West Covina Unified honors employees of the year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
West Covina Unified School District
Anahi Velasco, Communications Specialist
(626) 939-4600 X 4635 | anahi.velasco@wcusd.org

West Covina Unified honors employees of the year

West Covina, Calif., May 30, 2018 - The West Covina Unified School District honored over 30 employees representing all sites at its board meeting Tuesday night, highlighting and recognizing district-wide employees of the year. For the 2018-2019 school year, the West Covina Unified School District announced Merlinda kindergarten teacher Lucy Lopez as the Teacher of the Year, Charlie Cerda as the Classified Employee of the Year and Dave Larkin as the Administrator of the Year.

“In the past, we’ve celebrated our employees at different times throughout the year,” said Board President Michael Flowers. “Now, we recognized them at this celebratory event, inviting family members and friends to cheer them on as they walk up the stage to be honored for their extraordinary service.”

The celebration began with the superintendent and board of education recognizing three students - Man Tang, Christopher Elizondo and Kevin Phan - for their service as student board members for the 2017-2018 school year.

Edgewood and West Covina high schools were also recognized for recently receiving silver medals in the US News and World Report magazine’s annual “Best High Schools” rankings. Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college.

After the brief recognitions, Superintendent Dr. Charles Hinman transitioned to the employees of the year celebration.

“You’ll often hear me say, and I truly do believe this, classified is the heart and teachers [are] the soul,” said Hinman. “Nothing, nothing that we do in this business is above and beyond what you do. It is truly the role of the principal, […] district, […] board, and […] superintendent to support classroom teachers […] and support staff who work directly with kids.”

The celebration continued with Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services Denise Knutsen welcoming all attendees at the event. Principals from each school site took turns introducing and recognizing their classified employee and teacher of the year. Each employee received a certificate and a tote bag filled with donated items such as Starbucks gift cards, Office Depot gift cards, daily planners, pens, stress balls, keychain flashlights, chapsticks, notebooks, mugs, and post-it stickies.

Family and friends took photos, cheered and held colorful banners to show support as employees made their way to the stage.

After recognizing employees from each site, the superintendent took a stand at the podium to recognize the district-wide employees of the year with a certificate of recognition and a crystal award to be displayed in their classrooms or work areas.

West Covina Unified’s Teacher of the Year Lucy Lopez will be recognized later this year at a District Teacher of the Year Awards Luncheon sponsored by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Congratulations to all employees!

Elementary

Secondary

District Administrators of the Year

• Charlie Cerda, Administration Office Classified Employee of the Year

• Karla Contreras, Elementary Principal of the Year

• Veronica Pendleton, Secondary Principal of the Year

• Kimberley Crissey, Secondary Co-Administrator of the Year

District-Wide Employees of the Year

• Charlie Cerda, Classified Employee of the Year

• Lucy Lopez, Teacher of the Year

• Dave Larkin, Administrator of the Year