January 2018 Nebo PEAK Award Winners

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

January 2018 Nebo PEAK Award Winners

THE PEAK AWARD CUSTOMER SERVICE PROGRAM
Nebo School District wants to showcase our Positive Energy and Kind employees. PEAK Awards are nominated by patrons and recognized by the Superintendent Staff and Nebo School Board of Education. The award is administered by the Communications and Community Relations Department.

Melanie Wilde, Secretary, Diamond Fork Junior
Nominated by: Kelly Cole Taylor & Cecily Yeager
“Melanie is the first person that most people talk to when they enter our school, and they are always greeted with a smile. Melanie is empathetic and takes time to talk with students when they need help or are waiting for a parent to pick them up. On those dreaded days when a student is nervously waiting to speak to an administrator, Melanie works to put them at ease so that students understand that there may be consequences ahead, but that doesn't change our perception of who they are. When parents share stories with Melanie, she is quick to share a laugh or to follow up later to inquire how a situation turned out. As a school intervention, we have been known to add additional office T.A.'s to Melanie's crew. These students may be struggling academically, behaviorally, and/or socially. Melanie embraces all of her T.A.'s and works to find them jobs that suit their needs so that they can have a positive school experience. Our special needs students have a sweet friendship with Melanie and will go out of their way to share their successes with her on their fishing day or after their track meet. When a teacher needs a question answered, Melanie is one of the first people we call! No matter how many new assignments are sent her way, she cheerfully adds them to her load. Melanie is always happy to help parents, students, teachers, and administrators. The world could use more Melanie Wildes!”

“Melanie is amazing! Not only does she get to know a new faculty every year, but she also keeps track of almost 1200 students. I am always impressed with the kind way she helps students at Diamond Fork. She shows concern and care for them throughout the day and always does it with a smile. She is also a good listener and has been part of many conversations that solve the world's or at least a teacher's problems. We appreciate all the ways she makes Diamond Fork Junior a great place to be!”

Sherry Plaisted, Facilitator, Brockbank Elementary
Nominated by: Emmalee Stewart, Jessica Larsen, Camille Pearson, Erin Spung, Larraine Nelson
“Sherry is an amazing mentor, who is always looking for ways to help those she is mentoring. She keeps herself accessible any time of the day for questions and to help others talk through problems. Sherry is encouraging and always finds the positive in the teachers she is mentoring. She would point out the things she loved that were going on in my classroom. She would help us to be successful by guiding us through problems to find solutions, rather than just giving us the answers. Sherry doesn’t do these things because it is her job, she does it because she is kind and truly cares for the people that she mentors and wants them to be successful. Because she has such an impact on the teachers at Brockbank, her impact on the students at the school is endless. She dedicates countless hours to improving the STAR program at the school, always looking for ways to help more students succeed. She devotes her personal time talking through lessons and goes out of her way to help teachers prepare things for the classroom. Sherry is more than an intern facilitator, she is a mentor devoted to her job and to the success of everyone at Brockbank. She fills in wherever she is needed, with a smile on her face. She is always willing to help anyone, and everyone, with whatever she can.

“Sherry always goes the extra mile for absolutely everyone she encounters. She is such a wonderful mentor. She is willing to help with anything asked and she always has a smile on her face. She helped me grow as an educator in more ways than I ever could have imagined. She is truly an incredible person.”

“Sherry has been an amazing mentor and friend. She is so patient and is willing to help in anyway that teachers need. She is always willing to come in and model lessons for teachers as well as take a guided reading group when you are overwhelmed. She is amazing!”

“I would have never survived my intern year without her! She makes her interns work extra hard; but because of that, I was more prepared for my future teaching years. She taught me everything I needed to know and went above and beyond the things she was required to do. Sick? She was there. Hungry? She was there. Classroom not set up? Management problems? Lacking anything? She was there. I've never had so much support from one person in the school setting ever, and I don't believe anyone can be as great as she is.”

Macie Steele, Foods, Taylor Elementary
Nominated by Courtney Corbin
“Macie worked at our school in the lunch room. She knows every kid by name and dances around wearing her ‘Taco Tuesday’ headband. She sings to the kids coming through the line about all of the yummy ingredients in the day's meals. She reminds the students to grab their fruits and veggies.

“We have a special needs employee that also works in the lunchroom. Macie makes her feel like a million bucks. When this employee had a primary dance to attend, Macie brought her a special shade of pink lip gloss to wear for the evening. Macie escorted this employee to our school's birthday party as her special guest. They walked arm in arm the entire night. When the employee went to Disneyland, Macie made the student a special travel bag for the plane.”

Deanna Lindsey, Librarian, Art City Elementary
Nominated by: Kim Droubay
“Deanna has worked in the district for 11+ years as the librarian at Art City. She is always very happy and interested in others. She is kind and concerned about the students’ well-being. They all love Deanna as the library teacher. She greets everyone with a smile and a compliment. If she is having a bad day, no one would ever know it. She is responsible and dependable and will do anything she is asked to do to help out around the school. Deanna regularly goes above and beyond her own job responsibilities to assist others with theirs. She spends hours outside of school planning and preparing her lessons to fit the needs of each grade level. She loves to learn new programs and get new insights so the students have a good, positive experience in the library. Deanna spends hours reading children's books in order to give good recommendations to parents and students.”

Steve Hall, Teacher, Westside Elementary
Nominated by: Lori Pruitt
“Steve is the type of person you want working with your children. He has a great sense for understanding students with unique personalities and learning styles. Steve spends many extra hours working on lesson plans, reports and ways to help the school as a whole. Steve is always positive and is the first to step in when a co-worker needs help. Recently, I was faced with a family emergency that took me away for the school and a night of SEPs. He stepped in and stayed at the school until 10 p.m. so the secretary was not alone and helped lock up the building. Steve is amazing to work with and is friends to everyone.”

Danielle Lopez, Special Ed. Tech., Mapleton Junior
Nominated by: Cami Burton
“Danielle utilizes her understanding of group and individual motivation and behavior management to foster a learning environment for students with positive social interactions, active engagement, and self-monitoring. She recently went back to school to work on a degree in special education. Danielle understands children differ in their learning; she uses a variety of instructional strategies to support students’ learning and to make learning meaningful. She is always looking for new and creative ways to support students. Danielle has a deep love for each of our students and is an integral part of the faculty at Mapleton Junior High. She takes the time to get to know other students within the school and to build relationships with them to foster support for their learning. Danielle has been a great co-worker and a pleasant individual to work with.”

Amy Russell, Teacher, Foothills Elementary
Nominated by: Keri Huntsman
“Amy’s students are a priority. She takes the time to collect academic and behavior data on each student and formulates a plan in the first few weeks of school. She consistently meets the needs of every student in her class and will research and find materials to meet those needs. Parents appreciate that she communicates daily if needed and responds to their questions and concerns quickly. Amy also serves on the School Community Council and offers valuable teacher input to help the parents understand the needs of our school and celebrate the great things we are doing. She is willing to help and support the teachers, staff and administration and isn't afraid to jump in and try new things. She is truly a Nebo Teacher Hero!!”

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
This initiative is designed to focus on "raising the bar" on providing exceptional customer service, both internally and externally. A key component of this initiative is the development of the PEAK Award. The PEAK (Positive Energy and Kindness) Award is presented monthly to someone in the Nebo School District who "really gets it" when it comes to providing exceptional customer service, which in turn results in positive impacts on everyone including students, parents, co-workers and members of the community.

Who Gets Nominated?
Faculty and staff members are nominated by anyone in the community through the Nebo School District website, www.nebo.edu/PEAK wherein a special Customer Service link is provided. The directions as to how to nominate an employee for the PEAK Awards are clearly spelled out on the site. All nominations must include information on how the individual has provided exceptional customer service, as well as how the employee's actions impacted the nominator's overall perception of Nebo School District Schools. The name and contact information of the nominator must be included.

#nebohero #empowerstudents #engagestudents #studentsuccess #loveUTpublicschools #utpol #uted

Attributions
Lana Hiskey