Last week we introduced a new “Everyday Heroes’ feature in this weekly staff blog. We invited all employees districtwide to let us know about a colleague in any school or department who has done something deserving of encouragement and praise.

Take a moment and read about the first three employees we are proud to have on the OSD team. Then send us your own quick write-up of how one of your colleagues made a difference in the life of a student, parent, volunteer, fellow staff member, or community member.

Kudos to these Everyday Heroes:

Everyday Hero Roxanne Bogart
Administrative Assistant, Boston Harbor Elementary School
“Roxanne Bogart, Heart of Our School … I hope you know how much everyone at BHES appreciates your ready smile, impressive patience, lightning-quick multi-tasking skills and the way you make each of us — from student to staff member to parent — feel like we belong here.

The other day I watched you wipe down a table in the office for one of our kiddos who needed a rest.  The child has an allergy and when she asked why you were cleaning the table you said, with a smile, that you just wanted to know it was all clean for her because sometimes people eat snacks there.  You are always thinking about everyone’s needs, two steps ahead of everyone else.  You set the tone for a welcoming community and we ALL appreciate your kindness and skills so much.  Thank you, Ms. Bogart!”
Submitted by: Elizabeth Wilson

Everyday Hero Lisa Estcourt
Reading Specialist, Madison Elementary School
“Thank you for pouring love into all you do at Madison. You’ve been the best mentor anyone could ever ask for.”
Submitted by: Rebecca Poppe

Everyday Hero Jill Johnson
ELL Teacher, Capital High School
“Jill, you fill so many roles for our ELL students — teacher, advocate, translator, mentor, role model. They are especially lucky when you go the extra step and recognize that families may not be able to follow through on advice from, say, the school nurse, because of the language barrier and lack of transportation, or maybe from non-traditional work hours. When you went to the store for one of our students last week who otherwise wouldn’t have been able to get the gloves they needed for their cleaning job, it was such a testament to your huge heart. They are so lucky!”
Submitted by: Kelli Samson

Now send us your own Everyday Hero!

The process is simple:

• Email the Communications and Community Relations Department (communications@osd.wednet.edu) a few sentences, and no more than 200 words, about why the person deserves recognition. It’s easiest to write as if speaking directly to the colleague, such as “Thank you for helping with…” or “I really appreciated when you…”
• Write Everyday Heroes in the subject heading of the email.
• Include your first and last name as the person submitting the comments.
• Include the first and last name of the OSD employee you are recognizing.
• Include the job title and work location (school or department) of the person you are recognizing.

All submissions will be posted in this blog and archived each week.

We can’t wait to hear about all of our Everyday Heroes, because we know that every day our bus drivers, child nutrition staff, custodial employees, teachers, paraeducators, school and district office staff, and others are doing amazing work on behalf of students.