April 2015 Staff Above & Beyond

These Early Childhood staff were nominated for the April Above & Beyond awards by their co-workers.  Winners of the drawing were Sandra Alonso and Pat Pack.  Congratulations, and good work, all of you!

Sandra Alonso - I can call on Sandra any time to help make emergency Spanish phone calls, even though she has her own teaching duties for another classroom.  She is always willing and gracious to help me out.  Thanks Sandra for going above and beyond!

Brenda Collins - Great help with transportation paperwork!

Brenda Ely and Pat Pack - Brenda and Pat have gone the extra mile to secure housing and items for the home for a homeless single mother of a Head Start child.  The parent has older children that were going to be displaced and forced to change schools due to their living situation.   Brenda researched and found a little known federal act that requires a school district to accommodate and even provide transportation for a child that loses their home but is now staying out of the district.  The oldest is a senior in high school.  If it was not for their dedication and extra effort, this child would have had to change schools in the middle of her senior year.  Pat and Brenda worked overtime with local school districts, kept the children in their preferred school, secured district transportation and even found donated beds for the family.  Pat has been coaching the mother who is involved with Workforce One, she now has marketable skills and is employable.  So we now have a working single mother, not a homeless one.  We have homeless children now in a home, with their own beds and in the same school with their same friends.  God bless these two ladies for what they have done for this mother and her children.

Teresa Fellinger - While in a slight panic about having to call people to come in to read to my classroom, Teresa stepped in and offered her assistance!  She gave me the contact information for several people who agreed to come and read for Every Word Counts week.  I couldn't have done it without her help!  Her kindness and willingness to help out anyone in need make her an extraordinary member of our team at Child Focus!

Alanna Hochberg - Alanna is our class interpreter for the Spanish-speaking parents.  She sits in on parent-teacher conferences and those with the Help Me Grow  therapists.  She goes to doctor and dentist appointments and makes numerous calls for parents to aid communication.  She translates books for our child and prints the type for take home reading.  Alanna spends a lot of her own time going above and beyond.

Dawn Howard - In addition to creating In-kind forms aligned with Birth to 36 month Learning Games, she has created In-kind forms for 36-48 month Learning Games.  Her commitment to encourage and support parents enrolled in the Early Head Start Home Base program is commendable.

Autumn Kelch - It never fails that something big happens when the Lead Teacher is away, but Autumn always handles these occurrences like a true leader.  She is able to ensure that the classroom continues to run smoothly and things are done properly while I am away.  Even if our GIANT new bookshelf arrives and needs assembled and the room rearranged, Autumn had it handled and under control!  I always appreciate her hard work!

Buffy Parker and Kacie Smith - Best washer and dryer combo made out of cardboard boxes for their dramatic play area - very creative!

Bob Potts - Point person for the spot bus inspections!

Ruth Shields - Ruth comes in from time to time to assist with the babies in my room.  She is a cheerful face, that the babies and I trust and enjoy having around.  It's a nice little treat in the middle of meals or just when we are playing, and of course when they  are all wanting attention.  I know she enjoys holding the babies....but it is quite helpful to us, and I believe she deserves the above and beyond award for that!

Sandy Stewart and Carrie Valenzuela - They actively participated in the Health Care Initiative Project we presented to staff this program year, with each of them having 5 families that attended our introduction meeting and taking monthly surveys regarding the health of their family.  We had asked all Family Advocates and Home visitors to encourage 5 families to participate and these two were able to meet this request.  With Sandy's families all located in the most southeastern parts of the county, it was a hard task to get families to drive such a long distance to participate but Sandy was able to make this happen.  Because Carrie has bilingual families, she was able to present the information to her Spanish speaking families.  We appreciate all the hard work Carrie and Sandy put into keeping their families healthy!