Two employees at elementary schools within the Howell Public School district are being honored for their exceptional work in their respective roles.

The district has selected Cindy Blackmar as its 2018-2019 Service Person of the Year, while Laura Williams has been named the 2018-2019 Support Person of the Year. Both Blackmar and Williams were presented with their awards this week. A committee of district stakeholders met November 27th to consider 17 nominations for Service Person of the Year and 19 nominations for Support Person of the Year.

The Service Person of the Year award honors an outstanding paraprofessional, general education aide, copy clerk, mentor, hall monitor, food service employee or maintenance worker. Blackmar, who is this year’s recipient of the Service Person award, is a paraprofessional at Northwest Elementary. She works to build relationships and trust with the individual students she assists, learning about their interests and the things that bother them to help ensure student success.

The Support Person of the year honors an exceptional secretary, main office clerk, library services coordinator, book-keeper or computer technician. This year’s recipient, Laura Williams, is the building secretary at Challenger Elementary. She is said to be known for offering warm greetings to visitors at the school while juggling the busy office environment. Williams is described as being very knowledgeable about district policies and guidelines, and that she is always willing to help any student, teacher or parent, even if the request falls outside of her job responsibilities.

Blackmar and Williams will be honored at the district’s Board of Education meeting in February.



Photos courtesy of Thomas Gould.
Photo 1: Cindy Blackmar with Northwest Elementary principal Craig Munro
Photo 2: Laura Williams