East Valley Educators
Important Information for Educators - March 2019
IN THIS ISSUE:
- CELEBRATING CLASSIFIED STAFF
- STAFF SPOTLIGHT - RUSS BENDER
- CLASSIFIED SHOUT OUTS
- CLASSROOM FIRE SAFETY
- TELL US HOW WE'RE DOING
- UPCOMING OPPORTUNITIES & DISTRICT SAFETY NIGHT
- CRYSTAL APPLE NOMINATIONS
CELEBRATING OUR CLASSIFIED STAFF
This week, along with districts across the state and country, we had the honor of celebrating classified employee appreciation week in the East Valley School District .
Classified staff are our employees who support the education of our students by managing front offices, preparing and serving lunches, tending to sick kids, working in small groups with students to provide academic support, keeping school grounds, buildings and buses maintained and safe, transporting our students to and from school, keeping kids safe on our playgrounds and for making sure computers and classroom technology continue to function and so much more. It truly takes all employees working together to educate our students. The support our classified employees provide our district is critical to student success.
I encourage the entire community to join me in celebrating these dedicated and hardworking team members for their commitment to providing high quality education and positive experiences for our children, every day, in every school across our district. Classified employees deserve our gratitude and appreciation not only this week, but all year long for their important contributions to our community.
Thank you classified staff for all you do!
John Schieche
Superintendent
STAFF SPOTLIGHT - RUSS BENDER MAKES MATH FUN AT EVHS!
Those who work with him can't imagine their classrooms without him and sing very high praises about the impact he has on his students and on their own professional growth. Mrs. Rebecca Goodlake says Mr. Bender is, "such an asset to my Algebra class. Him and I co-teach on a lot of topics... He offers a different perspective and different strategies to our students who may be struggling... He is such a huge support in my class and I appreciate him so much!" Mrs. Griffith echoes these sentiments, "Russ is great!! He seamlessly jumped right into my classes from day one. He is willing to help out in any way he can and takes initiative to do things without even being asked. He has a soft spoken demeanor that is a great compliment. Russ is able to subtly help students while I am instructing and reach students that might be hesitant to otherwise ask for help. We are lucky to have him!"
Thank you Mr. Bender for all of your work to help our students achieve their greatest potential, every day!
- Cheers for Moxee's custodial team. You keep our building looking brand new. The pride in your work shines through! - Elizabeth Hockens
- Veronica Padilla is the speech assistant that works with our preschoolers and she does an amazing job! She is a hard worker, positive, and loves our little ones. We are thrilled to have her as a part of our team this year. - Trina Locke
- EVHS Life Skills Team ROCKS! - Karen Cummings
I would like to give a big cheer for all of my Transportation Staff, Bus Drivers, Mechanics, and our dear secretary Leann. This has been a very….busy winter will all of the snow hitting us in February. Everyone has pitched in and worked together to get our East Valley Students to and from school safely despite the weather conditions. - Lori Reeves
Thank you to Veronica Padilla, SLPA at EVE, who supports our students and our speech team in so many ways with her kindness, dedication, creativity, and organization. Her work with our students is outstanding and so valuable. We are very fortunate to have her. - Lisa Gole
- I have the privilege of working with Grisel Wheeler every day. She goes above and beyond every day. She comes into class and looks for my clipboard and wants to know how our students did on their assessments. If her groups are ever cancelled she will text me and ask if she can come in and work with students. She doesn’t need to do this, yet she does. I love her and am so grateful to have her in our students lives. - Araseli Fuentes
- I’d like to give a shout out to Mario Garza, our day custodian. He’s so great about helping us with whatever we need. Before Christmas, we were donating a huge tub of clothes that was left in the lost and found to Rod’s House and Mario washed all the clothing and bagged it up so I could take it to them. I didn’t even ask him to do wash all of it. He took the initiative and did it on his own. - Lisa Rossow
- The EVC Lunch Ladies are the best in the business! They do a great job accommodating all students with a cheerful attitude. - Christy Stahl
- I really appreciate our three night janitors at EVC. They continue to work extremely hard at keeping our school looking great and are always willing to do additional work when asked. - Ken Faulkner
- Sara Glenn and Jessica Chapman are the paras in the developmental preschool program. They are amazing! Their heart for children is evident and they are selfless every single day. These ladies are positive, kind, and the hardest workers I’ve ever met. I’m so proud that I have them as part of my team and I don’t know what I would do without them! Our preschool children are blessed to have these special ladies as part of their lives. I don’t know how you are doing the cheers, but these two deserve to be recognized. We have A LOT of preschoolers and it’s a very hard job. Not everyone could do it and these ladies do it every single day with a smile on their faces and I love them dearly. - Trina Locke
- Cheers for our district nursing staff. They are always working collaboratively to ensure the health and safety of our students districtwide. - Elizabeth Hockens
- I would like to give a shout out to our Special Education Paras. They are amazing! They work so hard to support our kiddos. One para I would really like to spotlight is Debb Moser. I’ve worked with her for about 11 years. She is fantastic with the kids and she always goes above and beyond what’s expected. She’s a self-starter and does a lot for our school. I have been so blessed to work with her and call her friend!! I’m also really proud of her pursuing her dream to become a teacher and going to school full-time as well. Way to go Debb!!!! - Dee Dee Gaub
- Cheers for Moxee's Office Staff. Smiling faces and helpful, happy attitudes greet everyone coming through our doors. - Elizabeth Hockens
- Ivone, Ana, Carolyn, and Cynthia are always very helpful with not just me but everyone they interact with. These ladies always have a smile on their face and are loving and compassionate with our littles. - Erica Lua-Alonzo
- Josiah Sutherland – goes above and beyond to help middle schoolers learn math, he uses his personal time and technology to develop tools and strategies that help engage students. - Christy Stahl
- Cheers for Moxee's Para Educators. Your caring and focused instruction is such an important part of student learning. - Elizabeth Hockens
- Yuritzbi Olivas – A hard worker willing to help out however, and whoever, needed. She is super friendly and approachable, particularly for our Hispanic families. - Christy Stahl
CLASSROOM FIRE SAFETY
Student work, posters and decorations can add up to a LOT of paper coverage on our building walls. As a reminder, classroom walls can only be 50% and hallways and doors can only be 20% covered to be in compliance with WA State law.
Paper is a highly combustible material which means that it burns very quickly. It can cause a serious threat to students and other staff if it is blocking an exit during a fire.
Here are some fire safety tips from our Yakima County Fire Marshall, Chris Pedersen:
1) Try to keep materials and decorations away from exits
2) Limit layers as much as possible
3) Try to limit 3D decorations
4) Change up your artwork seasonally, keeping the layers down
TELL US HOW WE'RE DOING!
We want to know how we're doing in our communications as a district! This survey will close on Tuesday, April 30th. If you have children attending schools in East Valley, please take this survey from the perspective of an employee. You will have the opportunity to provide feedback on our communications as a parent at the end of this month.
At the end of the survey you will be asked to add your email address to be entered in our drawing for one of the following prizes:
- Family 4-pack of one hour jump passes and socks at Get Air of Yakima
- 1 of two - $25 gift certificates for El Mirador
- 1 of three vouchers for a large pizza at Papa Murphy's in Terrace Heights
- $35 gift certificate for a cooking class with Healthy Eats Nutrition Services.
**All of the prizes being awarded will be donated and presented to the winners by these local businesses. Prizes will be awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis once notification has been sent to winners in the first week of May. **
ENELY INVITES YOU TO JOIN HER IN ENGAGING STUDENTS WITH QUIZIZZ!
HOW TO USE QUIZIZZ IN YOUR CLASSROOM
Join East Valley Elementary teacher, Enely Voelker and learn about how she uses the online program QUIZIZZ as a tool to engage and assess her students. QUIZIZZ is a student-paced, formative assessment tool that is fun, engaging and innovative.
QUIZIZZ...
- has thousands of pre-made questions.
- displays a live report of your student results.
- is customizable.
- is similar to Kahoot.
SESSIONS WILL BE HELD FROM 4-5:00PM
in room 301 @ East Valley Elementary on
March 19th
April 9th
April 23rd
Please bring a computer with you.
Clock hours are available to those that attend.
iPhone Camera Tips & Tricks
So something really picture-worthy was happening in your class, but when you snapped the picture, it just didn’t do the moment justice!? No worries – Come learn a few quick tips & tricks to making the most of your iPhone camera.
Come prepared with an iPhone so you can practice your new skills! Clock hours are available for people who attend 3 hours of Communications PD sessions.
- Thursday, April 18th @ East Valley Elementary (4:00PM)
DISTRICT SAFETY NIGHT
Event Agenda
5:30-6:30PM
Enjoy a FREE DINNER (cheese zombies & tomato soup), learn about local community resources & engage in kid-friendly activities with local law enforcement agencies & fire fighters.
6:30-8:30PM
Kids are invited to the library for a showing of the Pixar movie Inside Out. After the movie they will participate in social-emotional learning activities based on the movie. Childcare will be provided.
Parents are invited to attend sessions offered by our East Valley School Resource Office & school counselors, on the topics of Cyber Safety for the whole family & current local drug and gang trends.
More information will be released in the coming weeks. Check back for updates!
LAST CHANCE TO NOMINATE YOUR PEERS FOR THE 2019 CRYSTAL APPLE EDUCATOR AWARD
HAVE SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO SHARE?
Email: kaple.brittany@evsd90.org
Phone: 509-573-7311