Yolo County Office of Education - Employee of the Month

Employee of the Month

Any YCOE employee may be nominated as Employee of the Month for a worthy contribution to the organization. Nomination and selection criteria are related to the topics for the month below and significant contributions to the YCOE organization, its staff, students, or the educational community. Employees nominated under this program shall be reviewed for selection by a committee within YCOE, on a monthly basis.

The award recipient shall be announced and recognized at the next Board of Education meeting, with one month's parking in the designated EOM parking spot (if applicable), a certificate of appreciation in recognition of their contribution, and a gift card.

Employees not selected in any particular month may be selected and receive this award in a subsequent month, within the fiscal year of nomination, if the nomination falls into that month's topic.

Topic for Nomination:

May: Strategic Plan Goal 4: Increase and sustain innovative and effective practices in administrative services (operations, business, and technology) while delivering high-quality and responsive services

June: Strategic Plan Goal 5: Recruit, retain, and develop a high-quality and diverse YCOE team

2025 EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

January 2025: Nedi Diaz, Early Learning Coach, Early Childhood Education

February 2025: Cathie Irwin, Program Coordinator, Multi-Tiered Systems of Support, Equity & Support Services
March 2025: Anabel Figueroa, HR Credential Technician, Human Resources Department
April 2025: Yolo County Career Program (Gerardo Guerrero, Bruce Lewis, Tomas Montoya, Gabriela Nunez, Virginia Shedd, and Roni Morales) at Cesar Chavez Community School

OUR CURRENT EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH

April 2025: Yolo County Career Program (Gerardo Guerrero, Bruce Lewis, Tomas Montoya, Gabriela Nunez, Virginia Shedd, and Roni Morales) at Cesar Chavez Community School

This month's topic was: "Strategic Plan Goal 3: Engage YCOE students in model education programs in order to ensure they are college and career ready”

The Yolo County Career Program (YCCP) team has been recognized for

their outstanding work in engaging students at Cesar Chavez Community

School. Their dedication to student success was highlighted in a recent

nomination, which commended their efforts in guiding students through

their second Presentation of Learning for the 2024-25 school year.

Unlike traditional career programs that focus on a single field, the YCCP

team at Chavez has designed a dynamic program that allows students to

explore a variety of career options based on their individual interests. After

analyzing past data, the team recognized that students in the previous

construction-focused pathway were not consistently pursuing careers in

that field post-graduation. In response, they restructured the program to

provide greater flexibility, enabling students to research, select, and even

change career paths throughout the year.

Through this approach, students develop essential soft skills while gaining

deeper insight into their chosen professions. During their presentations,

they confidently articulated their strengths, their reasons for selecting specific careers, and the steps needed to achieve their goals. Additionally, many Chavez students are now dually enrolled at Woodland Community College, further expanding their opportunities for success.

Thanks to the dedication and guidance of the YCCP staff, students are

empowered to envision and pursue meaningful futures. Their work exemplifies the principles of Strategic Plan Goal 3, serving as an inspiring model for student-centered career development.

The team was recognized at the Yolo County Board of Education meeting on

Tuesday, April 8, 2025

ARchive of past employee of the month recipients

2024 EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

January 2024: Heidi Anderson, Teacher, Adult Living Skills, Special Education
February 2024: Alyssa Alcazar, Paraeducator, Whitehead Elementary, Special Education
April 2024: Alejandra Lopez, Program Specialist I, Cesar Chavez Community School
May 2024: Rosie Vargas, Administrative Secretary, Special Education
June 2024: Kevin Tevis, Senior Computer Systems Specialist, Information and Technology Services
August 2024: Austin Adame, Senior Computer Systems Specialist, Information and Technology Services
September 2024: Jeremy Jackson, Paraeducator, Adult Living Skills, Special Education
October 2024: Rocio Jacobo Perales, Program Resource Specialist, Early Childhood Education
November 2024: Daniel Rubio, Senior Payroll/Benefits Technician, Human Resources
December 2024: Dr. Heather Schlaman, Literacy Coordinator, Equity and Support Services

2023 EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

March 2023: Alternative Education Paraeducators (Victoria Curry, Joel Garcia, Davina Huerta, Kristen Storz, Reggie Washington)
April 2023: Cat Vibert, Administrative Assistant, Educational Services
May 2023: Christie Petrali, Senior Payroll/Benefits Technician, Human Resources
August 2023: Abigail Briceno, Administrative Secretary, Information and Technology Services
September 2023: Nicole Castrejon, Family Support Services Manager, Early Childhood Education
October 2023: YCOE Student Intern Partnership (Eric Banuelos, Austin Creamer, Ken Creamer, Matt Juchniewicz, Bruce Lewis, Ray Lippincott, Alejandra Lopez, Tomas Marquez, Ben Nan, Edwin Ortega Beltran, Hector Perez, Karen Swan, An Ta, and Darin Tidball)
November 2023: Tommy Hobbs, Teacher, Dan Jacobs School

2022 EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

January 2022: Bridget Vaughan, Sr. Business Services Technician, External Business Services
February 2022: Bianca Solorio, Foster Youth & Homeless Services Outreach Specialist, Student Services
March 2022: Gerry Scholl, Substitute Teacher/Substitute Paraeducator
May 2022: Human Resource COVID-19 staff (Anabel Figueroa, Bebe Reveles, Iris Tapia-Ramirez, Patti Robles)
July 2022: Rosie Vargas, Administrative Secretary, Special Education
August 2022: Darin Tidball, Senior Maintenance Technician, and Austin Creamer, Maintenance Technician, Support Operations Services
September 2022: Claudia Grimaldi, Accountant, Internal Fiscal Services
October 2022: Yvette Seibert, Executive Assistant, Superintendent's Office
November 2022: Lisa Munoz-Vasquez, Youth Advocate, Alternative Education

2021 EMPLOYEES OF THE MONTH

April 2021: Chris Stringer, Network Engineer, Information and Technology Services
May 2021: Head Start Family Support Services staff (Rose Castaneda, Ana Ceballos, Teresa Jauregui, Cierra Joseph, Andrew Martinez, Julisa Melgoza, and Amelia Rodriguez Abonce)
October 2021: Heather Williams, Sarah Jull, Jonathon Monin, Roni Morales, Caitlyn Tsutsui, Greengate School
November 2021: Andrea Barajas, Administrative Secretary, Teaching & Learning
December 2021: Katya Griffin and Ana Renteria, Greengate School