Leading Lions for September included staff members who were recognized for regularly going above and beyond in service to students, the community, and their buildings.
Summer Meals
The New Richmond Exempted Village School District has a long tradition of providing meals to students during the summer months. This past summer the program took on a new look and expanded service with the introduction of the new Traveling Lions Lunch Box lunch bus.
This was a game-changer for the foodservice department which in the past loaded meals onto smaller transports to deliver to students throughout the community, Food Service Director Brenda Young said. The program was successful beyond expectations thanks in no small part to the dedicated team that prepared and packaged food, loaded the bus, and delivered the meals.
In celebration of their tremendous efforts, Mrs. Young nominated the following as Leading Lions: Eva Brewer, Narcissa Casteel, Bonnie Caudill, Susan Hounshell, Cindy Leen, Shannon Meyer, Robin Pelcha, Tina Stiles, Allie Ward, Pam Williams, and Lisa Workman.
Locust Corner Elementary
Going above and beyond expectations was a common theme for the September Leading Lions. Locust Corner Elementary School Principal Joe Roach nominated two of his staff members who he called “outstanding” - Elisa Metzger and Vanessa Wyatt.
Mrs. Metzger switched over from working with students with special needs to serving as our clinic aide two summers ago, he said. “As you can imagine, the job that I described to her in the interview was NOTHING like what she has faced over the past 12 months,” he said.
“Lisa really has been doing the work of two people over the past year in taking care of all of the various needs of our students, spending a great deal of time communicating and educating parents about quarantines, and working with our District Nurse to constantly keep up with the everchanging guidelines. Even though this was Lisa’s first year as our Clinic Aide, she truly does the job as if she were a 30-year veteran. Lisa does an amazing job caring for our students with Type 1 Diabetes, and it seems like it’s never too late for Lisa to answer a text or take a call. Lisa, thank you for your service to Locust Corner and we hope that you will be at LCE for many more years to come!
“Mrs. Wyatt, who is our outstanding School Secretary at Locust Corner. Vanessa is now in her 37th year working for schools and she seems to have the energy level still of a teenager,” Mr. Roach said. “Vanessa has truly been my right-hand person for the entire time that I have been at Locust Corner and has been a wonderful partner to work with. After 30 years of working in District Offices in Treasurer’s Assistant roles, Vanessa made the very difficult transition to being an Elementary School Secretary. She is truly the glue that holds everything together. She comes to work every day with a positive attitude and is one of the most cheerful people I know! I know that Vanessa would not like it if I said that I wanted her to be here for many more years to come but I want to thank her for all she has done to keep Locust Corner running in such an efficient, smooth, and cheerful manner, especially in these challenging times!”