.6 million impressions in 2006, most of them in the form of booklets. “We average between 20-25,000 booklets a day,” reports Diane Karl, print shop manager. The in-plant initially adopted the booklet format in order to help students. “If students can do their general work in the same fashion as the tests they have to take for an assessment of scholastic learning, they’ll be more proficient when they take the tests,” says Karl. “It’s cost effective for us to make the booklets and easy for our students to use.