Q: Ms. Vaars, you are the Director of Student Activities here at Paly, correct? What is your favorite part about this job, and why?

A: Correct! Visiting with you Katie is the absolute favorite part of my job. Actually, visiting with students and helping them accomplish goals for themselves and other Paly students.

Q: Is there anything in particular that you don’t like about your job?

A: I’m not fond of cleaning up after people when they leave a mess in the Student Activities Office or on the quad. If you are going to make a poster, put the supplies back. If you’re eating a snack, please throw away your trash, and if you want something, just ask nicely. Thanks!

Q: And if you weren’t here at Paly being the Student Activities Director, what would you want to be doing?

A: I’d be on a hot beach reading a good book or working elsewhere. I have bills!

Q: What were your jobs before becoming Student Activities Director? What was your favorite?

A: My job history: a cleaning woman, waitress, running a restaurant, cooking, mother, wife, auto parts store clerk and delivery person, flower delivery, designer, shipping manager, reader, teacher’s aide, teacher, manicurist, and probably some other things. My favorite was probably shipping manager because I could set my own hours and was paid well.

Q: You also help run the student council? What are some deep dark student council secrets that nobody knows?

A: hah, a dark secret nobody know about student council, that would go against the open democratic process Paly has established for its student government. Probably the darkest reality is that the election results are verified through a tally report that my eighty-two year old grandmother does. I keep her locked up for days to verify election results for homecoming court, A.S.B. and class officers. My grandmother likes doing work from her lounge chair (think Fraser’s dad’s). I’m not evil, really, I’m not.

Q: I know a lot of students are wondering, what some of the upcoming Student Council sponsored events will be?

A: Some of the large events student council is working on for the second semester are our Social Norms data collection survey and promotional items, International Festival, Prom, Graduation, Field Day and, another Student Council and ASB election.

Q: I know over the years you have become really involved with Camp Anytown. What makes you enjoy Camp Anytown so much? What keeps bringing you back to it?

A: Camp Anytown is truly the most eye-opening experience I’ve ever had, without a doubt. It changes the way I think, act, parent, teach, etc, which is why I go back happily. If one person can have half the experience I had, I’m glad she or he got the chance to attend. It makes me feel so good to know that this generation of students has the ability to change our school and world for the better. I see that everyday. As a group, the millennium generation will have unbelievable power and I believe they will use it to further good causes. If anyone doubts that, I encourage them to look at national trends and how significant indicators like drunk driving, smoking and teen pregnancy are going down as a percentage all over the country.

Q: If you don’t mind me asking, I have seen you around campus with a rather gorgeous Prada bag. Do you have many of those or are special bags one of a kind for you?

A: I do own several Prada, Kate Spade, Louis Vuitton, and other designer bags. The one you refer to is my workbag. It is quite large and I’ve used it for over five years now. I look for others but I think they must be hiding in the back of my closet.

Q: When you are not at school helping students, what do you enjoy doing in your free time?

A: I enjoy television, hot tubbing, reading, and hanging out with my family and friends. Over the break I hung out in New Orleans with my son, cousin, and her husband. My current favorite television show is “Desperate Housewives,” not that I am one, but I aspire to be one, one day.

Q: I hear that in your past you were part of an organization called Rainbow Girls, what exactly did this group do? And does it still exist today?

A: In Rainbow Girls, we had a cheer: I am an R-A, I am an R-A, I am an R-A-I-N-B-O-W girl. And once you are an R-A, you are always an R-A. This group is a fraternal organization for young women that is affiliated with the Masonic Lodge. Rainbow Girls is a service organization much like Key Club with a very intricate political structure. Rainbow Girls still exists today and is open to all girls from the age of 11-20. There is an assembly that meets in Menlo Park by the Safeway. They do fabulous charity work, but once you turn 20, which I have by the way, you become a majority member and do not get to have all the fun the girls have so I do not attend many functions now.

Q: What are your personal mottos or credos that you live your life by?

A: Gosh, never tell a lie may be the most important one. I don’t have time or memory space to keep track of untruths. I think right now I’m also heeding the words of the great poet, Tim McGraw, who tells me to live like you are dying. I think I’ll try that for a while.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 20 years?

A: In a post Paly world, my day will be filled with reading, swimming and cooking for family and friends.

Q: Where do you see Paly in 20 years?

A: In 20 years, I hope to see Paly in my dreams on the corner of Embarcadero and El Camino in Palo Alto.