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Edna Mailey and Joseph Dunne Receive Honors
The Poway Unified School District is
proud to announce that Edna Mailey, Student Services Specialist from Mt. Carmel High
School, and Joseph Dunne, Bus Transportation Aide, Special Education, have been chosen
as Poway Unified School District Classified Employees of the Year for 2005-2006.
Candidates were submitted to a
committee of district representatives, including a past winner, and district
administrator. The committee chose two nominees (one representing school sites and one
representing district departments) based on work performance, community achievements,
and contributions to the school district.
The San Diego County Office of
Education also sponsors a Classified Employee Recognition Program, honoring one member
of classified service for the San Diego County. This year’s Poway Unified
representative at the county level will be Edna Mailey.
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Edna Mailey
Student Services Specialist, Mt. Carmel High School
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Edna Mailey’s “can do” attitude
has made a difference in the lives of students, and of the people she reaches out to
at school and in the community. Edna is energetic and persistent and sees the good in
all people. She works in Student Services, a site-based assistance program, funded
through state and federal grants, that provides services for students and their
families when life circumstances create powerful roadblocks to learning. Edna listens
compassionately to students and parents and provides them with help on issues that are
sometimes as serious as drugs, depression, alcohol abuse, and being in trouble with
the law. Edna finds a way to connect with parents, students, and teachers and help
students reach their potential.
When she can, Edna intervenes on behalf
of the student in need. She may offer a shoulder to cry on, a lecture from
“mother,” a self-improvement class, or any number of personal services. In
addition, Edna multiplies her influence on students through her community network. She
has developed relationships with organizations and people, including counselors, law
enforcement, business owners, and charities who can offer what students need. Whatever
it takes, Edna usually knows someone or some group that can help. |
Edna is also a champion of charity. She works with
student volunteers and provides help to local families and to those in need
worldwide. Edna and her committed volunteers help feed the homeless downtown,
bring coats and blankets to the poor, and gather food and supplies for local
animal shelters. Edna oversees the adoption of families at Christmas, and she
spearheaded a campaign to purchase wheelchairs for the needy overseas. All of
this work occurred this year!
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| Edna combines these efforts with her
student counseling by inviting students to assist her in all of her good work.
This helps them build confidence, put their own problems in perspective, and
takes their minds off of their own situations.
Through her dedication and leadership, the
Interact Club was recognized as the organization of the year. She has had a
profound effect on the Mt. Carmel campus, both with those individuals or
families who benefit from community services, and the students who volunteer.
“Edna is a great asset to our school, to the
community and most importantly, to our students,” said Ron Garrett, Mt. Carmel
High School Assistant Principal.
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Joseph Dunne
Bus Transportation Aide - Special Education
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School begins for many Special Education students with a ride on a school bus. For the
past seven years, Joseph Dunne has helped some of these students start their day in
the best possible way. Joe’s high regard for and interest in students with special
needs gives these children a successful beginning each day.
Joe has devoted himself to the study of
autism in children and has attended numerous workshops and conferences on this subject
. He arranged his schedule with the Transportation Department so that he could also
work as a substitute instructional classroom aide with autistic students in Poway
Unified. He purchased a “Hug Machine” designed by Temple Grandin, which delivers
deep touch pressure to help children learn to tolerate touching and to reduce anxiety
and nervousness in the classroom.
During the summers, Joe works with the
Wisconsin Early Autism Project, which follows the influence of Doctor Ivar Lovaas, a
pioneer of a behavioral approach to meet the needs of autistic children. Joe’s
dedication to the understanding of these children has made him a resident expert upon
whom the Transportation Department has often relied for assistance with children who
would otherwise not be able to successfully ride on a school bus.
Through Joe’s self-study and college
level classes, he has amassed a personal library of over 175 books on the subject of
autism, which he loans to others to raise awareness of these children and their needs.
He has given valuable in-service training to the other school bus aides in the
Transportation Department and has been a guest speaker at a county-wide program on
transporting autistic children on school buses.
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On his own initiative he developed a picture
program modeled on the Picture Exchange Communication program to communicate
with non-verbal autistic children, and a rewards program to encourage good
behavior. He has employed music designed to calm autistic children on the school
bus, and designed a lap vest used to calm children by wrapping them in a heavy
reassuring material that suppresses the desire to move out of their seats on the
traveling school bus.
Joe has worked with many PUSD children after
hours through the County Mental Health Respite program, which provides relief to
parents and caregivers in the home.
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He is also an active member of the
transportation team, helping in the department and on the Sunshine Committee.
“Joe is a wonderful employee who
embodies our core values of "Excellence in All We Do" and "All Students
Learning-Whatever it Takes,” said Tim Purvis, Director of Transportation.
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