LAKE ELSINORE - If there's one word Sharon Seelman really likes to use, it's "kiddos."

The 43-year-old Seelman, who was tapped earlier this year to be Earl Warren Elementary School's first principal when it opens this fall, used the word liberally Thursday while talking about her passion for education and about her new job.

"I care about the kiddos," she said with a smile.

That message came across clearly to Lake Elsinore Unified School District officials when they interviewed Seelman and several other candidates to fill the post, Superintendent Frank Passarella said. The one thing that stood out in his mind during Seelman's interview, he said, was that she kept referring to the "kiddos."

"She was able to articulate a real strong passion for children," Passarella said. "That was one thing that, as a superintendent, that I found very interesting about Sharon Seelman. … She's got a great personality and I think she'll do very well for us."

Seelman, for her part, is excited about the opportunity.

She spent the last four years as an assistant principal at Monte Vista Elementary School in Murrieta. She was in that position when that campus first opened four years ago.

Before that, Seelman, who has an 11-year-old son and a 17-year-old daughter, taught kindergarten through second grade at several campuses in the Temecula school district for more than a decade.

Teaching is something she knew at a young age she wanted to do, she said, recalling the moment when she was in the fifth grade that she first thought about a career in education. Her teacher had just made a student who wanted to get a drink of water raise his hand.

"I remember thinking, 'I'm not going to make the kids raise their hands to get a drink,'" said Seelman, who would go on to get a bachelor's degree from Cal Poly Pomona and a master's degree in education administration from Azusa Pacific University. "I was 10 years old and there I was already thinking about becoming a teacher."

Outgoing and easy to talk to, Seelman gave a quick response when asked to describe herself.

"I love baseball, Tootsie Rolls, peanut butter and the beach," she said.

Construction on Earl Warren Elementary, the district's 15th elementary school, is moving along nicely, Passarella said. The campus is on target to open on time in August, he said.

The school, which will cost the district $31 million to build and furnish, is located off Rosetta Canyon Drive off Highway 74 at the northeast end of the district. Some students who live in what had previously been the boundaries for Elsinore, Tuscany Hills and Jean Hayman elementary schools will attend Earl Warren.

Projected enrollment for the school's first year is expected to be more than 380, Seelman said. Over the next several weeks, she said, she's going to be hiring the 16 teachers who will staff the campus.

Her plan, Seelman said, is to create a campus community that fosters collaboration and teamwork among the school's parents, administration and teachers.

In the end, she said, she just wants to make sure the "kiddos" come out fine.

"If I can do good for a child and that child becomes a good individual and does good in the world, I've done my job," Seelman said.

- Contact staff writer Jose Carvajal at (951) 676-4315, Ext. 2624, or jcarvajal@californian.com.