Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 8:47 a.m.
A few years ago Selma Bartlett, senior vice president at BankWest of Nevada, was riding in a hotel elevator on the Strip when she struck up a conversation with a young boy and his parents.
She asked him where he went to school, and was delighted when he told her proudly, "Selma F. Bartlett Elementary School."
"Guess what, I'm Selma Bartlett," she replied.
"No way, you can't be," was his response.
Tuesday at Legacy Park in Henderson, all of the students at Bartlett's namesake school knew exactly who she was as they serenaded the longtime community leader on her 76th birthday.
"She's a nice lady," said Bartlett fifth grader Nick Mills. "I like that she comes to the school and says hi and stuff."
Bartlett, whose has spent 48 of her 53 years in banking in the Las Vegas Valley and helped lead the push for the Nevada State College in Henderson, said Tuesday's celebration was perhaps her best birthday party ever.
"Every year they just get better and better," said Bartlett, as students gathered around her to wait for their turn for a hug. "These children mean the world to me."
After each class presented Bartlett with handmade cards, banners and framed photographs taken during past visits, the banking executive had a present of her own to give the school -- a check for $5,000.
"I hear your computers need a few upgrades and some other supplies," Bartlett told the crowd. "I hope this helps."
Her gift was matched moments later by BankWest President and Chief Executive Larry Woodrum, who accompanied Bartlett to the celebration.
"She's a legend in this industry and in this town," Woodrum said. "She handles $350 million in assets for us and does an outstanding job."
There was another reason for the party in the park -- a delayed celebration marking the school's "high achieving" status on the 2002 statewide Iowa Test of Basic Skills. State Superintendent Jack McLaughlin was on hand to present a plaque recognizing the school's achievement.
Only two Clark County schools earned the "high achieving" designation last year -- Bartlett and Vanderburg elementary schools. To earn the title, a school must have at least 40 percent of its students score in the top quarter on the standardized test and must have daily attendance rate of at least 93 percent.
The goal for this year's exam is to move up a notch to "exemplary" status, the highest designation the state Education Department makes, said Bartlett Principal Mary Blanchard. Exemplary schools have more than half their students scoring in the top quarter and a daily attendance rate of at least 95 percent.
"We came very close last year, and we never stop trying to improve," Blanchard said.
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