Sent: January 20, 2022
January Outstanding employees
This month’s honorees include an educational assistant, a family liaison, a registrar and an elementary school principal.
Congratulations to the January honorees:
- Doris Baldwin, kindergarten teacher at San Antonito STEM Magnet Elementary School
- Valerie Hazelbaker, Family Connection at Chaparral Elementary School
- Helena Livingston, Chancellor of eCademy High School
- Leith Page, Principal of Monte Vista Elementary School
Award winners will be featured on APS electronic billboards around the city and recognized by the APS Board of Education, and will receive a lasting reminder of the honor.
Find out more about the winners in January
Doris Baldwin, kindergarten teacher at San Antonito STEM Magnet Elementary School
Doris has been working in San Antonito, where she also went to school, for 36 years. She goes above and beyond by greeting every child by name in the morning, regardless of their grade level; by decorating staff doors for their National Appreciation Day (ie Administrator’s and Director’s Days); by learning the grade level syllabus so that she can better immerse herself in the content; and by facilitating morning meetings and adding Spanish classes every day (she is fluent in Spanish). “I can’t think of anything she hasn’t done for the school and her students,” said colleague Diana Pandolfo.
Doris is active in the community, where she often sees the students and their families. They are happy to see her and Doris continues to build relationships with them. She keeps in touch with former families and students and receives invitations to her high school and college graduations and other celebrations. This year she is teaching the grandchildren of some of her former students.
Valerie Hazelbaker, Family Connection at Chaparral Elementary School
Val is a bright spot and one of the nicest people on campus. She is always positive and does whatever it takes to serve our families and our campus as a whole. Val raised over $1,000 to benefit the Chaparral community. This has enabled her to provide food, clothing and other basic household needs to over 40 families weekly. She is not only the family link but also the children’s cook. She is professionally trained as a chef and shares her love of cooking with students. Through Kids Cook, she helps students discover new foods, teaches them basic cooking skills and offers families the opportunity to prepare meals together.
Val is also a member of our Attendance Team, Issues Team, Sunshine Committee and PTA. She has constantly reinforced to help in the ministry and with any other required duties.
“Val goes out of his way to make sure every person, big or small, that comes into contact with them feels heard, seen and special,” said Chaparral Assistant Principal Michelle Tudor. “As front office workers, we appreciate all of her hard work and the niceties of her job, but we want EVERYONE in town to know how amazing she is. We call her our unicorn because she is just SO awesome!”
Helena Livingston, Chancellor of eCademy High School
eCademy accepted more than 400 new students this year, mostly due to COVID, and many of those students were from outside the APS. Helena worked tirelessly and diligently to request the records of these new students and enter their transcripts into Synergy. As many of these new students were seniors, it was imperative that records were accurate, properly entered and timely so that students could be properly placed in the correct and needed classes.
During last year’s summer school, eCademy had over 15,000 enrollments and Helena was instrumental in helping students from across the APS and beyond.
Helena has been with eCademy longer than almost anyone else at the school. She has dedicated her career to the school and has been an important part of its mission to help students graduate. Often a more vulnerable and transient population of students, there is a tremendous amount of record keeping and data entry. During the pandemic, eCademy enrollments have been at an all-time high.
“I can only imagine how many students have graduated from high school who might not have made it otherwise because of Helena’s commitment to tracing records, researching course completion and descriptions, and entering documentation,” said Counselor Lynn Ramsey. “She is a silent hero who never complains and always strives to act ethically and in the students’ best interests.”
Leith Page, Principal of Monte Vista Elementary School
Leith does everything for our school. The school doesn’t have a janitor, so she cleans the school—including sweeping the cafeteria and emptying the trash cans after lunch. She also does a lot of break-time duties because there’s no one else to do them.
“This amazing person works so hard and stays longer every day to make sure everything is done,” said teacher Lisa Troxel. “She stands out because she puts school ahead of her own health and safety. She doesn’t ask for help because she thinks the teachers are already overwhelmed.”
How to nominate an employee
You can nominate an employee by completing an online application. The nomination must be made by someone other than the nominee (ie no self-nominations will be accepted).
Award recipients are selected monthly by a peer praise task force.
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