Everyday Heroes is a regular feature in this staff blog. Remember to submit 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 is our newest honoree:

Everyday Hero
Melissa Wood, ELL Teacher, Marshall, Reeves, Washington and Jefferson middle schools

Melissa Wood:

• Supports teachers (in multiple schools) with communication days or weeks ahead of time for individual kids. This is a lot of work!
• Supports kiddos with communication via Zoom, phone calls, and most of all prep, prep, prep. Students know what’s up, what’s coming, and know that other teachers know.  
• Supports kiddos with advanced communication regarding IEPs, even case managers before they get to it! 
• What you see is what you get. Ms. Wood is calm and collected and kind and comforting because she is calm and collected and kind and comforting. Her presence creates a safe space for collaboration with professionals and for learning with kiddos. What a gift.
• She is as humble as they come. No horns to toot and no judgments provided. She is a person who makes the world a better place to work within and is a pleasure to work with. 
• She makes a difference.
  Submitted by Michael Kelly, Teacher, Marshall Middle School

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.