Leading Learning Award - Current and Past Honorees
We're proud of the work our staff does every day. Meet our Leaders of Learning and those who are Going Above and Beyond and nominate your deserving co-worker today.
April 2023 Honorees
Kelly Cleveland
Kelly Cleveland has always been an exceptional teacher and learner. She never stops thinking of how students can have better outcomes and how she can better her practice to make that happen. She is a top-notch teacher, advocate, role model and leader within our county, state and even nationally.
Because of her early, specific auditory work with students, we have seen them go from being fully mainstreamed in their elementary years, to being fully mainstreamed by kindergarten. or preschool in some instances. It has been an incredible shift to see children who are deaf and hard of hearing have the level of auditory skills, language and vocabulary skills and the confidence to be at school in their home districts.
Crystal Gumbs
Crystal has been a part of our Great Start to Quality team for the past 8 years. Since the start of her employment with us, she continually strives to 'do more and be more.' Crystal is the type of employee who will volunteer for specific tasks/roles because she knows it will benefit the good of the group. She has volunteered to be one of our McKinney-Vento trainers, a Child Care Business Course trainer, a Birth-to-Three Literacy Essentials trainer and more. She has also taken on the role of direct support for all refugee licensed child care providers and helps lead a monthly community of practice for these providers which focuses on current developmentally appropriate practice and how to translate that into their businesses.
Jeff Miller
Jeff has served as Custodial Supervisor at Kent ISD for 19 years and his commitment and dedication to serving students, staff and guests truly exemplify what it means to lead learning. He often comes in early, stays late, or gives up time on weekends to assist with meetings and student activities, or to ensure that our buildings and grounds are safe and secured. Jeff is someone that values helping others and will go out of his way to accommodate even the smallest need or request. It is evident that Jeff has instilled this service-oriented approach to the staff he supervises, only further extending the positive impact Jeff has had throughout Kent ISD.
Nicole Mulder
Nikki has made a tremendous impact with her work as the Complex Communication Needs Team Lead at Early On Kent ISD. Over the past couple of years, Nikki has been instrumental in pushing conversations related to early and equitable access to communication and empowering children with delays or disabilities by helping them find their voice. In partnership with other Early On staff and administrators, Nikki has led a strong team that focuses on educating and supporting Early On with all things related to augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) and assistive technology (AT). Nikki and the Complex Communication Needs team are currently supporting over 60 children with the trialing of AAC and AT devices.
March 2023 Honorees
February 2023 Honorees
Amy Slagboom
Amy truly embodies the role of 'Servant Leader' by meeting the needs of our young adults and their families in a time of crisis, helping them accessing community resources, assisting with transportation, clothing, food, and other essential needs
James Swenson
Jim always puts students first for his class and the entire Welding Technology student population. He is always thinking of innovative and new ideas to maximize student learning in our program and provide the most opportunities for our students to succeed.
Mikaela Lamrouex
During her time with our program, she has worked extremely hard to not only learn the work, but become a "go-to" staff member for several pieces of it. Mikaela is an amazing team player who is always willing to help out her staff mates in any capacity.
January 2023 Honorees
Kristen Doneth
Kristen goes above and beyond to create a peaceful and tranquil work life balance. Though Kristen has a busy family herself and is working towards a masters' degree in her own life, she makes our work life pleasant and joyful. Kristen treats our team at Launch U like family. She cares about us and our families. Additionally, Kristen builds relationships with ALL the students in Launch U. She knows all of their names, their circumstances and triumphs. She works hard to remove obstacles that might impede the success of the Launch U students.... Kristen's energy brings light and joy to the Launch U students.
Scott Fredrickson
Scott Fredrickson was awarded for his work in helping Kent ISD recover from a major fiber break that occurred last summer during a construction project. Over the next couple of days, Scott provided leadership and guidance to ensure a full recovery. Scott's work allowed Kent ISD to implement a repair that was not only completed in a day but was also cost-effective. This work is outside of the traditional scope of his position and fully demonstrates how Scott is willing to go above and beyond for our organization.
