RAVE Winners 2015

Charyl Redding, Instructional Reform Facilitator - Glen Park Elementary School - Distinguished Service Award Winner for October 2015

“Charyl possesses a spirit of humility. Her energy and focus are in student learning. She works diligently to ensure that students' progress in their academics- and they do.” - Nominated 05/2015

Gabriel de la Cruz, Teacher - Thurgood Marshall Academic High School - Special Service Award Winner for October 2015

"Gabe is the perfect embodiment of a Swiss Army Knife. Not only is he clearly well-versed in his content, but he leverages his own network of community activists to make social justice as palpable as possible for his students. He is unwaveringly dedicated to building relationships both in and out of the classroom... and is relentlessly committed to putting students first and will strongly advocate for them in conversations with educators and administrators alike.” - Nominated 05/2015

Lynda Boyer, School District Nurse - George Washington High School - Distinguished Service Award Winner for September 2015

“Ms. Boyer is keenly aware of the needs of students, delivering wellness services in a sensitive, skillful manner that enables students to feel supported yet take responsibility for their health needs. She is extremely resourceful and has established important relationships with community agencies that have resulted in increased services for students.” - Nominated 01/2015

Christine Armstrong, Teacher - Alvarado Elementary School - Special RAVE Award Winner for September 2015

“We have had the good fortune to have some excellent teachers at Alvarado Elementary, but Christine Armstrong stands out as a truly outstanding educator who puts the students' education, growth and learning above all else. The children in her class love going to school and are excited to learn.” - Nominated 5 times 05/2015

Vivian Hong, Teacher - Junipero Serra Elementary School - Distinguished RAVE Award Winner for May 2015

“She took the time to teach me even though I was very distracted with my home issues. She would make the extra time and effort to support and reteach concepts to me at lunch and after school - her own free time.” - Nominated 01/2015 and 10/2014

Philip Siu, Desktop Support – IT at 655 De Haro Street - Special RAVE Award Winner for May 2015

“Philip has been providing IT support at Denman M.S for the past 5 years.
He is always courteous, friendly, patient and very professional. He does a great job explaining what he has done and asking clarifying questions. He does a fantastic job fixing our computer problems and I know when he arrives that the problems will get addressed by him. I really appreciate his hard work and great attitude.” - Nominated 08/2013

Kristen DeAndreis, Middle School Physical Education Content Specialist - Academic and Professional Development, Learning Support and Equity - Distinguished RAVE Award Winner for April 2015

“Her professionalism and work ethic have brought our middle school physical education departments so much closer with enthusiasm and encouragement. I am proud to work in a district that has such a professional person working as a middle school physical education content specialist like Kristen DeAndreis. ” - Nominated 01/2014

Sarah Van Velsor, Instructional Reform Facilitator – Bryant Elementary School - Special RAVE Award Winner for April 2015

“Sarah is all about closing the achievement gap for the underserved students! She works tirelessly with teachers; coaching, modeling and mentoring. The lens she relies on always is student achievement. ” - Nominated 05/2013

Tracy Thompson, Teacher – George Washington High School - Distinguished RAVE Award Winner for March 2015

“Tracy's teaching is innovative, and her outside-the-box lessons encourage each student to reach and surpass their own potential, and foster a love of learning.” - Nominated 03/2013

Denman SOAR Team (Latrice Bennett, Dre Mackie, Tiara Rogers, Eric Boston) - James Denman Middle School - Special RAVE Award Winner for March 2015

“This team gives 120% every day! They are working with our students who need them the most. This amazing team shows up every day provides a rigorous education to all of our students. They work with the students to raise their academic skills, but also their social-emotional skills.” - Nominated 03/2014

Whitney Marsh, Teacher, Roosevelt Middle School - Special RAVE Award Winner for February 2015

“Ms. Marsh is an amazing, caring teacher who works to get the kids in shape, teach them good health habits, to respect themselves and truly is a model to our kids. She goes above and beyond to be a friend to ALL students at our school.” - Nominated 10/2013

Nancy Hawkins, Teacher - Alvarado Elementary School - Distinguished RAVE Award Winner for January 2015

“Ms. Hawkins is always looking for extra opportunities for the children to learn. She actively encouraged the children in her class to participate in Google's Hour of Code and Beyond the Hour of Code. As far as I know, she was the only teacher at Alvarado to do this.” - Nominated 05/2014

Leslie Garner, Executive Director, IISJ - Special RAVE Award Winner for January 2015

“Leslie does many things to move the district forward. Recently she helped organize the School Planning Retreat for school teams to discuss the components of their Balances Scorecard. Her work ethic is strong and she is committed to moving our district forward. She gently holds us accountable for upholding the district's Strategic Plan: Impact Lives, Impact Learning.” - Nominated 04/2014