October 2022 NIB Awards

October 2022 NIB Awards

NURTURING GROWTH * INSPIRING ACHIEVEMENT * BUILDING COMMUNITY

A NIB is any school district employee, student, volunteer, or community member who exhibits the characteristics of the South Kitsap School District vision of Nurturing growth, Inspiring achievement, and Building community

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Commander Kevin Bedell
CTE/NJROTC

Since arriving at SKHS Commander Bedell has brought a new energy to the program.  His can-do attitude and willingness to bring in new ideas have energized the program and the Cadets.  He brought a new sense of purpose and drive.  The Cadets have taken to him and are ready to take on new challenges.  He has brought some innovative ideas that have helped the Cadets, especially those in leadership positions, to more clearly understand and grow into those roles.  He updated our advancement system which allows for our new Cadets to see a clear path towards personal and Battalion Success.  His work with our Top Four has brought a refreshing change and he has instilled a greater sense of stability.  The Top Four see him as a mentor and confidant they can go.  His easy-going manner allows them to feel free to communicate and discuss their ideas and goals. Commander Bedell is a setting the tone for a bright new future for the NJROTC program.  He worked to make our March On happen which highlighted the program and also our leadership.  Under his leadership we have exceeded 151 students which places the program back at Battalion strength.  We are all glad to have him on board.

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Ashley Cashman & EPO Team
East Port Orchard

I want to recognize Principal Cashman and her team for their continuous support and outstanding effort working with the Transportation Department. They are proactive and extremely responsive when it comes to issues that happen on the buses. Their insight, care and diligence is unmatched. They routinely communicate with the Transportation Department and provide support whenever it is requested. Additionally, they took initiative by setting up and conveying the behavioral expectations for our student riders on the buses. They organized meetings with each route so that the students could meet the entire team and so they could all hear the bus riding expectations. Further, they allowed the students to ask questions and have an open dialogue between them and the drivers. We are grateful to have such a strong partnership with them. Thank you for all you do and for the support you provide to the drivers. You are appreciated.

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Patrick De Vega
Teaching & Learning

Patrick is an exemplar example of Nurturing Growth, Inspiring achievement and Building community.  He goes above and beyond what is asked and does it with thoroughness and promptness.  An example of this is he was asked a "what if?" question to help serve our Multilingual students and the staff that serve them.  He not only found the answers, but he built a process to make the answer accessible to all staff and students and then volunteered to teach it to others.  I have witness this from him in multiple situations regardless of where the requests come from.

 

 

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Marissa Coulter & Kim Laur
Manchester Elementary

These two ladies are always on their toes making sure all our exceptionality students are taken care of, as well as their team.  They go above and beyond to ensure a positive, and nurturing environment for not only the students but also their team.  There are days where they miss lunch to ensure everyone else is taken care of on the team.  I also really appreciate all their guidance and help with every situation.

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Sarah Franchie
Orchard Heights

Sarah goes above and beyond her job description.  Sarah is very considerate with students, parents and staff.  She knows most of the children by name and remembers history and is the first to jump to help and offer assistance.  Sarah really models kindness and caring for children at South Kitsap Schools and is a true Orchard Heights Shark.

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Rachel Olsen
South Kitsap High School

Rachel Olsen is an interpreter for Liam Guerin. Rachel gives Liam a voice and is invaluable to his success within the classroom. Ms. Olsen has gone above and beyond to form a relationship with Liam, while also getting to know the other students in the class. She supports Liam with his learning, participates in school spirit events, and is a present, active member in the classroom and school community.

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Colleen Steinhauer
Teaching & Learning

Colleen is constantly going above and beyond in her role. She takes each new task, each new challenge, and faces it head on with fierce tenacity until she figures it out. In every aspect in her role, you can feel the passion she has for her work, and the empathy she has for her students. She’s always willing to listen and help when you have an issue, and she will not stop until she knows that a resolution has been reached. Her ability to learn, understand, and teach new information is incredible, and her memory for all she’s learned makes you think that maybe she wrote the information herself. Any frustration she shows is directly related to not being able to do enough for her students. She would be here 12 hours a day, 6 days a week if she could – and her workload would still be huge. Overall, Colleen’s compassion, perseverance, knowledge, and all-around overflow of moxie are both intimidating and inspiring. I hope her flame never dims, because the educational world needs many more people just like her.

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Kelsey Patterson
Teaching & Learning

If you look up “passionate” in the dictionary, you’ll find Kelsey’s name in there. How many people truly love and thrive on what they do? Talk to Kelsey for 5 minutes and she will convince you that there are still several people who fill that definition. Professionally AND personally, she is a true inspiration to be around! Her energy is contagious and when she gets on a roll about the love of her life (AKA Math), if you didn’t love it before you will at least have a decent respect for it after. She can teach anyone the concepts involved in math and leave them with an understanding that they didn’t have before. She is flexible enough to try different methods, and she loves the challenge of solving conundrums. She is kind, caring, and lovely inside and out. The positivity and inspiration she is spreading through the District Office alone is amazing, and when you get to know her outside of work, you’ll be blown away all over again. Her generosity, compassion, and wisdom are things I hope no one takes lightly, and I can only hope she is given the chance to infect as many people as possible with those characteristics.

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Erin Galloway
Cedar Heights Middle School

Erin Galloway consistently goes above and beyond to meet the diverse learning needs of the students in her classroom. She dedicates an extraordinary amount of time and effort to designing engaging lessons aimed at academic standards in five different content areas over multiple grade levels for students who would otherwise struggle to access content due to disabilities. Her careful planning also meets their social and emotional needs in such a way as to preserve their dignity when her students struggle to regulate their emotions and behavior. Erin fosters student confidence by enabling them to try increasingly more difficult tasks with their secure knowledge that she is there to support them, even when they move into their general education classes. We are really lucky to have her here at Cedar Heights!

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Kelly Wilcox
Teaching & Learning

Everyone knows Kelly Wilcox. She is the woman that, if something needs to be done, you can count on her to find a way to do it. No matter how full her (several) plates are, she continually handles every challenge with grace and humor. It is truly baffling to take in the scope of her job, and more baffling still to figure out how she gets everything done and still has time to answer questions and support her team. I’m not sure people understand the time, effort, and  massive amount of knowledge that goes into what she does, but I feel confident saying she is a valuable cog in the machine that makes our schools function. It has been three years that I have been here, and I know without a shadow of a doubt, that Kelly is the heart of Teaching and Learning.

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Savanna Page
East Port Orchard

EPO is a better place because Savanna Page is our dean of students. She takes extra time to build relationships with students and families. Whether it is putting bus tags on hundreds of backpacks, supervising at lunch, or teaching students how to play Gaga Ball, Savanna is always going above and beyond with her time and energy.

Savanna exemplifies the EPO vision of ensuring that: "Every day, all students in every classroom learn, grow, and dream.”

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Ingrid Thorstenson
East Port Orchard

Ingrid is a new member of the EPO community. From her first day as our school psychologist, she has been making a positive impact on our building and with students. Every morning she works at our Breakfast with Books. She greets every student with kindness and with a smile. In the afternoons, she supports wherever we need her. Her kindness and love for kids has helped establish positive relationships with staff and students. We are so happy that Ingrid is a member of our orca pod!

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