Congratulations to the September CSIU: Living Our Values Winners!

As announced at 2022 Professional Leadership Day (PLD), the CSIU has implemented a new award program, "CSIU: Living Our Values". The program recognizes colleagues for their commitment to CSIU values: 

• • Service to others 
  • Passion for excellence
  • Equity in action
  • Innovation for growth

September brought in 24 nominations for the awards! Please take a few moments out of your day to read about these valued members of the CSIU family and to congratulate them for making a difference by Living Our Values through service to others, passion for excellence, equity in action and innovation for growth!

Karen Bobeck, Jennifer Bower, Debra Boyer, Heather Cuff, Justine Drumheller, Alicia Eisenhauer, Denise Holohan, Casey Klinger, Melinda Lamprinos, Alexandria Lindsey, Ashley Miccio, Marjorie Neff, and Robin Share
Northumberland Area Early Head Start Staff
Living Our Values: Service to Others, Nominated by Paula Wolfe

Why the Northumberland Area Early Head Start Staff was nominated: 

2021-2022 was a difficult  year for the Early Head Start program. There were personal struggles, health challenges, and several retirements that left the program feeling strained but, because I work with the most amazing group of individuals, you would have never known it. Staff responded to those challenges with phrases such as "What can I do to help?," "Is there anything you need?," and "Thanks." Taking the time to say those simple statements and check in on others helped us continue to provide the best services to the community. So, kudos to all of my wonderful colleagues for supporting each other, being uplifting and thoughtful and providing great service to others. I know it will be a great 2022-2023 school year having the privilege to work alongside you!

"Continue to stay positive Early Head Start! A beautiful day begins with a beautiful mindset!"

Jennifer Bowman
Five Star Sunbury
Living Our Values: Equity in Action

Why Jennifer was nominated: 

Jennifer is a fantastic educator who wears many hats. She is an innovative and creative math/stem teacherand the point person for virtual outreach to our Five Star families. Staff often seek her assistance in navigating Google classroom or with other technological struggles, and Jennifer is always willing to help. She organizes our students' connection to the Office of Vocational Rehabilitation and coordinates theannual talent show. Aside from her many other roles and responsibilities, Jennifer is a student-centered educator. She recognizes when students can benefit from individualized or modified instructional models and is always seeking to meet students' individual needs. In addition to working collaboratively with her colleagues, Jennifer is always pushing students forward, helping them to acquire new skills.

Wenda Deardorff, Matthew Seiberlich-Hess, Ronald Nash
Technology Group | CSC and CSIU
Living Our Values: Service to Others, Nominated by Jeff Kay

Why Wenda, Matt and Ron were nominated: 

On October 1, 2022, one of the projects designed and administered by the Special Projects Group (a partnership of CSIU and CSC technology staff) will come to an end. The State will be rolling this data collection into an in-house system. The project (SMART and Document Uploader) started nearly 12 years ago and has been developed and enhanced over the years by two exceptional programmers, Ron Nash and Matt Hess. Ron and Matt worked together with the Office of Child Development and Early Learning staff to build two different environments that talked to each other and shared data seamlessly. Wenda Deardorff worked with Ron and Matt to provide technical support, documentation and help-desk expertise to upwards of 4000 users between the two systems. While it is sad to see a project go away, it shouldn't take away from recognizing the brilliant work that these three technologists have done.  

Hiliary Haddon
ELECT
Living Our Values: Service to Others, Nominated by Dr. Alan Hack

Why Hilary was nominated: 

This nomination could fit all four CSIU core values as Hiliary was selected to present at the National Dropout Conference in October along with Youth Development Coordinator, Nichole Fisher. Hiliary epitomizes CSIU core values in all of her work and is a tremendous bright light to her team, the students that are served and their families. To present at the national level is an amazing opportunity for Hiliary and as a member of the CSIU family we take extreme pride in the work she does! 

Derek Klingman
Computer Services
Living Our Values: Passion for Excellence

Why Derek was nominated: 

Derek is dedicated to finding solid solutions to meet client needs. He collaborates with others to learn and understand the problem we're trying to solve and thinks outside the box to ensure the highest quality outcome for our clients. 

Lorraine Marcheski
Five Star Partial Hospitalization Program
Living Our Values: Passion for Excellence

Why Lorraine was nominated: 

Lorraine Marcheski personifies a passion for excellence. Her care for the students in her program, and for the overall program climate, is evident. She works seamlessly with her classroom team, and collaborates with staff on the Five Star Program. She’s been a dedicated Five Star Program employee for almost 20 years, and continuously works to extend the impact the program has on its students. She has gone above and beyond her role as Behavior Intervention Assistant spearheading the Social Skills Curriculum, being an integral part of the SchoolWide Positive Behavioral Intervention Support Tier 2 team, overseeing Student Council and Spirit Days and perhaps her proudest accomplishment to date - the Five Star Garden! a long-term vision that 

Jean Moll
Central Susquehanna LPN Career Center
Living Our Values: Passion for Excellence, Nominated by Timothy Campbell

Why Jean was nominated: 

Jean, in her role as Administrative Specialist, consistently exceeds expectations related to obtaining financial aid and assistance for our students. Her responsibilities include remaining current on all regulations and policies as well as the reporting requirements. She regularly responds well in advanced of required deadlines as evidenced by this communication received from the National Center of Education Statistics:

The National Center of Education Statistics, part of the U.S. Department of Education, would like to extend its appreciation to your institution, and especially to your IPEDS Keyholder, Jean Moll. As of today (three weeks prior to the close of the Fall data collection), all of the required IPEDS surveys for your institution, Central Susquehanna Intermediate Unit LPN Career – 406422, have been entered, edited, and locked.

Because IPEDS is a very large data collection involving a large number of institutions, completing the surveys and locking them early during the collection period is extremely helpful. Providing IPEDS data is a major undertaking, and we want you to know that we truly appreciate the timely response. We hope that you will pass along our word of gratitude to your Keyholder, as he or she is the one who is typically charged with overseeing the successful data entry and completion of the mandatory IPEDS surveys.

The LPN Center is also extremely grateful for Jean's continued excellence and performance.

Amanda Moore
CARES - YES to the Future Program
Living Our Values: Service to Others, Nominated by Katherine Vastine

Why Amanda was nominated: 

Amanda is always willing to go the extra mile to support young adults with career opportunities that match their passion. Recently, a participant expressed interest in becoming a Pennsylvania Park Ranger. After supporting him with career exploration, Amanda helped the participant coordinate a ride along job shadow experience with a Gettysburg National Military Park Ranger. 

Brian Paulhamus
Technology
Living Our Values: Innovation for Growth, Nominated by Jeff Kay

Why Brian was nominated: 

Brian wasn't able to provide his regular in-person Cybersecurity Update to the CSIU Leadership Roundtable group this month - but, that didn't stop him! He innovated! Brian took the time to create an Email Encryption Video using a new technology tool. He not only kept us updated on important cybersecurity information, but showed us another way! His creative approach deserves mention!!!

Lori Potutschnig 
Migrant Education Program
Living Our Values: Passion for Excellence, Nominated by Dr. Alan Hack

Why Lori was nominated: 

Lori has worked extremely hard over the last several months to strengthen her team and focus on program goals. The work has not been easy, but Lori has persevered and as a result is starting to see the fruits of her labor and that of her team.

Michelle Wills 
Five Star Sunbury
Living Our Values: Passion for Excellence

Why Michelle was nominated: 

Michelle is truly committed to her students. She teaches and models expectations, while also seeking to develop genuine relationships. She looks for ways to motivate students to meet their goals, and she works diligently to communicate with her educational team. When students exhibit challenging behaviors, that's when Michelle digs in and works to connect. She knows that all students are capable of succeeding and building investment in our school, and she works to make that happen.