April Uffens, Thurston Elementary

April Uffens epitomizes the heart of a volunteer. If something needs to be done, she gets it done. If something needs to be organized or created, she does that too. She is truly a gift to the Thurston Elementary community.

One of the character traits that we teach weekly at Thurston Elementary, is Empathy. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti, April put together a fund drive. Students could pay fifty cents each day for a week for the privilege of wearing a hat in the school. At Thurston Elementary, students are not usually allowed to wear hats inside the building. Staff, students and parents raised $683.09 for Haiti. A check was presented to the Red Cross to be used for Haitian relief. Our students were able to see empathy in action. It was a great learning and life experience for our whole school.

Taycee Lipkin, Meadow View

Her dedication, passion, loyalty and commitment to Bethel are truly exemplary.  Taycee Lipkin is a gung-ho Meadow View PTO leader, a founding member of the Bethel Education Foundation, a substitute educational assistant, and one of Bethel’s Key Communicators.

When something needs to be done, Taycee is the first to volunteer and the one you can count on to see it through to the end.

We don’t know if we should refer to her as Wonder Woman or Crazy Woman, but Taycee is truly amazing and goes non-stop to support the entire Bethel community.

Joane Sargent, Meadowlark Elementary School

School volunteers dedicate their personal time to supporting education — and we appreciate every minute they spend helping our schools.  For Joane Sargent, that adds up to a lot of minutes.

Joane started volunteering when her daughter was a student. Now she’s a grandmother, and she’s going stronger than ever. Her commitment to helping children and the community are unparalleled. This year, Joane has come to Meadowlark Elementary School and volunteered in her grandson’s second-grade class every day of school since September.

And Joane isn’t just present — she’s marvelous. At the beginning of the year she told students, “If you can read, you can do anything” — and every day since then she has inspired even reluctant learners to try their best. With Joane in the classroom, students don’t just learn to read, they love to read.

Megan Hopping, Instructional Assistant at Gilham Elementary School.

In a time of dwindling resources and larger class sizes, instructional support staff are instrumental in ensuring each student gets the individualized attention they need to succeed.  At Gilham Elementary School, instructional assistant Megan Hopping has touched the lives of thousands of children over the past 13 years.

Megan knows every single student at Gilham. She genuinely listens to students and goes out of her way to collaborate with colleagues and communicate with parents. Her kind, calm focus helps make learning a positive experience for every child regardless of ability level.

Some of Gilham’s most-challenged readers come to her, and she doesn’t let up until they are reaching their full potential. As she leads her students from struggling to success, the journey helps instill that crucial element for academic success: a love of learning and reading.

By never giving up and always encouraging students to achieve, Megan accomplishes amazing things

Pat Best, Repair Shop Technician 2 in Technology Services.

Pat Best not only works diligently to assure our students have the computer equipment and software support that they need, he is the blueprint of everything we hope to see in our students and staff.  He is professional, kind and caring with a sense of humor to be envied.

Springfield Public Schools has a vision of Every Student a Graduate Prepared for a Bright and Successful Future.  Pat works endlessly to help make this goal a reality.  Thanks to Pat, our students have functioning computer equipment and software to achieve the technology goals they need to be competitive in higher education or in the work force.  If you have ever been in front of a computer lab filled with 25 third grade students and a broken computer, you will be able to really appreciate Pat.  With a kind word and a smile, he will fix the problem so that students can be back to the important job of learning.

Pat is what we all strive to be, a positive influence to all around him.

Linda Peterson, Educational Assistant at Shasta Middle School.

Linda Peterson works with students who need extra help and positive adult support to be more successful at school, at home and in the community.

As an Educational Assistant at Shasta Middle School, she checks in with over 40 kids daily…making sure they’ve each had breakfast, have all the supplies they need for the day, and to offer support, encouragement and care.

After working with these students all day, Linda catches up with each of them again before they go home to chart their progress toward their daily and weekly goals.

What Linda does comes from the heart: she encourages kids and sends them home knowing someone at school deeply cares, and for many kids that means all the difference in the world.

Jennie Henchion, Director of Nutrition Services

There are many unsung heroes behind the scenes whose work and roles are critical to positive outcomes for students. As Bethel’s Nutrition Services Director, Jennie Henchion does more than fill kids' bellies - she feeds their souls as well.

Jennie is making a huge impact on students through her improvements to school breakfasts and lunches. She’s made Bethel the clear leader in the use of fresh, local foods, helping our kids and the business success of local growers.

She truly cares about including academic elements whenever possible. Jennie works directly with school staff and kids to implement menu changes that result in tangible improvements in students’ lives. And finally, this is not to be overlooked: Her food tastes really, really good.

Randy Bernstein, Principal at South Eugene High School.

When Randy Bernstein first came to the principal’s office at South Eugene High School, some of his colleagues were convinced he would burn out within a year. No one could be so involved in so many projects and keep it up for long…could they?  Years later, Randy is still burning brightly, if quietly, as a shining star for educational equity and excellence.

A tireless advocate for education, Randy is both a visionary and a pragmatist. He magically unearths funding for initiatives that truly make a difference in student achievement. The leader of a school with a top-notch academic reputation, Randy is committed to ensuring that ALL students can succeed.  He doesn’t just support ways to serve South’s highest-achieving students; he champions programs to help close the achievement gap, and personally takes challenging students under his wing.

Randy is living proof that an educated, insightful person can have enormous impact by dedicating his life to a cause in which he believes. He exemplifies the heart, dedication and devotion that a truly great school leader has for his students, staff and community.

Dave Collins, Principal of Hamlin Middle School.

Dave Collins came to Hamlin Middle School with the passion, skills, work ethic and leadership ability needed to start transforming a school with high needs.  He started the process by building trust and confidence with the staff.  We saw Dave put his heart and soul into Hamlin with long hours and strong leadership, and the resulting success has mobilized our staff to work harder and more effectively for the benefit of our amazing and underprivileged students.

Success is contagious and the results we are seeing have increased leadership throughout the school.  Staff are collaborating about students in ways that have never been done here before.

And, the results are pouring in.  Combine the improvement in learning opportunities with a clarified and consistent behavior policy, our kids behavior referrals have dropped by over 50%.  More importantly, we are strategically targeting students’ learning needs.  The achievement gap is beginning to close!

The change in the culture at Hamlin is palpable.  People in our school community are proud of Hamlin and of themselves. 
Much of this improvement can be traced back to the systems, the leadership and the ideas that Dave brought to Hamlin

John Mosby, Special Education Teacher at Centennial Elementary School.

John Mosby, John Mosby is an inspiration to the students and staff of Centennial Elementary School.  The students work hard for him and when they get an “atta boy” from this teacher, their whole face lights up – for they know that they have earned it honestly.

John Mosby is always “on the job” and can be seen all over the school.  Every morning he greets the students in the breakfast line and as they come off the bus, so that they begin their school day on a positive note. Often he spends recess with the students, modeling and teaching social skills.  He sits down with them at breakfast or at lunch and gets to know them, connecting on a personal level, finding the positives in their day.

The kind of energy he puts into the classroom is reflected by the number of students that “graduate” from his support system into mainstream education.  Students do not come to Mr. Mosby’s room to stay, but to acquire the skills needed to be successful in the future.

Jim Gillespie, Teacher at Cascade Middle School

As a teacher at Cascade Middle School, Jim Gillespie guides students to reach their full potential by creating a hands-on learning environment. From his early years taking kids to Outdoor School and Skycamp, to today’s students on their Salmon Watch trips, Jim has been dedicated to teaching kids their great responsibility as caretakers of our environment and world.

His stewardship is demonstrated by the generations of students who continually return to his classroom to seek guidance and share their own accomplishments.

A truly great teacher is someone you remember the rest of your life. Jim's students will always remember him saying, "What a great day! Let's see what we can learn."

Eric Freeman, Teacher at Camas Ridge Community School.

Can you picture the ideal teacher any parent would want for their child? A creative thinker who truly loves to teach? …who sees your child as a unique person, and fosters his or her individual strengths and talents? An inspirational force who stirs a passion for learning in every student? Eric Freeman is that teacher.

In his second-grade classroom at Camas Ridge Community School, Eric makes school magical and learning fun. He starts each day with music and continues with projects and lessons that engage students in learning. Eric’s students love coming to school because his classroom is vibrant, engaging, and sometimes downright silly. What’s more, it’s a community.

Think of the teacher who most inspired you, who sparked a passion for learning, who made a difference in your life.  Decades from now, Eric will be that fondly remembered teacher for many of the children in his classroom today.