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Nichole Harer
YES to the Future Career & Operations Manager
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Paula Dickey
Why Nichole was nominated:Nichole moved from a YES to the Future Career Counselor position to the YES Career and Operations Manager in January 2021 and took off running in her new role. During the last five months she has created matrices to assist the YES staff in data entry of program outcomes and restructured file forms to ensure consistency. As part of Nichole's position, she also covers staff caseloads when there is an open position or staff are on leave; she is currently covering the caseloads for two counties as well as transitioning caseloads to new staff in two other counties. Nichole sometimes drives almost two hours in one direction.
"I am incredibly thankful for Nichole and all her hard work to make YES to the Future successful!"
Matthew Butensky
Youth Development Team, Center for Schools and Communities
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Karen Lehman
Why Matthew was nominated:Matt is Pennsylvania's statewide Foster Care Point of Contact for K-12 public education. In addition to being a strong youth advocate, Matt understands the federal guidance and stays informed on updates and changes to the guidance, allowing for an exemplary job at providing technical assistance to school districts, families, and partners. Building a strong partnership with the Department of Human Services, in particular the county assistance offices, is one of Matt's major accomplishments since his hire with the Center for Schools and Communities. Matt is recognized by his peers at a national level and has been asked to participate in a pilot community of practice with other state Points of Contact. He recently held stakeholder meetings around Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) III funding and the robust attendance at these meetings was a testament to Matt's ability to build strong partnerships. One of the attendees said "I'm always happy to join a conversation that Matt is in charge of."
Matt was instrumental in planning and managing the first Foster Care/Homeless conference in 2020 called Paving the Way. More than 1,000 individuals participated in the virtual conference.
Steve Kennedy
Telecommunications Web Consultant
Program Impact Award
Why Steve was nominated:With all the technological adjustments and changes that needed to be made during the madness of this last year, Steve was always there to be a guiding light. Teachers and staff were always met with a smiling, determined face, ready to help conquer any troubles encountered. Whether it was showing someone how to find the power button or providing advanced coding instructions, Steve brings a spectrum of knowledge and professionalism to his craft. A skill set like Steve's is the keystone to modern pedagogy.
"Thank you, Steve."
Contrell Armor
21st CCLC Youth Development, Center for Schools and Communities
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Parke Brown and the 21st CCLC Youth Development Team
Why Contrell was nominated:Contrell Armor acts out his passion for our Pennsylvania students every day and is responsible for many positive outcomes!
Contrell has especially demonstrated this in out-of-school time programming. He has been a Youth Development Coordinator in the 21st Century Community Learning Centers initiative at the Center for Schools and Communities since 2010 and has prior experience as a 21st CCLC program director. He is an excellent grant coach and colleague. In addition to his great work in 21st CCLC, Contrell has inspired and amused us all at CSIU staff gatherings and developed a very important role working with the US Department of Justice, SPIRIT program (Student Problem Identification and Resolution of Issues Together).
"Thank you, Contrell for impacting positive student outcomes and inspiring us all!"
Tim Musselman
Career Counselor, YES to the Future
Community Impact Award, Nominated by Kim Renz
Why Tim was nominated:Tim's office is housed in the PA CareerLink® for Columbia and Montour counties where he intervened and helped out a PA CareerLink® staff member who needed some re-enforcement dealing with a disgruntled customer.
"Kudos to Tim for stepping up to the plate to help another individual in a difficult situation and be able to de-escalate the situation."
Mark Carollo
Cooperative Purchasing, PEPPM
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Jared Lehman
Why Mark was nominated:With the retirement of Jeff Kimball in 2020, there was a large void to fill in our cooperative purchasing department. Mark has stepped up to the plate since being promoted to Associate Director to help fill that void. He was tasked with gaining a full understanding of how the the KPN contracts work and how they are created. He was able to accomplish this task at a very high level.
"I'm thankful for all the hard work he has done to make sure our department didn't skip a beat during this time of transition!"
Christy Hauger
Pre-K Counts Administrative Assistant
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Christina Moser
Why Christy was nominated:Christy has worked extremely hard this year in the Pre-K Counts program helping both administrative staff and teaching staff in many areas of need. She was a huge asset to our Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) review ensuring that all of the Early Childhood programs were successful in meeting required mandates. Not only does she work hard but she is always a smiling, positive face, both in the office and virtually!
"The entire Early Childhood department would not be the same without her! "
Kathleen Alexander
School Psychologist
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Kaitlyn Hall
Why Kathleen was nominated:Katie continues to bring her passion for learning to the workplace. She frequently shares resources and shows a genuine love for ensuring students have appropriate supports. She provides constructive feedback to colleagues in a respectful manner so that they may grow their own abilities.
"She brings a wealth of knowledge to the departments that she works in and goes above and beyond with her work ethic!"
Alison Kreitzer
English Language Development, Center for School and Communities
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Andrea Kolb
Why Alison was nominated:Alison has demonstrated that there is no challenge she cannot overcome. During the past year, Alison has adapted so many of our processes and systems to shift from in-person to virtual, which strengthened our work not just for this time, but for years to come.
"We are better because of her critical thinking, attention to detail, and ability to design long-term solutions to respond to immediate needs."
Dana Graupensperger
Human Resources, Center for Schools and Communities
Program Impact Award, Nominated by Andrea Kolb
Why Dana was nominated:Dana consistently goes above and beyond. Most days, I think she's a master juggler. As we have experienced a number of employee transitions in recent weeks and months, Dana has taken on multiple additional tasks to fill in gaps, assisting with writing multiple job descriptions and leading a cross-systems team through "conference season" with all events shifted to virtual formats.
"Her team is amazing, and her leadership is even more so."
Kevin Kilgus
Director of Financial Services, Business Office
Community Impact Award
Why Kevin was nominated:Kevin's leadership of the business office team goes far beyond fiscal guidance and expertise. During the recent annex move, Kevin helped ensure everything went as smoothly as possible. He encouraged us every step of the way and even did the lion's share of the 'heavy lifting' for those who needed the help but were hesitant to ask.
"Thank you, Kevin!"
Pamela Miller
Early Childhood, Head Start
Program Impact Award
Why Pamela was nominated:Not only has Pam continued to provide high-quality and successful services to her families in the Head Start program during the COVID-19 pandemic, but she patiently supported a family during a great loss. Sometimes it is challenging to deal with a family's personal loss; not knowing what to say, but Pam handled it like a true professional. She went above and beyond for this family and continues to support them as needed to help get them back on track.
"Great job, Pam!"
Casey Klinger
Early Childhood, Head Start
Program Impact Award
Why Casey was nominated:Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Casey has gone out of her way to search for valuable resources to share with her families, as well as other families in the program. These resources have helped them obtain food, educational activities, utilities, internet assistance, etc. Casey continues to look for means to help support all Early Head Start families, even though they are much harder to come by these day.
"Well done, Casey!"
Susan Hertzog
Early Childhood, Head Start
Program Impact Award
Why Susan was nominated:On a daily basis, Sue strives to support the families on her caseload as well as supporting co-workers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, she has been a positive role model providing continued encouragement and support for families through the challenges of virtual visits and outdoor home visits. She most recently helped support co-workers during the packing and moving from one building to another.
"Way to be a positive light!"
