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Meet this year's honorees

• The Santa Clara County Classified Employee of the Year, in the category of “Child Nutrition,” is Teresa Defreitas, a Kitchen Supervisor at Buscher School in the Santa Clara Unified School District.  Her nominator wrote: “There are few people you meet in life that possess Teresa’s kindness of spirit. When you enter her kitchen the food is produced well, the kitchen is clean, and her staff is full of smiles. This energy and spirit shine through in the food served to her students."
• The Santa Clara County Classified Employee of the Year in the category of “Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities” is Cresencio Rodriguez, a custodian at Foothill Elementary School in Saratoga Union School District. His nominator wrote: “Cresencio ensures that Foothill Elementary runs at optimal performance every day. He is dependable and reliable. His communication and his dedication to getting the job done right is unmatched."
• The Santa Clara County Classified Employee of the Year in the category of “Office and Technical” is Cassie Giannotta. Cassie is an Office Assistant, from Silver Oak Elementary School in Evergreen Elementary School District. Her nominator wrote: “Cassie does much for our school, community, staff, students and their families. Whenever she is needed, Cassie jumps in without hesitation. Cassie treats every child on campus as her own."
• The Santa Clara County Classified Employee of the Year in the category of “Para-Educator and Instructional Assistance” is Tiffany Bui, a Child Development Center Specialist at Sherman Oaks School in Campbell Union School District. Her nominator wrote: “Tiffany supports her students and the entire Family Learning Center Community. She encourages home and school collaboration and communication.”
• The Santa Clara County Classified Employee of the Year in the category of “Support Services and Security” is Heather Cooper, an Athletics Clerk and Coach at Branham High School in Campbell Union High School District. Her nominator wrote: “Heather's commitment to Branham is second to none. The amount of time she spends on the campus is immeasurable and students, parents and staff benefit from her commitment to the Branham High community."
  

​About the event

Since 2008, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson has invited each County Office of Education to participate in the Classified School Employees of the Year (CSEY) Program.

The CSEY Program highlights the contributions of classified school employees who support the education of California's public school students in preschool through grade twelve. CDE Classified Employee of the Year nominations are due back to the SCCOE by February 22, 2019.

Program information, including instructions, is available online. Category and eligibility information is listed below. Note that the nominations take considerable time and thought to complete. 

Each nomination should contain:

• The completed nominee information form 

• Three completed nominee recommendation forms (limited to three pages each) 

Nominees must be:

• Current employees with a minimum of five years of service in nomination category, with no minimum full-time equivalent 

• Rank and file employee, not in a management or supervisory position 

Nomination categories:

• Child Nutrition: The work of this candidate must be directly related to food handling and/or preparation. Examples: cook, cafeteria worker 

• Maintenance, Operations, and Facilities: The work of this candidate must be directly related to maintenance services or operations services. Examples: technology support, custodian, electrician, carpenter, groundskeeper, mechanic 

• Office and Technical: The work of this candidate must be directly related to clerical, secretarial, or technological duties. Examples: accountant, network engineer, programmer, secretary, attendance clerk 

• Paraeducator and Instructional Assistance: The work of this candidate must provide direct instructional services to students. Examples: classroom assistant, instructional aide, library assistant 

• Support Services and Security: The work of this candidate must be directly related to security of students and/or property or work which has duties that are not covered under any of the other categories. Examples: campus security monitor, health aide, community outreach assistant 

• Transportation: The work of this candidate must be directly related to student transportation. Examples: bus driver, dispatcher, mechanic

Event Timeline: ​

• ​February 22  absolute last day to submit entry to the SCCOE​

• March Adjudication begins

• April SCCOE County winners are announced, County winners move on to State Competition

• April The State Superintendent of Public Instruction notifies the State Awardees.

• May TBD County winners are honored at Board of Education Meeting at 5 p.m.

• May TBD Classified School Employee Week

• May Awardees are honored at an event in Sacramento hosted by the CDE and event sponsors during Classified School Employee Week.​

Please contact Summer Reeves at (408) 453-6824 if you have any questions.

Please e-mail your nomination packets no later than the February 22 deadline to summer_reeves@sccoe.org  or make sure they are received that day via mail to:

Santa Clara County Office of Education
Media and Communications - MC 215 

1290 Ridder Park Drive
San Jose, CA 95131 ​