toThe Putnam City Foundation is proud to announce the Golden Apple recipients for fall/winter of the 2007-08 school year. The winners are (drum roll, please):
Joy Bjerk-PC High School Teacher
Joy Fisher-Windsor Hills, Mayfield, PC West Volunteer
Angela Lee-PC North High School Teacher
Gloria Rangel-Transportation/Bus Driver for Central Intermediate
Lynette Thompson-Western Oaks Middle School Principal
Joy Bjerk is a highly intelligent, perceptive young woman. She joined the faculty of PC High School committed to achieving to the best of her abilities. Her positive disposition and reflective way of operating help her to learn, lead and relate to her fellow teachers and her students. She is the resident expert on River Deep computer training. She coaches other math teachers in how to use this program with their students.
She has been an integral part of the math department. Her drive to excellence is demonstrated in the fact that over 88% of her students passed the EOI tests with satisfactory or above. She teaches students who have had the most difficulty learning Algebra I to be a thing of the past. She asks for these students because she loves to make her lessons relevant and uses innovative ideas to challenge her students to do their best. She continues to seek ways to improve her teaching with the 100% goal in mind.
Mrs. Bjerk also plays a vital role as the Varsity Cheerleader coach and sponsor. She is committed to the students that are involved in this organization. They respond with confidence in her as she encourages and challenges them to be the best.
From greeting students at her classroom doorway, to teaching the slope of a line, to riding with a bus full of high school cheerleaders, Mrs. Bjerk is making a difference in the lives of her students-both academically and personally.
Joy Fisher has served in Putnam City schools Windsor Hills, Mayfield, and PC West PTSAs for nineteen years. She has held virtually every type of parent volunteer position, including the role of PTSA President at two schools. She has worked tirelessly to make sure the parent volunteer system works to support students and teachers. Joy also served on the Putnam City Foundation board, sharing her time and knowledge to ensure that the PC students and teachers benefited from the programs the Foundation supports.
Mrs. Fisher's greatest strength is the ability to get to know people and to see where they can "fit" into the school organization. She is able to delegate and help parent volunteers find a job that fits their personality and needs. She makes new members feel like part of the family and links them with other experienced parents who can train and encourage them in their volunteer roles.
Mrs. Fisher goes out of her way to help make PC West the best it can be. She has arranged for speakers, offered her home for student council meetings, written newsletters, organized fund raisers, organized homecoming events, monitored for tests, organized Winter Dance and "After Prom" parties, baked pies and many other meaningful and helpful "chores". Joy always helps out with a warm smile, kind words, and a job assignment to encourage volunteers to get involved.
Recently while volunteering at West, a student gave Joy a big hug and thanked her for helping to change his life. It took a minute for her to recognize this now grown student who plays offensive line for PC West's football team. She had once tutored him in reading, when he was in second grade. He said, "She is my angel". After 19 years of volunteering, this is Joy's last year as a parent with the district. Her legacy can be described as "JOY".
Angela Lee wears many hats at PC North. In her first three years at North, she served as the PEAK advisor, AP coordinator, and college office co-advisor. Currently, she serves as a ninth grade English teacher and 11th grade AP Language and composition instructor. On top of that, she organized and implemented the 2007 PC North Leadership Development Institute.
Innovation, creativity, and a use of technology are the three things in which Angela excels. To combine all of these attributes, she used MYSPACE to allow her students to respond to her summer reading assignment. This creative way to get students to read was enjoyed by many more students participating than in other years.
Two years ago, Miss Lee became the faculty advisor for the award winning PC North Literary Magazine. This year she was the faculty advisor for the senior class of 2007. She organized several senior projects, one of which was the purchase of a new trophy case.
Angela Lee's greatest impact is felt every day by the students in her classroom. "Great teachers are born, not made" and she is a great teacher. Students are prepared-they write better, and they read more critically and deeply. Her students often tell the true story. As one student recently remarked, "Miss Lee is my teacher and my friend".
Gloria Rangel is an outstanding bus driver for the students of Central Intermediate who goes above and beyond what is expected of her as a bus driver. She has expert driving skills and a perfect driving and safety record for all four years. She is a driver trainer who helps instruct new drivers when they are learning how to drive a bus and work with children. She has had only two referrals for student misbehavior ever, which shows that she truly is in complete control of her bus at all times. She is a very precise and professional person. What singles her out as very special?
Every morning, Gloria greets every student by name as they board the bus. In the afternoon, she gives them the same warm smile and asks them about their day. She knows every student by name and most of their parents, where they work, and if the child has someone waiting for him. She has pictures of her bus riders taped on the wall where they sit. She decorates her bus with student work. She teaches them states and capitals and other lessons. She sings the chicken birthday song on their birthday, dresses up like batman on Halloween, and makes the bus ride home enjoyable. Gloria loves being involved in the lives of her riders.
The relationship that Gloria builds with her positive words of encouragement and praise makes each student feel special. One teacher quoted Gloria as saying, "I want to contribute something positive and give them a sense of security when they are with me."
Lynette Thompson is an outstanding principal at Western Oaks Middle School. She demonstrates a positive and strong leadership role that has a profound impact on the education and wellness of the students. She spends time with struggling students and has advocated for interventions based on their academic needs. Students know that Mrs. Thompson truly cares for them and their particular situation; this helps them to move on and become someone better.
One of Mrs. Thompson's accomplishments is the implementation of the HOST program. This program provides extra tutoring time for students who need remediation in math or reading. Other students are in club type activities according to their interests. This innovative program is extremely successful, and the students that have been attending the tutoring classes are feeling more powerful and confident in their school work.
Another of Mrs. Thompson's most powerful skills is her ability to reach the "unreachable". She takes these students that struggle with behavior, defiance and a bad attitude into her office and spends a day with them building a rapport and developing a relationship. Even the most defensive students tell her what is really bothering them, and she works with them to help resolve these issues. She helps them realize that school is a safe place and their teachers want what is best for them. Her motto is to change their behavior, not just give them a consequence. There are many stories from kids that Mrs. Thompson believes in them and believes they will be successful. Kids want to be at Western Oaks Middle School.
The Putnam City Foundation is proud to sponsor the "Golden Apple" awards twice during each school year (December & May). Each winner is awarded a brass apple with their name engraved on it and a check for $200. To learn more about this program, please email Linda Buxton at lbuxton@putnamcityschools.org or Dondra Floresca at dfloresca@putnamcityschools.org.