Six Broward Schools staff named finalists in School-Related Employee of Year

Six employees of Broward County Public Schools (BCPS) have been named as finalists for Broward’s School-Related Employee of the Year 2010/11, and will be honored at a breakfast and ceremony scheduled for Wednesday, December 8, 2010, 8:30 a.m., at the Signature Grand, 6900 State Road 84 in Davie. BCPS employees are nominated by their peers for this honor.

The finalists are:

Teresa Basilone, Office Manager/Confidential Secretary

Silver Lakes Middle School

For many in the community, Teresa Basilone is the face of Silver Lakes Middle School. She attends the School Advisory Council as the school’s non-instructional representative, and is a presence at all school functions, contributing to the overall efficiency of each. Basilone is also the person responsible for the school’s home-school communications, sending messages via ParentLink, producing the bi-weekly newsletter and keeping the school’s website current.

Basilone has provided leadership to the school’s team in the annual Relay for Life event at Coral Springs High School. This has strengthened the relationship between the school and the community, while also raising awareness and funds for cancer research.

Rosemary Bryant, Food and Nutrition Services Dual Manager

Blanche Ely High School and Pompano Beach High School

Although Rosemary Bryant is now in her eighth year in her current position and a 24-year veteran of the Food Services Department, she never assumes she knows it all when it comes to consumer preferences. As she makes the rounds at her two assigned schools, she is constantly promoting healthy eating habits, discussing likes and dislikes and eliciting feedback about ways to better attune the cafeterias to meet customers’ needs.  Bryant manages 30 employees with efficiency and courtesy and is the only dual manager to manage two high school food courts.

Bryant volunteers to help families complete their Free and Reduced Price Meal applications, often sharing information about other community services that could provide the families with additional assistance. She works with area community advocates to demonstrate the nutritional quality of the food served to students’ families in her assigned schools.

Gloria Burde, Clerk Specialist

North Area Superintendentís Office

No one can remember the North Area Superintendent’s Office without Gloria Burde.   She has worked in that location for 20 years, and in the District for a total of 34 years. Among her duties, she serves as her area’s Broward Truancy Intervention Program Coordinator, making sure that everyone is aware of the rules and procedures for reporting student absences.

Burde always goes above and beyond her official duties, because she says, it gives her a sense of satisfaction. She works tirelessly to make the annual Harvest Drive a success.  The Harvest Drive provides food to needy families during the holiday season. Along with the Area Social Work team leader, Gloria is also in charge of the North Area Resource for Families, a food pantry that supports needy families.

Barney Harden, Head Facilities Service Person

Rock Island Professional Development Center

At 26 years and counting, Barney Harden is a veteran facilities service person. Raised in a family of 14, he learned at an early age that hard work is the key to success. Currently, he is the Head Facilities Service Person at the Rock Island Professional Development Center which houses eight different departments.  Working hand in hand with the site administrator, Harden not only meets the needs of each department, but also tries to set a positive tone and example.

In addition to the 100 people who work at the Rock Island site, between 50 to 900 employees make use of the facility’s 20 training rooms each day. From working to organize the parking for weekly parent and child socialization groups as part of the Pre K-2 Department, to handling the set-up for training for a Digital Divide workshop, Harden is front and center.

Sandra Gayle Motes, Clerk Specialist A Confidential

Benefits Department

Sandra Gayle Motes is known as a proactive problem solver in the Benefits Department.  Her superior organizational skills allow her to attend to the smallest details of a task while also demonstrating inexhaustible patience in working with all stakeholders. When her assistance is needed, she sticks to things until the job is done, even if it means working side-by-side with her Director until 10 or 11 at night.

She keeps track of numerous Medical RFPs and addendums and successfully managed the process of executing contracts for health coverage for the 47,000 annual enrollees with premiums over $250 million. Motes handles an array of tasks in addition to the health care contracts, including updating the information on the Department website, a lifeline for employees, and designing the various enrollment and change forms to make them interactive and more user friendly. She is friendly and courteous, which is evident in the personal service she provides to each and every employee.

Dawn Yates, Community Liaison

Lauderdale Manors Elementary School

Dawn Yates is such a believer in parents becoming involved in their child’s education, she became a community liaison 24 years ago in order help parents become engaged in the educational process. Her personal belief is that strong family support helps children strive to reach their academic potential and become productive members of society. For more than 20 years, the Broward County Council of PTAs has recognized Yates for her outstanding service.

Yates recruits parents and community members to serve on school committees and communicates with parents through the ParentLink system that delivers weekly updates about school events to families. She assists in developing, coordinating and facilitating school programs that encourage and maintain active and positive parental involvement, including her school’s new student orientation, a meet and greet, open house and parent workshops for math, reading, writing, science and technology. Yates also works on the PTA Family Fun Day, Digital Divide Computer Training for parents, the PTA Multi-Cultural Extravaganza and Feast, volunteer orientations and recognition events.

Related posts:

1. District Announces School-Related Employee of the Year
2. Broward schools employees school social worker of the year
3. Five Broward high schools named best schools 2010
4. Broward Public Schools – Employee Wellness Award Recipient
5. Broward Schools, South Plantation High finalists for state green award

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