March 2018 Nebo PEAK Award Winners

Submitted by lana.hiskey on

March 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.

Doug Lai, Teacher, Spring Lake Elementary
Nominated by: Teresa Jordan
“It is an honor to recognize Doug Lai for a Peak Award. He provides exceptional service at Spring Lake Elementary every single day. In addition to teaching fifth grade, he is our resident technology guru. He faithfully manages all of our social media accounts, updates and maintains our website, takes care of all technology related needs and issues at the school and is always there to lend a hand to anyone at any time. He often gives up his planning time or stays beyond his contract hours to help with needs around the school. Doug goes above and beyond expectations in other areas as well. To share just a few examples, he helped coordinate gifts and flowers for a family who had lost their father to cancer, contributed money to help a family in need, donated time and materials for student events and spent hours cutting out key chains and cookie cutters for our students on his 3D printer at home. Just last week, a student was missing and Mr. Lai was the first one to jump in his vehicle and drive the neighborhoods until the student was found.”

Aubree Bushman, Counselor, East Meadows Elementary
Nominated by: Nathan Melton
“Aubree can usually be found in the front foyer greeting students as they enter the school. She is always happy, positive, and upbeat and loves interacting with the students. She makes learning about positive character traits an entertaining experience. She schedules guest speakers and utilizes stories and movie clips that the kids can relate to in order to teach the concepts that she wants them to internalize. Aubree is always available to meet with faculty to discuss students who are facing challenges and offers ideas on how best to help the student be successful. Aubree is the epitome of what an involved and concerned educator should be. She is willing to make any sacrifice she can in order to help her students and her colleagues.”

Rachel Rigby, Teacher, Maple Mountain High
Nominated by: Kristie McMurdie
“Rachel is an excellent math teacher. She teaches inclusion math classes all the way up to honor math classes. She is extremely patient and always puts the learner first. I am a resource teacher, and I work with her every other day and am so grateful for the time and effort she puts in for ALL students regardless of their academic level.”

Susan Anderson, Teacher, Diamond Fork Junior
Nominated by: Ellen-Anita Olson
“Susan Anderson is a super, brilliant, champion, first-rate, outstanding and master teacher. Susan is always cheerful, happy and greets her students at the door. She makes English fun by ‘talking like a pirate’ on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Every time one of her students has a birthday, she writes the student a poem. Then she sings the poem to the birthday student during class. She is one amazing woman and one super amazing teacher. I am amazed at the fun activities Susan comes up with for her students and feel honored to be her friend and co-worker.”

Neeley Kay, Behavior Specialist, District Wide
Nominated by: Garrett Andersen
“Neeley is our district liaison for special education. She is always working with us to make sure our needs are met as we work to meet the needs of students. I can always count on Neeley to look at any situation and help find a solution. It takes many people throughout the school and district to help meet the needs of all students, and Neeley is one that I always want on my team.”

Ryan McGuire, Principal, Springville Junior
Nominated by: Nan Davis, Emily Edman, Emily Boyle, Micaela Merrill
Nominating Ryan McGuire is being done in a joint effort by all the employees and staff at Springville Junior High School.

“Mr. McGuire is an exceptional leader. One of his best attributes is that he is a skilled listener. He listens to teacher ideas, parent or teacher frustrations and comes up with creative solutions. He works tirelessly to provide solutions to any given problem. Mr. McGuire is genuine in his actions and interactions with everyone he meets. He is kind, attentive, approachable, and warm. He inspires, motivates, and mentors teachers and staff. He is truly an exemplary leader, and he does his very best when it matters the most. The most impressive action taken by this administrator is that of visiting every single new seventh grader that is beginning their school year at Springville Junior High. Ryan’s dedication to our staff and to our students is evident. He is invested to help every single student in this school be successful. He implements ways to motivate, inspire, and reward students. He is a leader in helping teachers see the potential we have in impacting our students in a positive way. The students love him and the faculty adores him.”

We have chosen a few random acts of kindness to highlight how wonderful and exceptional Ryan is.....

“As a new teacher this year, I am gung-ho about my new job, but I was naive of any car trouble that could keep me from getting to work safely. During the second week of school, an important safety feature of my car broke apart. In a panic during my prep hour, I asked several teachers and Ryan where they take their cars and how honest the mechanics are. Ryan, without any hesitation, jumped up and told me that he knows a great place. He told me to email him the details of my car, and he offered to call the shop for me. Although he was busy with his normal principal duties, he took time out of his day to call for me. By the end of the day, he had made an appointment, had gotten a quote about price, and had a plan in mind to get me to the shop and back before and after school. On the day I took my car in, he left his home and family early to meet me at the shop. He guided me through where to leave my keys, wrote a note to the mechanic, and took me to school. After school, he took time to take me back to the mechanic. Because he took me, he was a few minutes late to a meeting, but it was important to him that I was taken care of. I will never forget his kind gestures and willingness to help me. I'm not sure I would be able to find a principal who is more service-oriented and giving of his time than Ryan McGuire. He is more than deserving of the Peak Award.”

“Ryan McGuire does a great job leading our school by showing he cares about people. As an employee, I know I can go to Ryan; and he is ready and willing to help. For example, when he found out I was moving, he insisted on bringing his truck and trailer and showed up to help us. I also know that when a personal emergency comes up, Ryan will not only be understanding but asks how he can help. He wants to make sure that we are personally doing okay in addition to doing our jobs, which really effects the morale of our school.”

“Last year was my first year at Springville Junior High. In January our basement flooded while I was at work. Without asking for any help, Ryan phoned me asking what he could do. He offered to bring my exhausted family pizza while dropping off fans he had gone back to pick up. All of this was done at 9:00 p.m. His willingness to give of his time when needed by employees is simply amazing. He does so many things behind the scenes that no one would ever know about. I feel that Ryan is more than deserving of a Peak Award. His compassion for employees is shown through is positive energy and random acts of kindness.”

“Ryan praises the teachers often and truly makes us feel valued and appreciated. He goes above and beyond to show his appreciation for the work that we do. He is creative in providing opportunities for us to meet and work. One example is having our opening Faculty Meeting at Shadow Mountain. Another is providing breakfast for the teachers the first day back to work. We have enjoyed both of these activities because he has thought to make it so pleasant for everyone. It truly sets the tone for the school year and for the work environment.”

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.

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Attributions
Lana Hiskey