News

 

This year, seven educators have shown excellence, inspired their colleagues, and earned the title “Outstanding Educator."

These educators were recongized by Jurupa Unified's Board of Education on December 10th, and will also will be honored in May by the Riverside County Office of Education at RCOE's annual Celebrating Educators luncheon.

Here is a list of the honorees, featuring words from co-workers:

​Principal of the Year: Nicholas Blake, Mission Middle School

 

Nicholas is a leader of conviction, passion, and vision. He engages all stakeholders in the pursuit of Mustang excellence both inside and outside the classroom. This past school year, the CAASPP scores of Mission's student cohorts increased in both ELA and Math – including a district high among all middle and high schools in ELA! Nicholas is a true “instructional leader" who rolls up his sleeves and sits side-by-side with teachers and staff to analyze data, learn best practices, and problem solve. He is courageous, innovative, and trustworthy.

 

Counselor of the Year: Jennifer Green, Patriot High School

Jen shows her students compassion, empathy, and high expectations for their academic and personal lives. She goes well beyond the basic scheduling and monitoring of student progress by taking the time to truly learn about her students so that she can guide them to their highest goals. Jen takes responsibility for learning all there is to know about the requirements for a variety of post-secondary opportunities so that our students are prepared for college and careers. Mrs. Green demonstrates learning without limits in all she does, to make sure each student knows they have a counselor they can rely on.

Site Support Employee of the Year: Lisa Hanson, Curriculum Teacher on Special Assignment

Lisa directly supports our K-12 teachers and student learning through her Units of Study work. Her expert pedagogical knowledge of the ELA, Math, and Science standards and her feedback to unit writers have been instrumental to our curriculum work. Lisa's curriculum mastery and focus on coherence is shared with our new teachers through her well-organized trainings on initiatives. Lisa is a dynamic systems thinker and her approach to problem solving has helped to identify solutions. She is relentless in asking questions that generate great ideas.

Certificated Management Administrator of the Year: Tamara Elzig, Deputy Superintendent

 

Tammy (who has led Personnel Services since 2005) has been known for her kind, caring, and encouraging approach and for the collaborative relationships she has built with employees and leaders from every group, bargaining unit, and classification. She has also expertly carried out one of the most difficult tasks administrators face – delivering difficult but crucial messages in a manner that is respectful and caring. Those who have worked with her know that in every action she has taken through the years, her focus has been on what is best for students and employees and ensuring that "kids win."

​Classified Management Administrator of the year: Jeff Lewis, Director of Centralized Support Services

 

Since June 2015, JUSD's Centralized Support Department has been under Jeff's leadership. Often centralized support is seen as strictly clerical. However, Jeff's vision has established a department with a strategic focus, superior customer service, business efficiency, and strong district, school, and vendor relations. The district, schools and partner organizations praise Jeff for his responsiveness, follow through, and overall integrity.

Confidential Employee of the Year: Denise Collins, Senior Executive Assistant

Denise daily demonstrates what a cornerstone she is for the functioning of the district, including managing the superintendent's office; coordinating and scheduling meetings, trainings, conferences, and events; receiving guests, visitors, and calls to the superintendent's office; and more. When significant issues arise in the district, Denise often serves as a communications hub for administrators, the Board of Trustees, and the superintendent to keep in contact and on top of the latest developments. Through all of that, somehow, she maintains a calm demeanor and is able to expertly collect and distill all of the facts so that administration can make the best decision and act on it."

​Classified Employee of the Year: Jennifer Todd, Instructional Materials Tech

Jennifer Todd has been supporting JUSD students for 26 years. Year after year, when the library staff reflects on what went well during the school year, they always mention Jennifer Todd. We are all in awe of her ability to anticipate the needs of each school before they even realize they need resources. She is a walking database of the entire district's textbook inventory. She is the backbone of textbook and library services for the entire district. With the transition to Chromebooks for every student, she has embraced this new direction and supported each initiative that we have put forth to help students to learn without limits.

In all, 32 employees earned site-level Classified Person of the Year honors, one for each department or school site. Ms. Todd, named the district-wide Classified Employee of the Year, will move on for consideration in the countywide Classified Employee of the Year awards this spring.

Congratulations again to all of this year's Outstanding Educators in Jurupa.