001[Music] good evening everyone and welcome to the Montgomery County Board of education's 27th annual presentation of awards for distinguished service to public education um I'm Lynn Harris I'm currently the vice president of the board and on behalf of all the board members I want to thank you so much for joining us for this very special evening because I think all of us who have been in education and advocacy in this County and I have been for more than 15 years as parent as PTA member as a county PTA member as a teacher we know how important our partners are and the people who who go above and beyond in and outside of our school system every day to help serve our students better and provide them with robust opportunities and support and mentorship and so
002to me this in this night is is very very important because it gives us an opportunity to really showcase some of the The Shining I'm looking at the the decor shining stars that are out there in our community that really really doing extraordinary work um for students so um and before we proceed I really um I really want to thank our amazing young musicians who are here today [Applause] uh Kings View Middle School students so we have jamaa Lee an eighth grade student on violin uh and she uh she told me next year she's headed to poolsville high school and uh Joshua Hong seventh grade student on the violin uh Claire Kim 8ighth grade student on viola who's headed to Northwest High School next year uh Hannah philippy as seventh grade student on the cello
003and their sponsor and director Mrs sheski thank you so much for being [Applause] here so I also would like to take a minute to recognize my colleagues on the board of uh educ and so I'm just going to go around to see I know Miss Rebecca SMI is here and I'm looking Miss Julie Yang and Miss sheber [Applause] Evans and Miss Brenda wolf and I believe we're expecting uh our student member of the board Samy say but I do not see him yet oh okay can't make it all right and then um our our colleague uh Grace uh Rivera oven is unable to join us this evening and who else am I missing oh and Miss Carla sylvestri you may have heard how she's spending her day tomorrow so she is uh a bit busy
004getting ready to face down Congress um so um and I also want to uh recognize some of our elected officials who are with us this evening I see my good friend delegate 39 d39 delegate Greg wins and I think we have Mr Chao from d88 a 9 a sorry um uh anybody else slip in that I missed okay um and then um I think that I hit everybody and so uh just tonight we are honoring members of our community for ex as I said for exemplary work on behalf of all students and you can identify our honores because they're wearing these boers sitting at tables with their families but I mean many of our um honores are we have some individuals and we also have people who are part of a te a team and
005that team is is is also very important to the work um that that we do and they do to support our students and for every um I love this part of the ceremony for every one of our honores we have a video that is going to help you both get to know them and their work um so you get a much better uh sense of why they are so important and why they truly do provide distinguished service to education in mcgomery County much better than words uh could do uh so um we are going to begin in uh our program in just a second and to do that uh our first presenter is uh my colleague shabber [Applause] Evans good evening good evening you all look amazing this room looks fabulous can we give a
006round of applause to the board staff because they put all this together yes thank [Applause] you and then I wanted to recognize um our interim superintendent Dr Felder she's here today as well Dr Felder please stand to be recognized yeah all right so it is my distinct honor pre pleasure privilege to um introduce the first category and is for Community individuals the community individuals that I'm going to allow to introduce to you in just a little bit have been outstanding in their exceptional um significant contributions to Public public education so we just thank them so much for all they do on behalf of our students and with that I'm going to ask um for the first introduction video of Miss Evelyn Chong it's my privilege to introduce Evelyn Chong as this year's recipient of the
007board of education's community individual distinguished service in public education award thank you members of the board of education for recognizing her tremendous contributions I've had the privilege of advocating for mcps students alongside Evelyn for many years every advocacy effort Evelyn puts forth is grounded in research Equity collaboration and diversity through her various leadership and support roles within MCC PTA and Beyond her efforts have broadened participation and expanded Partnerships with local ptas County stakeholder groups and Community organizations to Advocate together toward common goals from countywide Zoom workshops to Brown Bag lunches to Boe testimony to countless meetings with mcps and stakeholders she has worked tirelessly in all of her Endeavors in collaboration with mcps Advocates from various stakeholder groups and Industry experts Evelyn's work has led to improvements in curriculum inclusivity and transparency educational resources for
008families and students and Equitable access to courses please join me in honoring Evelyn for her cooperative and unwavering commitment to equity and opportunity to ensure all students reach their full potential congratulations could we ask Evelyn Chong to come to the front to get your award [Applause] that for you yeah wow thank you so much to the board of education and audre for that beautiful speech I like tears um I'm so thrilled and honored to receive this award it is very very special to me especially because my fellow mccpta volunteers um nominated me so thank you that for that um to me this award is really to the many parents teachers and students that the mccpta and our PTA represent and to the other volunteers who have worked tirelessly alongside me to advocate for an excellent
009education for all students I also appreciate this award because it recognizes that community outreach and advocacy are forms of Public Service our committees provide spaces is where the community can feel heard and not so alone in this big system and where and when we see systemic issues we advocate for Solutions engagement takes work but we accomplish so much more last week members of OSS WB and OIP um our office of curriculum instructional programs participated in our curriculum committee's instructional Equity Workshop to talk about high quality materials and how to ensure that teachers and schools have the yearr round training and support they need to devel to deliver for engaging meaningful grade level instruction the nearly 2-hour discussion was dense nuanced and it expected a lot from our PTA leaders to absorb but everyone stayed through
010to the end our teachers and school administrators face unprecedented challenges today but they should know that they are not alone to sum up I would like to recall the movie Chicken Run in which the protagonist a chicken keeps trying to help chickens escape the coupe she laments that she can easily get one or two chickens out but the hard part is saving all of the chickens that to me sums up the mccpta mission and the challenge of our times how do we ensure an excellent education for not just some of our children but for all of our children and thank you to the board of education and to all of our M PTA volunteers teachers and mcps leaders that I have worked with in the last six years to try to achieve this Mission thank
011[Applause] you that was so great so now we're going to we're going to play the next nominator video for farad ma Richie it is my pleasure to introduce Farzad macari we were very fortunate to meet Farzad many years ago when he volunteered through the automotive Foundation by providing students dealership visits and tours at darkar 355 Toyota as time went on Farzad climbed the corporate ladder but didn't desert us his passion to help students only increased as he brought the support of the entire dark cars organization Farzad has since joined the ATF as our vice president he and his staff continually volunteer to ensure that students understand the opportunities that await them pad is well-versed in current and emerging industry Trends holding over 21 industry licenses and certifications and currently is acting as a recruiter manager
012and Maryland state inspector trainer he recognizes the industry's competitiveness and works to ensure that mcps graduates have the skills and training necessary to impress employers fzad and his team partner with our high school programs to provide seminars trainings and expert panels creating equity and connections between dark cars and our students he provides new vehicles and training to our programs and provides opportunities to our teachers to participate in manufacture factur training he is an influencer who shifts the conversations around the automotive education and allows students Equitable access to the Myriad of career opportunities and technological advances within the field Farzad values education and encourages graduates to become an ADI Apprentice where they're employed full-time with a living wage and continue their post-secondary education upon graduation all at no cost to our student students Farzad thank you
013for your continued hard work and cultivation of our partnership congratulations on your distinguish service to public education award congratulations [Applause] I can for hello everyone um just I'm going to leave the stuff to The Experts you know the lady at the door she did an outstanding job um pinning the flower I was a little nervous about the needle that that came with it um and I try to fix it and you know I keep yeah I should just left it the way it was um my my teammates uh pointed out that I can memorize a few hundred pages of repair manual but I I need one page to bring up so I going to start um good evening Board of Education members and Dr Felder uh thank you for this um very kind recognition I
014accept this award on behalf of the entire dark ARS organization here tonight with us I'd like to recognize my mentor and also owner Mr Jamie Darvish our fig stop um corporate fig stop director Mr Kevin Higgins our corporate service director Mr Iman marara and our multif franchise sha foran Mr Christian Sater and Mr Michael Basi um over the past 45 years dark Hearts has spanned across Six States in over 30 location while it is dark 's philosophy to run an ethical and profitable business there is a large focus in core belief in giving back to community as part of giving back the darish family has reinforced the importance of supporting the next generation of leaders I am honored that darkar is given me the authority to help shape the future of Automotive um Workforce together
015we coach Mentor students provide visitations to local schools and participate in skills competition around the state we make certain the mcps curriculum remains relevant and with current and future technology and the automotive programs are equipped within the latest greatest tools and equipment I am fortunate that I get to see the automotive programs not just in the region but around the country within mcps the automotive trade Foundation has been a wonderful way to engage our business partners and encourage networking opportunities for mcps students with dedication support and Leadership from our local automotive Community I can share with you tonight that the automotive that the Montgomery County provides one of the best automotive programs and curriculum that we have seen around the nation thank you guys um mcps Automotive programs are second to none they are preparing
016students for emerging Technologies industry credentials and certifications though I grateful to receive this recognition and hope to reinforce the importance of Career Education it is evident that investing in automotive program means investing in the future of our students the time is now more than ever to coach mentor and our future Mentor our future Generations know that dogars stands ready to continue supporting these programs and providing opportunities to our amazing students thank you they're all so wonderful okay so we have one more awarde in this category and we're going to play the nominator video for Melissa Regan ladies and gentlemen tonight we shine a spotlight on a tireless Advocate whose passion and perseverance have transformed the community of Germantown Mar Maryland and Beyond please welcome the exceptional Melissa rean the deserving recipient of the distinguished service
017to public education 2024 award for over 20 years Melissa has dedicated herself to advocating for safer schools Equitable opportunities and a stronger Community Spirit from enhancing school safety measures to promoting inclusive environments across all of Montgomery County her efforts in the PT a lgbtq advocacy and Community safety have left an indelible Mark join me in a resounding Applause for a true champion of change the inspiring the dedicated the extraordinary Melissa rean Melissa is clearly no stranger to this room she stands here um at least three times two times times a year giving testimony to the board so we appreciate you come on up [Applause] congratulations good evening Board of Education interim superintendent Felder and mcps staff I am Melissa Regan thankful for the opportunity to testify this evening okay right that's just what I do
018um um I'm I have a lot of questions about like the AI video that I got from the Clemente team um all joking aside um public testimony introduced me to advocacy on a countywide level and led to Partnerships working with board members and mcps staff in particular board members SMR Harris Evans and Retta oven um have worked with me on countless occasions staff in the Departments of Fine Arts Athletics compliance equity and Office of the superintendent opted in to work with me um in some cases for years and I'm sure I'm glad I hope that they are glad that they did shout out to the many people whose shoulders I stand on and to those that I'm passing the Baton too people like Cynthia audre Laura Rodney Debbie Bridget Jus Amy some people count steps
019in a day I count texts in a day with these folks a special acknowledgement to the senica valley cluster principles and parent leaders it has been an honor to walk beside you and to see how far we've come to Chris who got the job of editing for tone in a gazillion emails that I have sent to Calvin who got his uh perseverance Jean from me to Spencer who was inspired in fourth grade by Mr Tan and his finishing his first year as an mcps teacher and to Dory who coined the phrase mom won't like that and inspires me not to give up and my parents are here who always supported me being me thank you to the board of education for this honor and thank you to Nicole Koga at Clemente for spearheading this nomination
020thank [Applause] you we could not do this with our community individuals and so thank you so much for giving up your time and talents to our students we really do appreciate you so at this time I'm going to introduce um for the next category my colleague Rebecca smoski [Applause] well thank you at the risk of being slightly repetitive I just want to share that this is my favorite event of our year um having been a volunteer um with mcps for about 10 years before I ran for the board I know exactly how much time energy passion you all put into the advocacy and the Partnerships that provide for us as an organization and as a school system um so thank you thank you all very very much um my category is community group and it's
021my honor to introduce our next uh community group Award winners that has made a significant impact to education in mcps um I was going to say I think that's pretty much you know the nominator is going to speak for us my name is delegate T I'm representing Montgomery County and Har County I'm very excited to see Mt County Board of Education accepted M recommendation for Chinese American parent Association of Montgomery County called CA M the distinguish service award I really I'm really glad to see the COA MC being accepted for this critical recognition K MC has been a critical player with strong partnership with mcps since their establishment in 2006 16 of a new local nonprofit all volunteer organization and thousand of members and families which represent a deep connection to the Montgomery County Public
022School System before their establishment there is a disconnect or gap between the public school system and the count is very diverse Asian American Pacific Island community and the Kaa really bridg this Gap by you know introducing the school system to family and the introducing the family to the school system by doing so CA success brid the Gap and this needed service and engagement really help to increase the participation andem achievement with the families and students I'm looking forward to deeper time and connection and partnership in the future between CMC and mtom County Public School System I believe by working together this bridge and the partnership will enhance the community and the school system and benefit all of us thank you very much so at this time I'd like to call up uh zenong Chen for
023a representation for the American par Chinese American parent Association of Montgomery County [Applause] hi I'm a not good public speaker and uh uh I was s WR uh speech with ch GPT but I think this is this is my teenage daughter doing that but I think I just wanted to share some our journey with with with with you cap MC was found on the 2016 and uh we will had the 40 founding member and we are most of us are first generation of the immigration and uh we never we are new to this land and we are learning how to practice the democracy and we try to build this capmc uh open and transparent uh uh and organization to serve the community so the we have the very cleared bylaw we create bylaws and we
024have the election every two years we have bought so we do we try to doing the things like uh uh formally and make everything transparent include the um the finance and also the election all the decision we have multiple like the president award and Dr CH scholarship every year and we also have the 10 student club which covers the the sports like tennis and student student young J Jun club and also has the Capa uh one to one toring and also we have the the gardening club there's multiple covered multiple fields we have the contribute thousands of the student learning hours and we we also have the uh uh more than 200 adult mentor and volunteers help this community so thanks the Board of Education give us this opportunity and this award for us which
025is will encourage us to build a strong community in the future thank you so congratulations to Kappa MC um this year um sorry yeah this year's recipient um we're so grateful for the many contributions that your organization has made um to us over the years um right now I'm going to go ahead and introduce um my colleague uh Julie and um introduce the next category which is [Applause] business good evening how are we doing tonight night halfway there so let's wake up let's go because I'm so delighted to uh be here and to introduce our next category our business partners as a school system uh this award is to truly appreciate those who are good partners that not only help our students uh but also have last uh make a lasting impact on our community
026so let me just paint a picture for you to introduce our first award te in the dim glow of Screams silent lines of cold dance with evil intent in the heart of a cyers space unseen hands will digital weapons breaching firewalls like Fortress gates with a key stroke chaos reign as system F and data trumbl in the echoing Silence of the virtual ring a Cyber attack unfolds living a trail of disruption and uncertainty in its way what did I just describe anyone knows im a scene of Cyber attack I think that we are not strangers to Cyber attack many of you in the room probably remember the the 2021 um pipeline attack the pipeline attack um then um Colonial is it called Colonial pilot attacked which caed about 50% of the Virginia gas station and
02715% the Maryland and and DC gas station run out of gas all right so in our actively aing world the knowledge of cyber security it's not just critical it's a necessity so with that I would like us to roll the video to introduce our next awarde at any capacity every corporation has the responsibility to contribute resources and opportunities to support what matters most our children's future moreover the head of each Corporation has the utmost duty to advance its Workforce as diversity equity and inclusion as an integral component of its Mission and strategic planning scos Corporation a top provider of cyberspace operation services to Federal customers led by president and CEO Mr Caesar Pi a veteran of the US Marines has made championing our next generation of Maryland cyber Defenders one of its highest priorities by
028supporting mcps cyber security programs and partnering with the mcps Educational Foundation cus has made a long-term commitment to not only support mcps cyber initiatives but to also provide underrepresented High School seniors with the opportunity to pursue postsecondary and education in the field of cyber security it is with great pleasure and honor that I would like to thank the Montgomery County Board of Education for awarding scios the distinguished service award for education to receive this award are Mr Tyson ghee scio's chief liance officer and Mr sang sang D Chan say Chief technology officer thank you now I would like to invite um Tyler G the COO and who else she mention someone else on your team comp iny okay please come on up [Applause] think oh got good evening well between that introduction and the video
029I don't have much much to to say um unfortunately Mr Pi couldn't be with us tonight but um on behalf of scos I want to thank mcps um MPCs yes sorry um a little bit nervous up here uh for this recognition and our continued partnership looking forward to Bringing opportunities to students for you know looking towards a future in cyber security or just an interest in cyber security yeah I don't have much else we'd also like to thank the Montgomery County um Public Schools Educational Foundation um you know thank you for our partnership we want to make sure that um you know we could do everything that we can to help out the community we want to make sure that we are Paving a way to allow to create opportunities for under representative um High
030School senior that is why the foundation um you know that's why scholarship was created so we can help um get and strengthen our cyber security Workforce because we know we need it coming up with all the attacks that were mentioned just like the pipelines and everything else that we probably can't talk about in this room so thank you so much we really appreciate everything thank you for this [Applause] recognition so I actually was visiting one of the mcps Middle School school and the principal proudly show me some equipments and the program that's supported by scios Corporation I know that scos have received multiple prestigious award in the cyber security industry right but our award is unique is it demonstrate your commitment to a future um in to a future with Empower Warriors that can protect
031our peace and it signify our appreciation for your generosity and partnership congratulations again all right so there are two awardees in this category so last night uh to prepare for tonight I went on the website of our second award and very soon I will I fell into a very captivated rabbit hole for two hours on that website at the end of two hours I ended up with a long list of restaurants I'm going to try um uh a trail a hiking trail a museum I didn't know about and a whole bunch other experiences that uh that I want to do after living in this County for 20 years and the places and the display um made me I think successfully temporarily escape the FY 25 budget to a place that is fun delicious um Lively
032and enriching so and ladies and gentlemen and that website belong to our next aorty visit Montgomery please um roll the tape tonight the board of educ is recognizing an extraordinary business partner Kelly gra president and CEO of visit Montgomery in 2017 under a direct charge of then superintendent Dr Jack Smith Foundation office was tasked with overhauling the mcps hospitality and restaurant Management Programs the purpose of the directive was to engage local Hospitality businesses to help mcps improve and update the curriculum to meet current industry standards and to strengthen the skill level of mcps students entering into the hospitality industry this request resulted in the formation of the fourth mcps Foundation the foundation for hospitality and restaurant management or Farm Kelly grath along with visit Montgomery stepped up and took the lead to help recruit local
033businesses some of them being large International organizations through her efforts she has recruited businesses such as Marriott International Choice Hotels medium rare Hilton Cava Schulman Rogers and others to create the board she Partners not just as the vice president of the farm board but also visits our classroom provide mock interviews organizes fundraisers recruits industry partners and hosts teacher Summits Kelly and visit Montgomery requested and were awarded an economic development Grant which will allocate funding to be used toward hosting the first Montgomery County Hospitality showcase this grant will create many opportunities for mcps students to become engaged in addition there will be networking events where the students can connect with many industry professionals Kelly gra is a person of both words and action visit Montgomery is fortunate to have such a strong leader devoted to training
034and preparing the future of the hospitality industry Kelly is one of the most genuine people you will ever meet congratulations for this well-deserved recognition I would like to invite uh Miss caligra to receive this award [Applause] what a fun introduction thank you so much uh Dr Felder members of the Board of Education thank you for um recognizing visit Montgomery and the work we do to support and promote education in hospitality and tourism industry um I also want to thank Steve Bowden and two of my staff members that are here from visit Montgomery who provide so much support um we take for granted that tourism is really important to our economy and forget that we welcome nearly 8 million visitors a year who spend in our local economy $1.8 billion dollar and um after recovering from
035Co it is really nice to see people coming back to our community whether they're here for a meeting a conference Youth and amateur sports or just on business travel and Leisure Travel so um we're very excited that we have such a strong impact on the local economy as one of the fastest growing and most profitable Industries within the county it's important to me that mcps students have opportunities to explore the hospitality industry and potential career Pathways before they leave high school there are a number of large employers that bring opportunities for students just within a 20 mile radius there are three corporate world headquarters Marriott Hilton and choice hotels that says a lot about what's being generated in jobs in our local economy but also in the Maryland DC and Virginia region that are opportunities
036for the students in the future through my role as president and CEO visit Montgomery I began to connect with other industry leaders who identified the strong desire to provide support to mcps students interested in hospitality and tourism with the support of mcps I had the pleasure of being a founding board member of the hospitality foundation in 2018 the foundation allows business partners to mean meaningfully engage with the students the members of the hospitality and Foundation are not just visit Montgomery but Marriott Representatives Hilton Representatives Choice Hotels and K Cava and many other dedicated organizations through our combined efforts I'm proud to say in the last three consecutive years student enrollment in the hospit Hospitality program has increased for the last three consecutive years we're very proud of that one of the goals of the hospitality
037Foundation is to help students Envision their future and picture themselves in their career while students learn proper techniques and Industry Trends in the classroom we invite students to our business community and provide them with real world opportunities we accomplished this through engaging the students with events that we host we hosted an a um a dinner where the students cooked the entire meal and served and served last year and just last week we held a uh golf event where we brought three High School stud three high schools into the cross findes where the students cooked the meals worked the back of the house worked with the chef and we raised over $50,000 for one event so we last [Applause] week were able to issue our first scholarships to um five mcps students which is hopefully the
038beginning of many more scholarships we're really proud of that so we look forward to additional opportunities to support support the students I serve on many boards and have in the past and my staff serves on many boards but we have to say this is our favorite because we really feel like we can make a difference and we love working with the students so thank you very much [Applause] um thank you again visit Montgomery um prior to joining the board I was a college and Korea counselor and I truly appreciate um the different pathway that the school system has for our students and truly truly value the partnership we have with the county organizations and businesses and we want to open our doors to have you come in take our interns offer Hands-On opportunities let's partner
039to make a bright future for our students thank you next I would like to invite my colleague Brenda wolf to come and present the next [Applause] category well good evening evening I have have the distinct honor of presenting the awards to our mcps staff you know it's our staff that's the heart of our organization they make this engine run they help our students to learn and we truly value and appreciate everything that they do so thank you the first two awardees in the mcps category are Mr Ray gray and Miss Kathy green first I'm going to start with Mr Gray Mr Gray let's do we have the video can we put up the video for Mr Gray gray the man the mentor and the messenger Mr Gray the man represents a father figure to thousands
040of students he has supported over 25 years of service not only does he physically make one stand up in notice but his presence of gentleness kindness and loyalty to the community who has entrusted your most valuable resource in his care their children Mr Gray the mentor has reached and touched countless Souls left behind his mythology and manner are non-traditional to most but effective and efficient with witness the student athlete who refused to leave the field but now is a US Marine Mr Gray the messenger of Hope and what can be when Life Choices could have taken him low he chose to stay on a higher path staying true to his beliefs and borrowing from years of wisdom Mr Gray demonstrates a gentle kindness of all to witness this is Mr Gray the man the mentor
041the messenger no doubt about it thank you very [Applause] Bradly at this time I'd like Mr Gray to come on up [Applause] good evening everyone uh this is an injury I received uh breaking up altercation ah High School wow this is such an honor really and I can get emotional so please excuse me you know most of these kids come to us broken you know they they are really broken I had uh honor to visit a few homes and I found that the homes needed food most of these kids are broken because they are hungry and my mission was to make sure they are fed when they come to school and love them unconditionally and they help them be successful in life I had about many students I'm a veteran I worked in the prison
042system and I had a lot of kids join the military so this is truly a good honor thank you guys so much the Board of Education ma'am thank you you so much and I appreciate all of you thank you congratulations Mr Gray next let's play the video for Miss Kathy green we are extremely proud that Kathy green has been named a recipient of the distinguished service to public education award by the Board of Education Miss continues to make an extraordinary impact across mcps the state of Maryland and on the national level as a teacher coach athletic director and in her current role as Outreach and development coordinator she is Led with a student centered approach one of her greatest accomplishments has been creating and leading our student athlete Leadership Council the council is risen to
043State and National prominence infusing student voice into our program and empowering leadership in our student athletes Miss green continues to lead at the state level as a director for the girls lacrosse committee and on the national stage as a member of the nfhs student leadership committee throughout her career Miss green has fostered countless positive relationships with students and staff while promoting excellence in competition achievement in the classroom and citizensh ship in the school and community on behalf of all of mcps Athletics we congratulate Kathy on this incredible achievement you raise come on down uh good evening everybody and I would like to start with thanking the Board of Education and Dr Felder for this prestigious honor but I also want to thank you for your unwavering support and commitment to MC PS Athletics nation and
044making us the greatest inter Scholastic Athletics program that exists Across the Nation so I really appreciate um that support the student athlete Leadership Council began in 2019 I went to my director Dr Sullivan and said we we need to do something with student athletes and he said sky the limit and that was all that he needed to say uh I want to thank the 25 High School principles and athletic directors every year that Empower student athletes to engage in our student athlete Leadership Council also known as um sock we also have various athletic directors uh across mcps Athletics that serve on the sock planning committee and then we have the department of Athletics Ann Roser Brian Walker Sean hendy who do so much behind the scenes that people don't even realize what it takes to
045make sock become a national uh Council and then actually this award should be shared because I have someone very special that co-sponsors the student athlete Leadership Council with me and that's miss Robin McHugh so if we could give her a round of applause and then lastly I'm very fortunate every morning when I drive to work I look up and I say go God how could you bless me with a director that is so passionate about connecting with student athletes because that's me that's what I live for I live for having conversations with student athletes I live for infusing their voice into our program and making it better and every day I come to work I have a director Dr Jeff Sullivan who wants to empower not only his colleagues and the people in his Department
046As Leaders but but student athletes and student athletes just light up when he walks in the room and it's just truly phenomenal just to see how our student athlete has grown from 2019 until now and I also would be remiss to to um not thank um two very special people that have worked to just capture our student athlete Leadership Council and all of the work they've done and that's Dr and that's Mr Terry mclung with mCP TV and then Dan Gross over there who was taking pictures from 2019 on has captured our work so I want to thank them [Applause] too okay so congratulations Miss green uh at this time I have to check on this because my fellow board member is not able to be with us and I have her part so give
047me one second here I'm pleased to introduce the remaining two awardees in our staff category could we please play the video from muncha Leah Rodriguez I would like to take a moment to recognize Mrs muncha Rodriguez as one of the recipients of the prestigious distinguished service to public education award Miss Rodriguez is is a leader and a Visionary she has served students with special needs for her entire career originally working in the private school and then moving to mcps to teach some of the most impacted students in the SCB and extensions programs Mrs Rodriguez not only supports students educational needs but provides her expertise in behavior modification life skills training and communication skills to provide her absolute best for every student in their family you have touched so many students and you will probably never
048know the true impact of your skills but know that even many years after you've worked with students in their family they still talk about you and smile when they see your picture in our photo books Mrs Rodriguez it's been an honor to have worked with you and learn from you I admire your strength and your passion and your love I'm a better teacher because of you you exud kindness and excellence and because you are so willing to share your skills with others there are many many teachers out there who are better because of you thank you for sharing yourself with us at this time I'd like to invite Miss Rodriguez to come down probably helps if my speech is facing the right way um I want to thank the board of education for this honor
049and my friend and colleague Liz um who nominated me I'm here tonight with three of my colleagues and friends who have supported me but even more who've supported our students and their families as teachers in various they call us the Alo um which you know mcps loves a good acronym um which is the Alternative Learning outcomes programs so we are we serve the students with cognitive intellectual developmental disabilities some of the most impacted students in mcps um students who a lot of times the first thing people see when they see our students are the deficits but it's our job to see the strength that they bring to the table and much like the distinguished service of all those who've been recognized tonight to teach our students that they also can can self- Advocate and also
050give and give back to the community um with my colleagues we've done that in a lot of different ways we've taught them to self- advocate for themselves but even more to help them and their families think beyond what is possible um there's so many incredible organizations and people who've been in who've been recognized um but even there are so many organizations that After High School will help our students to gain employment or gain really meaningful um sorry I went off script um meaningful um volunteer work and to be visible and to be present in the community um and I'm going to just to remind everyone that everyone has something to give and that's something that my colleague Liz um really lives in in everything that she does as well um to the extent that I'll
051tell a story I'll change names but I had a student who uh has autism he's got some OCD things and a lot of times would just like pop up and just like bolt and like we kind of knew like oh he's got to go turn off the light two doors down like he's got to go you know close a door or something like that and I have another student who has some mobility issues and the first student po up and just like books it and so I knew I knew exactly where he was going so I knew we were like in a contained kind of space and he goes and I'm you know about to either start walking or maybe sending a staff to you know just kind of encourage him to come back when
052he when he finished the routine that he was working on and another student of mine pops up and he goes it's okay I got it and I and I think that that is really um the epitome of what we try to teach so anyways thank you so much for this recognition and for everything that everyone does for our students thank you I want you to know that it's okay to go off script it just shows the passion that you have for your job and the potential that you see at our students and you're excited to talk about it and we're excited to hear about it so our last awarde in this category is Julie Sanders please play the video I'd like to thank the board of education for recognizing Julie Sanders for the distinguished Montgomery
053County staff member award Julie has served within Montgomery County for decades she has touched hundreds of students lives and is such a huge asset for student Rapport she makes students feel safe she makes students feel valued and she creates these relationship ship that make students want to come to school every day during her time Julie has founded the model un program at gaitherburg Middle School which she has coveted and shared with so many students she has taken students abroad into several countries in Europe to use these skills she has also allowed students to feel empowered by creating many different clubs such as uh the pride Club over at Gaithersburg Middle School and she has been an invaluable asset to many members of the community thank you Julie at this time I'm going to ask Miss
054Sanders to come on down I'm not going off strip um I've actually given this um speech to all of my students today to practice but there's something very special uh that I wanted them to hear so I thank you to the board of education for honoring me with the distinguished service to public education award I'm honored to be noticed and recognized after 20 years with mcps thank you to my friend Aon Butler for nominating me I actually when I got the email I thought she was getting the award um she is going to be America's favorite teacher so vote for her um and I also want to thank my principal an Dolan who introduced me to Model United Nations when I was still an English teacher you both both have encouraged me to be a
055compassionate engaging teacher and I thank God for convincing me for at 40 to change my career pathway and pursue a master's degree in secondary education and thank you to my daughters Kristen and Katie for suffering as children when I ignored you and pursued my childhood dream of becoming a teacher I I hope you learned it's never too late to chase a dream or goal no matter how crazy or disruptive it is and thank you to my boyfriend Jamie for your support as I embark on the retirement phase I'm retiring this year 25 days uh you've given me a reason to smile again but most importantly I thank each of my 2,000 plus students who have learned laughed cried and shared their lives with me for 50 minutes a day for 10 months the moment in
056time watching them grow fall Learn change and begin preparing for the adult they'll inevitably become was a privilege and I love being their teacher the world is a better place because of each one of them and before I conclude I ask a favor two of my grandchildren start kindergarten and mcps a year from September they're twins they're awesome um please continue being caring adults who set policies that guide and give students solid boundaries and consequences without these guidelines children cannot see where the lines are so they cannot push the boundaries learn from their mistakes and try again before setting new policies please come visit our classrooms to see how County policies are enacted and include the struggling teachers and the struggling students because they're our reality my grandchildren's generation is counting on each of you
057to guide them to adulthood their future lives are in your hands thank you so much well thank you Julie and congrat congratulations on your pending retirement of course we don't allow that so you just take a break and you can come back on our substitute role okay now it is my privilege to introduce the awardees for school service volunteer whose selfless dedication makes significant contributions to the school communities please play the introduction video for Oasis tutoring good afternoon my name is terara strain I am the very proud principal of Glenn Haven Elementary School we serve about 575 students um in Silver Spring Maryland and I am here today to applaud and nominate um and recognize Oasis tutoring for all the hard work that they do within our school building they currently work with our first
058grade students helping them with with Concepts that their teachers highlight that they need um the tutors are wonderful they show up every week with a smile on their face our students are so excited to have them in our building and work with them we've seen wonderful progress that these students have made by working with these tutors they build these longlasting relationships um with the students and with their families they are um do a lot of hard work on building on those Concepts that their teachers have been doing but really it comes down to that relationship the kids are so excited to meet with their tutor and to to work with them and to show them the great things they're doing in the classroom that align was the work they're doing uh in their small groups
059I just really appreciate the hard work that Kathleen and her team do to make sure that our students are successful and can build these relationships outside of the class classroom that are leading towards their growth and achievement thank you at this time I'm going to ask Kathleen McDaniel to come up and accept the award for Oasis [Applause] good evening and thank you to the board and thank you to Dr Felder for this recognition um this is on behalf of our Oasis intergenerational tutors um we're honored to be recognized for our contributions to CPS for over 25 years now our amazing volunteers they choose to dedicate their time and they go above and beyond every day to support their communities so I'd like to take this time to recognize some of our actual volunteers that have
060their feet on the ground and they're over on the at the table there and I'm going to call them out and when I call your name if you stand up um I'd like for everyone to applaud them please uh Bill Rippy go ahead and stand up Bill [Applause] he's for over 10 years he's been um creating engaging lessons for students at Clopper Mill Elementary School thank you Bill um Andre yanes go ahead and stand up Andre again we have 10 years Andre is a multilingual volunteer and she uses her language skills to support the immersion program right now at Mary Veil elementary school thank you and then we have Linda and Neil schiffman go ahead and stand up they're married and they both volunteer at um Bell elementary school as well as at Oasis Linda
061helps teach our classes at Oasis and they have a combined 17 years of support to the Oasis tutoring program and then we have Glenda Henderson go ahead and stand up Glenda Glenda is our administrative volunteer she helps with count L hours with our tutor library that we have on site and she takes up any task that we need help with around the office okay so my time is limited but I wanted to share quickly um some feedback that we received at the end of the year we always put out a survey to teachers and ask for feedback um and this is what one of the teachers wrote last year on our survey I did change names also with students so um my student Zoe came to me at the beginning of the year and expressed
062an extreme dislike in Reading Zoe had no interest in books and it was a struggle to find a genre she was interested in when I learned about Oasis tutoring Zoe instantly came to my mind as the perfect candidate as the sessions continued I noticed Zoe's confidence improve in the classroom Zoe expressed the feeling of safety with her tutor Miss Janet where she felt comfortable sharing her struggles with reading which in turn created a safe space for her to learn to find the types of stories she was interested in each week Zoe became more confident in her abilities in class her reading ability improved tremendously Zoe went from a below grade level reader at the beginning of the year to now reading above third grade level Oasis is incredible and I thank Miss Janet and the
063program so much I'm so grateful that this program exists and this is from an actual teacher um in mcps now this story it's just one example of the dedication and the hard work that our volunteers put in week after week and I'll be honest not every story there's not always a student who jumps Leaps and Bounds in one school year but every story has a student who's believed in and given the time to feel successful because of our volunteers thank you Oasis volunteers and thank you to all the other um all the other award recipients tonight as well thank you for your service your appreciation don't [Applause] forget okay congratulations to Oasis next please play the nominator video for the special education equal development Society also known as seeds hello I am Evan Anderson and
064I am thrilled to announce one of the recipients of the award for distinguished service to public education School service volunteers here in Montgomery County this award recognizes an organization that has truly gone above and beyond to improve our community's education system I want to thank the board of education for this recognition seeds or the special education equal development Society is incredibly deserving of this recognition established in 2021 as a student-led initiative under the Chinese American parent Association seeds has quickly become a symbol of inclusivity and support within our Montgomery County Public School System over the past 3 years seeds has made numerous meaningful contributions from hosting weekly classes filled with engaging activities to organizing special holiday events and monthly day camps seeds has consistently provided valuable opportunities for special education students to flourish yet it's
065not just about the activities themselves seeds has made a lasting impact through tailored educational and social programs they have empowered students enriched our school system and strengthened our entire Community their collaboration with Montgomery County Public Schools has helped Foster a a culture of inclusivity and fairness and their Outreach to neighboring counties has created a sense of belonging and support for special education families throughout the region today let's applaud seeds for their unwavering commitment their passion and the significant difference they've made in our community and in the education system as a whole please join me in congratulating seeds on this well-deserved [Applause] honor at this time I'm going to call up Sophia is it Wang Wang if I Mis pronouncing correct me that's okay you can correct [Applause] hello everyone I know I'm last but hopefully
066not least so hello everyone my name is Sophie Hong and I am a high school sophomore from Richard Montgomery High School and I am also the president and founder of the special education equal development Society or seeds I'm extremely honored to be here tonight and on behalf of seeds we are extremely grateful for this award I'm also extremely grateful for my counselor for recording that wonderful video that was such great speaking I would also like to extend our gratitude towards the selection committee for stepping up and joining the support system in this community and the school system that special education students desperately need during the past 2 and a half years seeds has grown rapidly together with our volunteers seeds students and seeds families what started as a few friends and a goal slowly but
067surely turned into a the whole family what really makes seeds so meaningful and fulfilling for us is how we support each other in a loving environment in each class and each event through this journey I'm incredibly thankful for my sister who inspired this whole organization in the first place seeing her struggles pushed me to turn our worries into action I'm thankful to our student volunteers our student leadership two of whom are with me tonight um and of course our seeds families and students for believing in us and our mission I'm so grateful for our two parent mentors who are also here today um to Our Community Partners and everyone that has contributed as a student-led organization we are extremely happy to see such a substantial impact in our community serving over 200 students each week
068in Montgomery County Howard County and Baltimore County but our work is far from done and through this award we will draw motivation to work even harder to help others and to serve this community thank you so much for this recognition and your trust with your support we look forward to our future endeavors and will work hard to help each student grow from a Tiny Seed into a beautiful flower thank you so much are we so proud of our students I'm going to say what I always say we are in good hands our future is in good hands so congratulations to seeds and congratulations to all the awardees this evening at this time I'm going to turn the mic back over to Miss [Applause] Harris thank you again everyone for coming out tonight and celebrating our
069amazing Award winners who really bring um truth to the words that takes a village um we've seen tonight how our students our parents our community volunteers our teachers and staff members all work together to create a whole host of opportunities for our students to make their experience in mcps as good as it can be one quick house keeping announcement um after we we're finished here in just a second uh the lovely Dan Gross would like all of our award winners to come up to the front so we can get a group photo um to commemorate this evening even further so here okay he will tell you where to go so just thank you again uh this is always just such a great evening for the Board of Education to really celebrate just a few of
070the amazing people that help our make our community a strong one and it always strikes me that we live in a very rich and diverse Community where so many people are doing so many great things but so many times we don't know about what everybody else is doing because it is such a big and diverse County and this is a great opportunity just to get a little lens into some of the other great things that are happening that I'm betting many of you learned a lot tonight about some of the great work that's out there and now maybe are going to make some connections because of some of the people you heard about and learned about and got to see tonight um it is no secret that this is a challenging time not only for
071Montgomery County Public Schools but for public education across the country and those circumstances just make it even more important that we all recommit to the work of Education of community of of supporting the next generation of leaders I can't Echo uh Brenda more strongly every time I see the work of our amazing students in this County I think we're in good hands because they really are doing amazing work on a whole array of issues in front of them they see a problem they run to it not away from it and I so appreciate that about them so um tonight we honored members of our community for their exemplary work on behalf of our students our 27th um distinguished service for Education Awards I hope this puts a seed in all of your minds because next
072year we will be doing our 28th Awards and as you can see the power of one person seeing value in the work another is doing and making that nomination so think about it we got a year um anyway congratulations again to all our amazing um award recipients and the families and friends who support them in their work and um good night enjoy the rest of your evening and please follow Mr gross's directions for your photo up [Applause] [Music]