Thank you to everyone who sent in names this past week recognizing Everyday Heroes in their schools and support buildings. We received five outstanding recognitions, which is a record for one week since the Communications and Community Relations department launched this feature several years ago in the staff blog.

Remember to submit the names of employees districtwide who have done something deserving of encouragement and praise. Give a shout-out to one of your colleagues at your school or support building and watch for it to appear in an upcoming Everyday Heroes blog post.

Here are our newest honorees:

Everyday Hero
Scott Boe, Paraeducator, Hansen ES
I really appreciate that you jumped right in to help out your first grade colleagues in September. With very little notice, you took on distance learning like a pro. You handled setting up and figuring out a Schoology classroom and learning the ways of Zoom meetings, while organizing and handing out supplies and preparing to teach eager first graders, with grace and calm. I appreciate that you have always been willing to help out at Hansen. We have always counted on you to be there when we needed an emergency substitute or a steady presence for an emotional student. We have always counted on you to be there supporting our students in small groups or out on the playground refereeing kickball games. Your positive attitude, concern for others, and kind words make me thankful that I work at Hansen. Thank you. You are an Everyday Hero.
Submitted by Cynthia Johnson, first-grade teacher, Hansen ES

Everyday Hero
Bob O’Donnell, TOSA, Instructional Technology Knox 111 Administrative Center
As an Instructional Technology TOSA, Bob has been instrumental in supporting our staff as they provide remote instruction to students. This week Bob took an hour to help a Mom who is new to Garfield, with 3 kids, learn how to navigate Schoology and support her kids. The teacher in Bob came out. He was thoughtful, patient and demonstrated all of those experiences important to  learning (at any age) – observe, practice and apply with support. In short time she was working all 3 Schoology pages. It was a great thing to witness. Thanks Bob!
Submitted by Brendon Chertok, Principal, Garfield ES

Everyday Hero
Kathy Cognasso, Athletic Secretary, Capital HS
Recently Kathy (Cognasso) sent out an email to the staff asking for their bitmoji. In keeping with the Open House theme this year, Kathy has created an AWESOME staff photo. It has really put a smile on our staff’s faces.
Submitted by Stacy Sharp, School Fiscal Officer, Capital HS

Everyday Hero
Olympia HS Administration Team
I would like to nominate the entire OHS Administration team of Matt Grant, Andra Kelley-Batstone, Jake Tyrrell, and Lindsay Welsh!  They have worked tirelessly all summer long getting ready for our faculty and students to return to school, either in the building or virtually.  They are always happy to help, are supportive, encouraging, and dedicated to the education of all students. Thank you, Admin Team!  You are simply the best!
Submitted by Wendy Rae, Administrative Assistant to the Principal, Olympia HS

Everyday Hero
Cassie White, Teacher/Librarian, Marshall MS
(Note: Cassie White received two nominations from Marshall MS)

Cassie, we really appreciate how you constantly go above and beyond as our Teacher/Librarian at Marshall. (Are you even human?!) We appreciate your commitment to ALL of our students inspiring literacy, digital citizenship, critical thinking, and being upstanders in our community and the larger world. We appreciate your ability to always see other approaches to solving problems. We appreciate you voicing the needs of marginalized and underrepresented populations. We appreciate your sense of humor as you so graciously put all of our tech issues at the forefront. We appreciate that you make it all look so easy (like a rock star!), while sweating it out in the trenches right along with us. We appreciate your sense of humor and dedication to making our school and world a better place to be. Cassie, we appreciate you everyday, although you may only hear: “Cassie, can you fix this!”  Thank you!
Submitted by Eric Durban on behalf of Marshall MS staff

Cassie deserves a huge shoutout for everything she did to ensure a smooth start to the school year for all our students and teachers. Cassie spent days upon days prior to our materials pickup days finding, issuing, naming, and putting into student piles all the books that us teachers wanted the students to have for distance learning. With the possibility of distance learning for the entire first semester, this was not a small job! Cassie then fielded many technology calls and emails from students, families, and teachers to ensure we were all able to connect. I know myself and my fellow coworkers all appreciate Cassie’s knowledge, her enthusiasm, her positive attitude, her smile, and her hard work. You make our jobs so much easier to do. Thank you for all you did and do on a daily basis.
Submitted by Jo Nilsen Badami, Teacher and Testing Coordinator, Marshall MS

How to nominate an Everyday Hero

• 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 on a weekly basis and archived each week.