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 are our newest honorees:

Everyday Heroes
Garfield Elementary School Nursing Staff – Joy Fulling, Tiffany Kulseth and Jennifer Orozco

We would like to nominate the nursing staff at Garfield Elementary School (nurse Joy, nurse Jen and health room assistant Tiffany) as they are our fabulous everyday HEROES. They make a great health room team and communicate well with us in the front office.  They greet each kiddo with kindness and empathy. They take the time to find out the source of the kiddo’s need. It can be providing a kiddo with a safe place, water/snack, a moment to rest, ice pack or a bandaid. They are kind and patient when dealing with families. They go the extra mile with families to provide other resources when needed. They have been known to help and treat staff who have become ill and/or injured on the job. They even stepped in to help cover the office when no subs were available. Garfield is so lucky to have them!!!
Submitted by GES staffers Kate O’Donnell and Michell Orwig

Everyday Hero
Melinda “Mindy” Swedberg – Physical Education Teacher, McKenny Elementary School

With the help of a grant and bike donations, Mrs. Swedberg has instituted a Traffic Garden at McKenny Elementary School this year. The “Garden” helps teach bicycle awareness, safety and encourages the lifelong fitness skill of riding a bike. She received bike donations from the community and then instituted bicycle programming into her curriculum.

Mindy, I am so grateful for your heart for fitness and teaching/exposing the students at McKenny to bicycle safety. I am particularly thankful for the way you recognize students who need a little extra encouragement and attention to take hard and scary steps toward learning to ride a bike, as well as other physical education and fitness skills. These accomplishments are something to be celebrated and I am proud to work with you. Thank you for giving your all in everything you do and really connecting to your students. You Rock!
Submitted by Marnie Prandi, OSD Physical Therapist

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.