Board of Education Spotlight for December 7, 2020

Five people were honored with the Board of Education Spotlight at the Monday, December 7, 2020 Board of Education meeting. The four staff members and C.W. Baker High School student were honored with the Superintendent's Certificate of Excellence award presented by Acting Superintendent Joseph DeBarbieri. The board meeting was held on Zoom. 

Here are our Spotlight recipients: 

Lenah Penafeather, a 10th grade student at C.W. Baker High School was honored tonight for receiving First Place in the 2020 Bousquet Holstein Photography contest! The theme of the contest was “Life During the Time of Pandemic.” Lenah will receive $500 and the photography/art program at Baker will receive $500! 
  Christie Sperry, a Fifth Grade Teacher at Elden Elementary School was honored for adapting to the challenges of the pandemic with creativity and enthusiasm since March 2020. Mrs. Sperry adapted her hands-on, group-work approach in her classroom to meet the needs of our current safety protocols. She did all this without removing the fun from her vibrant classroom. She embraced online learning in the spring with virtual field days, scavenger hunts and virtual dares on Zoom.
 
Danielle Nahorney, Director of Academic Services and Accountability, was honored tonight for her leadership in helping navigate the District through the challenges associated with COVID-19 cases in our schools. Mrs. Nahorney has helped the District tackle the challenges of the pandemic. She created and implemented a system to report positive cases of COVID-19 to the Onondaga County Health Department and worked around the clock to help make sure our families were notified of cases in a timely manner. She also created a dashboard on our website that helps easily track cases and quarantines.
 
Mary Moyer, District Data Manager, was honored for being an integral part of getting the 2020 school year up and running. Mrs. Moyer has helped the District tackle the challenges of the pandemic and her hard work and dedication. Mrs. Moyer played a key role in navigating the assignment of students into cohorts, which allowed us to open our schools and offer in-person instruction to all students. She has also played an important role in helping Danielle Nahorney with documenting and investigating COVID-19 cases within our District.
 
Dawn Monica, a Food Service Helper at Van Buren Elementary School was honored tonight for being an integral part of the Food Service Department’s mission to make sure that all children were fed in our community since the beginning of the pandemic. Ms. Monica always rises to the occasion. She is a hard worker and dedicated to our students. When she was needed to fill in for a coworker and run the kitchen at Van Buren, Ms. Monica embraced the challenge. She was a great leader. She’s an excellent staff member and a valuable member of the food service team.