Natomas Unified Trustees and Supt. Chris Evans honored District Classified Employee of the Year CJ Moua and division winners Sherry Duschka, Willie Jennings, David Scheuermann, April Glaves and Craigan Stribble at a public Board meeting Wednesday, Feb. 10. Here is how Assistant Supt. Doug Orr introduced the honorees:
Doug: The Board of Trustees is proud to recognize the Classified Employees of the Year and the 2016 District Classified Employee of the Year. As you may know, our Board of Trustees and District is committed to ensuring that each of our staff members be committed, collaborative, caring and exemplary. We ask that staff demonstrate caring through responsive and quality customer service. Each of our Classified Employees of the Year share our commitments and have contributed to the growth and success of Natomas Unified and I am honored to formally introduce each of them.
This evening I will introduce each employee who will then be presented with a plaque from the Board of Trustees. At the end, there will be an opportunity for a group photo with the Board of Trustees and we will break for a reception. At this time, I would like to invite Celeste Garden, CSEA Vice President, to join me in honoring these employees. Celeste is representing CSEA this evening as President Talitha Blizzeard was unable to attend.
1. Sherry Duschka is the Classified Employee of the Year of Office and Technical. Ms. Duschka is a Accounting and Budget Analyst in the Education Center who has worked for the district since 1995. Ms. Duschka is described as an exemplary employee who has helped financial services continually fulfill our district’s commitment to provide exemplary support to our sites. Ms. Duschka thinks outside the box, has great work ethics and is always looking for ways to quickly pull data from our financial system to simplify budgeting. She continuously provides training to sites and departments using auditory, visual and hands-on-training and is a conduit to providing the support needed to minimize potential negative impacts toward our most valued customer – our students. Congratulations Ms. Duschka.
2.Willie Jennings is Classified Employee of the Year of Para-Educator and Instructional Assistance. Mr. Jennings is an Instructional Assistant at Natomas High School who has worked for the district since 1994. Mr. Jennings is described as being committed, caring and hard working. As an Adult Transition Para-Educator, Mr. Jennings has volunteered his time to assist his students during evening Adult Transition dances, cooking with students at graduation functions, and joining his students during Christmas vacation to give gifts to special needs students. Mr. Jennings volunteered his time after school and during the summer to open Joey’s Food Locker last October and his efforts to build shelves and stock food with his students has made Joey’s Food Locker a huge success for the entire community. Congratulations Mr. Jennings.
3.David Scheuermann is also Classified Employee of the Year of Para-Educator and Instructional Assistance. Mr. Scheuermann is an Instructional Assistant at Leroy Greene Academy who has worked for the district since 2008. Mr. Scheuermann is described as encouraging and caring with expectations that all students can succeed. Daily, Mr. Scheuermann collaborates with the geometry teacher to review upcoming assignments and to discuss how to best support students with IEPs. When providing support in the general education, he is mindful of supporting the implementation of students’ academic and testing accommodation, while taking notes to be shared with students, repeating directions, rephrasing instruction and roaming the classroom to remind students to follow along and answering questions that come up. Middle school and high school students are not always comfortable acknowledging that they need help, but with Mr. Scheuermann they know that they will receive support and also be respected. Congratulations Mr. Scheuermann.
4.April Glaves is Classified Employee of the Year of Child Nutrition. Ms. Glaves is a Food Services Assistant at Heron School who has worked for the district since 2008. Ms. Glaves is described as always having a smile on her face. Each student who walks into the cafeteria knows they will always be greeted by “Miss April” and given that little extra love and attention when they need it. Ms. Glaves arrives early each morning, and by the time the first students arrive for breakfast, she has everything neatly organized and ready to go to contribute to our students’ success by nourishing them with healthy food and encouraging them to do their best each day. Ms. Glaves is extremely proud of her work and the positive impact she knows she is having on kids, which extends to families as well. At Back to School Night and Open House, and other events, Ms. Glaves always likes to have the salad bar out along with nutritional information so our parents can see the fresh and healthy food that is served in our cafeteria. Congratulations Ms. Glaves.
5.Craigan Stribble is Classified Employee of the Year of Maintenance, Operations and Facilities. Mr. Stribble is the District’s Warehouse Specialist who has worked for the district since 2014. Mr. Stribble is the face of the district warehouse and is described as an employee who goes above and beyond. The warehouse has recently transitioned to a service-orientated department which provides support to school sites, the Education Center and the Service Center. Mr. Stribble prides himself in providing quality customer service and he continuously participates in gathering information and offering solutions to improve our service. Recently, Mr. Stribble put a plan in place to get all the textbooks and materials out to sites prior to the break. His collaboration with the School Leadership and Support Department was essential to achieving this goal. Through his work, Mr. Stribble always keeps the districts vision that all NUSD students graduate as college and career ready, productive, responsible, and engaged citizens in mind when faced with challenges. Congratulations Mr. Stribble.
6.I am extremely proud to introduce CJ Moua as our District Classified Employee of the Year. Mr. Moua is an Information Technology Specialist III at the Education Center who has worked for the district since 2014. Mr. Moua is described as an efficient and competent employee who provides excellent customer service with a smile and a friendly, approachable attitude that makes people feel comfortable. Every day he comes into work with the intent to serve and accomplish the jobs assigned to him. He is relentless in pursuing answers and he follows up to make sure what he did accomplished what was needed. Mr. Moua has a high level of technical skills and ability and quickly finds solutions and then follows up to ensure that the solutions worked. His vast knowledge base can usually figure out a way to accomplish what is needed, in fact, if what you want isn’t possible, he gives you alternatives so that the job can get done. When new employees start he is often the first touch with the technology department and his positive attitude and willingness to make things go as smoothly as possible is always appreciated. Congratulations Mr. Moua.
Congratulations again to all of our Classified Employees of the Year!
