Newsroom
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
Kenneth M. Young
Congratulates Desert Sands Employee named as one of
California’s Classified School Employees of the Year
Riverside County Superintendent of Schools Kenneth M. Young today (May 1, 2008) congratulated Laura (Lori) L. Klingensmith from the Desert Sands Unified School District who has been named a California Classified Employee of the Year.
Klingensmith is an Administrative Assistant at Andrew Jackson Elementary School in Indio.
“Lori represents the 17,000 classified school employees in Riverside County who do exemplary work in support of students and their achievement,” Young said. “We salute her for this great honor to now represent the many fine school employees statewide.”
State Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell on Wednesday named a total of six outstanding school employees as California’s 2008 Classified School Employees of the Year, the inaugural year of the recognition program. Klingensmith was nominated in the Office and Technical Services division.
"California's 285,501 classified school employees perform important functions that are critical to our schools’ and students’ success. These employees are truly essential. We cannot operate our schools without them,” said O’Connell.
“The Classified School Employees of the Year award was established to acknowledge and honor the significant contributions made by these talented and dedicated school staff members,” he said. “I’m pleased that our state’s classified school employees are receiving the recognition they so greatly deserve”
The other 2008 Classified School Employees of the Year are, by order of classified staff category:
Child Nutrition: Anna Julian, Food Service Lead Cook, Stacey Nutrition Center, Huntington Beach, Westminster School District, Orange County.
Maintenance and Operations: Cheryl Spurgin, Lead Custodian, Wildwood Elementary School, Yucaipa, Yucaipa-Calimesa Joint Unified School District, San Bernardino County.
Transportation: Edward (Eddie) Cooper, Vehicle Maintenance Coordinator, Fullerton School District, Fullerton, Orange County.
Paraeducator: Maria (Rosa) Thompson, Resident Care Attendant-English as a Second Language program, Barnard-White Middle School, Union City, New Haven Unified School District, Alameda County.
Support Services and Security: Joanne E. Gaylor, Student Services Assistant, Bernard L. Hughes Elementary School, Modesto, Empire Union School District, Stanislaus County.
Eighty-one applicants competed from 25 counties, including: Alameda, Butte, Calaveras, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Lake, Marin, Merced, Modoc, Napa, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Joaquin, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Shasta, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare and Yolo.
Each of the winners underwent a local and state review process. At the state level, applications were reviewed by a team of job category experts, including at least one member representing local educational agency administration, one member representing employee job-alike groups, and one member provided by the California Department of Education who reviewed the candidates on the basis of at least five years of service in their nomination category.
Candidate evaluation was organized around four themes: work performance, school/community involvement, leadership and commitment, and service above and beyond.
O’Connell will formally honor the six award recipients on May 19 at a gala recognition luncheon he is hosting in Sacramento. The luncheon coincides with California’s observation of the Classified School Employee Week, May 18-24.
The California Classified School Employees of the Year Award is sponsored by the California Department of Education in partnership with the California School Employees Association, Service Employees International Union, California Teachers Association, California Federation of Teachers, Association of California School Administrators, and business and industry organizations.
For information contact:
Rick Peoples,
Public Information Officer
Telephone: (951) 826-6642
Fax: (951) 826-6199
rpeoples@rcoe.us
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