COMMITMENT - Alyssa EberleSite Coordinator - Issaquah Valley Elementary
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Alyssa is a truly committed team member of the BASC program who adds value in more ways than one. She is the person who consistently shows dedication to the mission of the program and has certainly jumped in on numerous occasions without being asked. Alyssa is truly committed, not only to her work with peers but most importantly to our school community.
In early October, leadership met with our site team about a plan to support a student who has had challenges since joining our club. This student has dealt with numerous personal issues that have impacted their ability to make positive connections in and out of school time. One of the plans to support this student was to have a team member meet them in the parking lot at 7:00 am to assist with the new transition plan we had in place. Alyssa didn't hesitate and volunteered to be the one to work with the child and come in early every day. Since Alyssa has been working with this student, their behavior has improved dramatically. Not only has the child been in a better mood coming in - so has the child's parent. Alyssa has worked hard to build a trusting relationship with this child, as she believes that a positive adult-child relationship built on trust, understanding, and caring will foster a child’s cooperation and motivation, and increase positive outcomes at school and at home. Alyssa makes a positive impact on those around her. She has taken time to use coaching as a strategy for our team to develop their skills and improve the quality of their interactions with all children. Alyssa continues stress the importance of building positive relationships. She genuinely feels that getting to know the kids helps you better connect with them, and after these connections are made, kids will recognize that you value them as individuals. This authentic relationship will shape their behavior and your reactions, which in turn will help the team manage the child's behaviors. I have had the pleasure to work with Alyssa for a long time. Throughout the years, I have observed her with the kids we serve. She is truly invested in building relationships; not only with the toughest students, but all students that she interacts with. I want to express my appreciation for Alyssa's excellent work and care for the children we serve. The difference she is making in their lives is immeasurable. |
HUMILITY - Leslie Puthoff
After finding herself in a terrifying and humbling situation all of us hope we never have to experience, Leslie, wasted no time, quickly putting the wheels in motion to save a child who had been exposed to their life threatening allergen. Leslie made the right call, without even a second of hesitation. Leslie is one of the very few who have been tested, actually experiencing the thing we all assume we know about ourselves and passed through. Leslie is my nomination for humility as she has demonstrated it in one of the most critical events we can experience in this profession.
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Assistant Site Coordinator - Creekside Elementary
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INTEGRITY - Rica Antonio
Site Coordinator - Sunny Hills Elementary
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Rica's integrity stems from her absolute dedication to improving the well-being of every person she meets, without a hint of self-interest. Rica has an upfront honesty, grounded in compassion for others, and when combined with her aptitude for empathetic understanding, she is able to demonstrate great feats of integrity.
When you are working on a team – at work, at play, or anywhere else – you are bound to encounter friction at one point or another, especially in long-term teams. When these issues arise, Rica is the kind of person you want within that team. With no ulterior motivation of her own, simply a goal to meet the needs of each team member, and achieve the team’s shared goal, Rica will invest in everyone equally, offering them support, sharing understanding, and making productive compromises. With students, Rica has worked with some of the most difficult behavioral challenges I have ever witnessed, and while these commitments are tiring, frustrating, and sometimes demoralizing, Rica will always prioritize the student and their development. Rica works hands-on with the students to help them understand their peers, their world around them, and the expectations of the program- all while developing her own team members to follow the example. Like many successful people of integrity, a lot of the credit is often lost for them, as their greatest achievements are often intangible and indirectly related to their contribution. In my observations as Rica's supervisor, I can see that her integrity has promoted our regional team and her site team to being more understanding and supportive, contributing to her site team's overall enjoyment of the profession, and brought so many students a greater sense of happiness and inclusion. |
LEADERSHIP - Mike Novak
Mike has really stepped into the Leadership role this year by demonstrating Servant Leadership skills. He leads by example and has earned the respect of the kids and our team by continually evaluating himself and determining how he can improve relationships.
Mike takes action! This is his 3rd year on our school's Site Council. When he sees a need, be it in our program or the school, he seeks out an answer. Mike noticed that our kids and team were struggling with how to use supplies and clean up appropriately - so he developed a plan to teach them skills to achieve this area of concern. Mike had concerns about after school sports teams using the building for the restroom, and contacted the principal to have a porta-potty brought in to keep our school and kids safe after hours. Mike loves to lead activities! He puts a lot of thought into his Activity Plans and then gets the kids excited to participate. Mike uses humor and asks many open ended questions to keep the kids interested. Mike approaches his job with enthusiasm and genuine concern for our team members and students. Mike also strives to improve his leadership abilities by attending extra trainings provided by the BASC program. Mike is a funny person and uses humor to interact with the kids and his peers. Mike is full of energy and uses that to be actively engaged with everyone. Mike is kind, caring, and professional - he is a wonderful part of our team. |
Assistant Site Coordinator - Challenger Elementary
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DEVELOPMENT - Leandra Ruedi
Site Coordinator - Skyline Preschool Academy
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Leandra has not only shown a great deal of growth herself, but has championed both those who work with her, and her student’s development as well. Leandra spent several years learning and shadowing her mentor to prepare herself to one day take on the lead role. She made that transition this year and has done an outstanding job thus far. Leandra's transition was seamless, and much of this should be attributed to the diligent effort she put in to learn how to lead a site, and the time she invested into infusing her own strengths into constructing a teaching and classroom management style.
Leandra stepped into her new role after two years of working towards it. She was confident and knowledgeable, but continued to ask for guidance in areas she had not yet encountered to ensure she was providing the best experience possible for her students. Leandra's desire to develop the right skills did not stop once she achieved the lead role, as she continually develops new classroom strategies, curriculum and so forth. Additionally, Leandra encountered THREE unique and challenging situations in her classroom this year that had not been experienced in our program before. Leandra put in so much effort to help each of these unique situations find success and tried numerous strategies to see what would work best. In particular, with one student she was able to come to a resolution that has provided the student with great success. Parents mentioned in a meeting that they attribute their student’s social development (in and out of the classroom) directly to Leandra's work with their child in the past three months. What a HUGE compliment! Leandra is extremely positive and upbeat, always has a smile on her face, and is willing to do whatever is necessary to help her students! She has an infectious, positive energy that encourages those around her to "up their game". Leandra's commitment to development can be seen in herself, in the way she runs her site, and as acknowledged by several of her parents. Way to go! |