In the Spotlight

In the Spotlight: Congratulations to the latest winners of the Superintendent’s Spotlight Award

The results are in! Twelve employees were recently honored with a visit by Superintendent Dr. James Merrill to announce to them they were selected as this semester’s Spotlight Award winners. Congratulations to all!

As you know, Spotlight winners are the oftentimes “unsung heroes” of our schools and offices. Not only do they typically go “above and beyond” what their job description might be, but they do it unobtrusively and with humility simply because they see a need and fill it! We think you will agree that each and every Spotlight Award winner well deserves the honor. Please join us in congratulating our winners and take a minute to see why those nominating them felt compelled to do so.

Phyllis Andrews, LPN, Nurse Assistant, Brandon Middle School
Phyllis Andrews’ exceptional organizational skills and her attention to detail are strengths that allow her to accept almost any challenge involving Brandon Middle’s clinic. On numerous occasions she has taken on the task of training new school nurses while simultaneously overseeing the running of the clinic. This year, while in the midst of training several substitute nurses, she also assisted with the H1N1 vaccine program, as the school was preparing to vaccinate over 1,200 students. With her assistance in readying the school and community for this challenging task, the entire process was carried out flawlessly from beginning to end. Andrews continues to work closely with Brandon students, helping them not only in the clinic but outside as well. She regularly attends athletic events and is a mainstay at the school’s annual Step Team competition. “Phyllis Andrews serves as a model for all of us—students, parents, and staff.”

Emily Ashbury, Music Teacher, Arrowhead Elementary School
Emily Ashbury has improved Arrowhead's school climate and morale with her consistently cheerful outlook and positive attitude. She has been recognized several times for her contributions, with Teacher of the Year and Tagged by the Superintendent among her most recent honors. She is a member of Arrowhead’s first Professional Learning Community and makes contributions towards reaching Arrowhead’s goals. Her work through the music department far exceeds the job description; she dedicates time, talent and effort to make sure that every interested music student is able to contribute what he or she can to programs and extracurricular opportunities. Ashbury volunteered to participate in Arrowhead University and taught a group of “gawky pre-teens” such dances as the waltz! If a dancer needed extra help to master the steps, Emily gave up lunch. She also spent countless hours getting fifth graders prepared for the winter program, providing Saturday practices, lunchtime rehearsals, and hours of time after school making sure the music, costumes and sound system were just right. In a tough budget year, Emily found a way to make ball gowns out of white trash bags. She even found a way to convince teachers to dress up and parade across the stage as part of the 12 Days of Christmas and taught every one of nearly 500 students holiday tunes. Emily Ashbury does this not because it’s her job, but because it’s part of her mission to make Arrowhead a community where every student belongs and contributes.

Satorious Babb, Head Day Custodian, WT Cooke Elementary School
Satorious Babb “is generous of her time and talent which truly makes WT Cooke a better place for all.” Students love to be around her, and she makes them her number one priority. A positive and visible role model for students in the building, Babb is an active member of the Diversity Committee, working to expose students to various cultures as well as raise money for such worthy causes as sickle cell anemia and Operation Smile. She is willing to go the extra mile for her Cooke family. On rainy days, she chooses to stay beyond her normal hours to prepare for inclement weather dismissal plans. She sets up traffic cones in the cafeteria that specify the various buses so that students are organized according to their assigned bus. She then helps monitor the children, assisting them to their buses at the proper time. She will not leave until the last child has gotten on the bus. Babb also pitches in during special events, not waiting to be asked. For example, it is not unusual to find her overseeing the moonwalk at the Fall Festival. Her enthusiasm draws children to her as they silently dance backstage while waiting for their turn to perform at the PTA Variety Show. Satorious Babb is one of a kind and consistently strives to do her part to make Cooke Elementary the “Best at the Beach.”

Valerie Cason, Assistant Principal, Kempsville Meadows Elementary School
Valerie Cason is an extremely dedicated education professional whose first priority is the students. Her greatest strengths lies in her ability to connect with students, making them feel special by attending birthday parties, sports events and dance recitals. The students not only respect her but they also find her extremely approachable and know she is an adult in whom they can confide. Cason also enjoys working closely with parents and community partners. She is in charge of the school’s Parent Involvement Action Team and works on creative, “out of the box” projects to attract all parents but particularly those who have been underserved. She designed and implemented a new program, Club Discovery, where students have the opportunity to read, play board games, and enjoy other activities in a quiet atmosphere after they have eaten their lunch. They have opportunities to enhance their computer, math, and/or reading skills while having a fun educational experience outside of the classroom. Cason provides a very organized, calm, and positive environment during school testing. At the end of the school year, she coordinates a schoolwide Cultural Awareness Day, which affords teachers, students, and parents the opportunity to share facts about their culture with the school community. Cason always takes time to listen and heeds everyone’s input.

Sue Dyson, School Office Associate, Malibu Elementary School
Sue Dyson is always willing to help and has embraced many responsibilities at Malibu. In addition to her normal duties in the main office, she is also responsible for preparing the incentive awards for the monthly reading goals for each student as well as quarterly awards for the Principal’s List, Honor Roll List and BUG Roll list. She is also the backup for the school clinic and covers that area each day during lunch for the school nurse. Dyson administers medication and evaluates students who visit the clinic during this time. She has attended food service training and is certified to be a backup in the school’s Café. Along with all these duties, Dyson assists with many programs, including the PTA and SCA. She also assists the reading specialist. In addition to handling data input for staff time and attendance, Dyson works above and beyond in handling the duties of the SASI manager. She has learned to maintain daily student attendance, enroll students, withdraw students, and transfer students, contacting other schools in the district and out of state to ascertain that all documents necessary to enroll new students are in order. Along with enrolling students she has been responsible for scheduling new students in all classes. Sue Dyson accepts all of these additional responsibilities yet still continues to keep up with her normal duties.

Amy Ellison, First-Grade Teacher, Princess Anne Elementary School
Amy Ellison “is a teacher researcher and leader.” She facilitates the school’s SAM (Structure a Month) Club meetings and provides monthly staff development sessions that are purposeful for staff while at the same time supporting the developing needs of students. She obtained a grant for the school which was used to build a library of Cooperative Learning Tools for teachers. She has also led the K-3 staff in a book study of Daily 5. Her willingness to try out the well-researched practices highlighted in the book have resulted in a full launching of the Daily 5 practices in PA Elementary’s primary grades this school year. She is also a SOL tutor and a cooperating teacher for teachers in training as well as a former Reading Teacher of the Year and Teacher of the Year. Amy Ellison is a “go-to” person whose sound practice and approachable manner make her an outstanding teacher and colleague.

Jerome Green, Head Night Custodian, Princess Anne High School
Jerome Green “works diligently” to keep Princess Anne High School sparkling clean. He polishes the floors in the foyer regularly so that students, staff, and guests feel comfortable and welcome as they enter the building. He also leads by example, motivating his staff to work efficiently while maintaining high standards. Green is always pleasant and helpful and ready to lend a helping hand. He knows which events are coming up and checks to see what may be needed, always proactive, never forgetting to ask. In fact, he often volunteers to come to the school on weekends when someone needs help and he is always willing to put in extra hours—often on a volunteer basis so he in not “on the clock.” Jerome Green is truly a custodial guardian of the school. If a safety concern is brought to his attention, he takes care of it right away. He shows an interest in the activities at Princess Anne High School and offers constant support for students and staff involved with sports and the arts. He also supports fund-raising efforts for various programs throughout the school. Princess Anne is truly a better place with Jerome Green. He is a sharing and caring individual, an integral member of the PA “family.”

Deborah Jackson, Data Support Specialist, Windsor Woods Elementary School
Deborah Jackson possesses a wealth of computer knowledge that has helped ease teacher and administrator workloads at Windsor Woods. As a result, she is the “go to person” for teachers when they have Pinnacle questions or concerns. After the rollout of the new/updated Pinnacle in the 2009-2010 school year, Jackson began working on her now “famous” step-by-step directions for effectively managing Pinnacle. She even shared her directions with the VBEA in an effort to help others become more comfortable with the program’s new components. Jackson creates numerous documents for staff and students, ranging from “snazzy” certificates to recognize honor roll status, good citizenship, and perfect attendance to creating invitations sent home to parents for school events. She also uses her expertise to disaggregate SOL and Quarterly Test data for administration and teachers, producing precise graphs in a variety of formats and focusing on numerous demographics which allow teachers to effectively target areas for improvement. At the beginning of each year, Jackson removes old student data and imports new student information into EM Games, a VBCPS math program. This is a huge time saver for teachers and gets students working in EM Games both at school and home, reinforcing skills being taught in the classroom. Her knowledge of computers makes her a key person for troubleshooting numerous problems.

George MacKay, Principal, Bettie F. Williams Elementary School
George MacKay is a principal who not only believes in Professional Learning Communities but one whose leadership style encourages professional growth via numerous venues. He encourages all interested teachers to participate in learning walks at other schools and has certainly been the driving force in raising social studies scores which allowed Bettie F. Williams Elementary to meet AYP standards this year. MacKay’s use of PLCs, his willingness to seek assistance from the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, his work to increase teacher and staff motivation, as well as his leadership style were all effective techniques in focusing staff and students on success. In addition, MacKay seeks teachers’ input in designing classroom lessons and school-wide programs that are of personal interest to the teachers and staff as, for example, with the POWER program, Obama Awards, librarian’s Book Club, to name a few. He also keeps an open-door policy that provides timely opportunities for discussions with teachers and staff and shows regular support for after-school programs and activities by attending the events. George MacKay provides opportunities for teachers to use and improve their own leadership skills by giving them additional duties and responsibilities as needed or requested. His kind and caring manner is obvious to all.

Lee Ann Murray, Office Associate, Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Lee Ann Murray is the “go to” person in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, especially when it comes to managing the department’s efforts to contribute to the “Beach Bag” program. You may recall that this is an effort to assist students at several Title I schools with donations of food for themselves and their families to use during the weekend. The program was spearheaded last fall by the Office of Community Relations with a request to staff members at the Central Administration Building to donate specific non-perishable food that would be packed in “beach bags” for students who needed a helping hand. Of course the program has grown exponentially, especially in C&I. In large part that is due to the skills of Murray who quickly volunteered to coordinate C&I’s donations. During her lunch hour, breaks, and after work, she can be found busily putting together bags. She updates the office weekly about the supplies she needs to ensure that bags continue to flow from the third floor. She volunteers to collect money and go shopping for other staff members. To date, she has put together 498 bags of food for the children of our school division on behalf of the Offices of Elementary and Secondary Instructional Services. Her selfless dedication to C&I and to the children of Virginia Beach has clearly qualified her for this distinction of receiving the Superintendent’s Spotlight Award.

Linda Riley, K-5 Special Education Teacher, Birdneck Elementary School
Linda Riley has worked at Birdneck Elementary for 16 years. “She has been involved in many school activities throughout her tenure and is recognized as an inspirational teacher and colleague.” Not only does she hold many IEP meetings for her own students, but she also assists other teachers by sitting in on their IEP meetings. She is very supportive of parents, always willing to give them a helping hand regarding their child’s IEP. Truly she gives 100 percent to each child, making a personal connection with her students, often keeping in touch with them as they transition to middle school. Riley also started the “Green Team,” a schoolwide recycling initiative. Each classroom fills its recycling bins throughout the week, and on Friday, Riley’s special education students collect the recycled materials, taking great pride in their responsibility. The net effect has been to cut down on wasted paper in addition to boosting the students’ self esteem. Riley has also taken on the job of box-top and Campbell soup label collector. This is a huge undertaking but she has even turned this job into a learning opportunity for her students by having them assist in counting out labels and box tops to be turned in for cash, a real life math application. Linda Riley is a phenomenal teacher and leader.

Mary Shaw R.N., Coordinator-Health Services, Renaissance Academy
Mary Shaw has done an “outstanding, professional job as School Health Services Coordinator.” Although she faced many challenges with the H1N1 Pandemic Flu initiative, she provided strong proactive leadership. From the beginning of this pandemic, she distributed educational materials and provided ongoing guidance and support for the school nurses. She also took on the daunting job of planning H1N1 vaccine clinics throughout the entire school district. She coordinated with the Virginia Beach Public Health Department, school administration, and school nurses, organizing three teams of Health Department nurses, resource nurses, and clinic assistants to accomplish the task. As a result, 56 elementary schools conducted H1N1 vaccine clinics and a total of 16,297 students and 2,877 staff were vaccinated. Thanks to her hard work, VBCPS is the largest school division in the state to successfully conduct an in-school vaccination program. In addition to her work with the H1N1 program, Shaw continues to provide ongoing support, guidance, and leadership to 90 school nurses and 39 clinic assistants. She stays connected with school nurse professional organizations and other coordinators around the state to keep Virginia Beach school nurses on the cutting edge of their profession. At the same time, she continues her own professional development, attending college at night to advance her nursing degree to a master’s level.

Remember... Any employee can nominate someone for this prestigious award. Nominations, however, should focus on staff members who:

Consistently exceed expectations;
Contribute in an exemplary manner;
Significantly improve processes or quality of life;
Make exceptional contributions to their office/department, school,
or division as a whole; and
Assume leadership roles that have benefited others.

Click on this link for easy access to a nomination form.