Quyana to Holly Barclay at Ocean View Elementary. Mrs. Barclay is an amazing and talented educator! She taught my older two children and is currently my youngest son's teacher. Her creative approach to teaching addresses the diverse learning styles of her students and inspires them to learn in her own classroom and outside it as well. For my older children, as their writing teacher, she ignited in them their own style and helped them discover their unique talents as writers. Now high school students, they consistently continue to demonstrate those skills in their work. My youngest child comes home and raises the questions discussed in class and shares them with me. Her lessons and instruction is meaningful, authentic, and effective. A heartfelt "thank you" Mrs. Barclay for your excellence in teaching and compassionate nature. -Anne Larche, parent and peer
Quyana to Anne Morris at Dimond High School. Anne Morris is a rock star! She goes out of her way to be helpful to new teachers — from sharing materials to making copies for us when we're in a pinch to giving us chocolate and an open ear. She's also an organizational phenomenon, putting on Battle of the Books for nearly 500 freshmen. Her skill and dedication are inspiring. Going to work with her each day is a huge gift! -Antara Brewer, peer
Quyana to Donny Kindle at Central Middle School. Donny Kindle has been a rock in the lives of students and staff at Central Middle School for 24 years. As the BPO Mr. Kindle works with all the students and staff daily. For generations Mr. Kindle has been a positive force and roll model for students. He is kind, compassionate and always patient. His calm manner and kind words have helped many students though tough times in their lives. While doing so much to support the students Mr. Kindle has kept one of the oldest schools in the district looking fabulous and takes great care of his staff. Donny Kindle — a cornerstone of Central Middle School. -Central staff member
Quyana to Audrey Charvat-Drew, librarian at Polaris K-12. A special thank you to Audrey for making this year's book fair such a success and for her excellent day to day work as our librarian. The book fair was a great success! The selection was wonderful, the layout was beautiful, books were easy to find, and I was floored at the number of book donations for the classroom. Audrey involved a legion of smiling parent volunteers, many of whom were first-timers and who've since been seen around the school in active involvement. I've heard lots and lots of great feedback from students, parents, and fellow teachers alike. Audrey is also an awesome librarian. All of my students love going to the library each week and I appreciate the way she makes connections to what we are doing in the classroom. She's a wonderful collaborator, always has great ideas, and definitely "thinks outside of the box" in delivering good, solid curriculum in ways that engage students! Audrey knows her stuff, making her a wonderful resource when I'm searching out materials, both print and electronic. She also gets to know students and helps them to make meaningful and helpful connections to materials and literature. Thank you for your great work, Audrey! You are an amazing professional and working with you is a pleasure! -Jamie Rodriguez, peer
Quyana to Arturo Ayala, Tom Shelley and Angel Ortiz at Dimond High School. Arturo Ayala, Tom Shelley and Angel Ortiz are in charge of the Dimond High School J.R.O.T.C. program. The mission of J.R.O.T.C. is "To motivate young people to be better citizens." This program does motivate young people to be better citizens. Arturo Ayala, Tom Shelley and Angel Ortiz make this program exciting and fun. You do more than just sit in a classroom and listen to teachers talk. As Arturo Ayala says 'We are all a family." We take care of each other. We cheer each other on. We work together as a team. Throughout the school year and even during the summer we are doing activities. There is the Military Ball, Summer Camp, Cadet Challenge and the Triathlon just to name a few of the activities that we do. If it was not for these three awesome people who do what they do I don't think the Dimond J.R.O.T.C. program would be what it is today. In J.R.O.T.C. there is structure. Arturo Ayala, Tom Shelley and Angel Ortiz, thank you for doing what you do every day. -Alexis Cobb, student
Quyana to Jean Pollard at Hanshew Middle School. I wanted to take a moment to thank Ms. Pollard for the wonderful help she gave me and my daughter while registering at Hanshew. Ms. Pollard is a counselor for Hanshew Middle School. This is a new school for my daughter and she was very nervous. Ms. Pollard made her feel comfortable and was very helpful in accommodating Katie and the schedule that she wanted. Employees like that just make a stressful situation very pleasant! Katie now feels like she has someone to help her when she needs it at school. I can't thank her enough for that! -Nancy Newell, parent
Quyana to Toni Mercer at Mears Middle School. Quyana to Toni for her kind support of the Giving Tree. Toni responded to our program's request of gifts for children experiencing homelessness in our community by encouraging her colleagues to donate as well. And, if that wasn't enough, she contacted her own family members and their businesses who made a significant cash donation. The Giving Tree received wonderful support from many ASD employees and their families. Toni Mercer stands out as one of many who contributed to brightening the holiday for many children which made the yearly project a success in 2007. Thank you, Toni, for supporting our students! -Barb Dexter, educator
Quyana to Heidi Embley in the Communications Department and the Elementary Education Department.
I want to thank Heidi and the Elementary Ed staff for their professionalism and support during a recent incident at our school. As school staff worked through a variety of issues, Heidi, along with Elementary Education, were there to offer guidance and support through each stage of the process. With their support, our school was able to ensure an uninterrupted and safe educational environment for our students. Thank you. -Bonnie Goen, principal, and the Williwaw staff
Quyana to Carrie Shelley, librarian at Rabbit Creek Elementary. Carrie Shelley is an asset to her colleagues, school and the Anchorage School District. Having met Carrie through participation in the ASD Clio Project, I have found her knowledge and enthusiasm infectious. As a colleague who teaches bilingual students at the high school level, her knowledge of appropriate reading material which can assist, excite and engage readers with limited English skills is phenomenal. Her experience having taught in the gifted program allows her to offer perspectives that others cannot. My students cannot thank her enough for introducing them to materials that encourage them to bridge the language gap and become engaged in reading in a second language. Thanks for teaching me how to build reading bridges from young adult novels to the classics ! I am a better teacher for having your assistance! -Maria Skala, colleague and high school bilingual language arts and history teacher
Quyana to Brian Singleton at Government Hill.
I send tremendous thanks to Principal Singleton for his tireless, cheerful, extraordinarily patient and very successful efforts to deal with the traffic congestion at Government Hill everyday at 3:30. Rain, shine, snow, zero degrees - Mr. Singleton is out there, working above and beyond duty, to help all of us maneuver the parking lot. Without his efforts, and those of his staff, there would be a lot of frustrated people. I also wish to thank him for his emphasis on child safety in the parking lot. Thank you Mr. Singleton! -Robin Wittrock, parent
