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Local school workers up for statewide Employee of the Year recognition
Employees Making a Difference
Barbara Bjarnason of Medeiros Elementary, Candida Baldwin of Denair Middle, Pepe Flores of Ross Middle, Louise Amaral of Ceres Unified and Zach Goehring of Oakdale Joint Unified were selected as the five representatives for Stanislaus County in the statewide Classified Employees of the Year competition later this year (Photo courtesy of SCOE).

Three local school employees will be representing Stanislaus County in the California Department of Education’s statewide Classified Employees of the Year recognition program.

Barbara Bjarnason, paraprofessional for special education-severe at Medeiros Elementary in Turlock, Candida Baldwin, a food server at Denair Middle School, and Pepe Flores, lead custodian at Ross Middle School in Hughson, were honored at the 17th annual Employees Making a Difference ceremony held by the Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE) and Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Region VII on Wednesday. 

Bjarnason, Baldwin and Flores joined Ceres Unified secretary Louise Amaral and Oakdale Joint Unified campus monitor Zach Goehring as the five representatives for Stanislaus County’s public schools in the statewide competition, which will take place later this year.

Also honored during the event was Cari Guyer from the Keyes Union School District, who received the annual Jane Johnston Civility Award for exemplifying the principles of civility both at work and in her personal life. The award was presented by the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County. It is named in honor of former SCOE Assistant Superintendent Jane Johnston, who helped launch the county-wide Choose Civility Initiative in 2010 and passed away unexpectedly in April 2012.

The Employees Making a Difference program aims to honor employees serving in different roles throughout public schools in the county, such as clerical and administrative services, custodial and maintenance services, food and nutrition services, health and student services, paraprofessional services, security services, skilled trades services, technical services and transportation services.

“Teachers, principals and superintendents know that the success or failure of any school or district office depends on the competency, passion and hard work of a talented support staff,” said Scott Kuykendall, Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools. 

“When I was first hired as an assistant principal, I was told by a veteran principal, ‘There are two people in the district who can make or break you. It is not the superintendent or the board president. It is your secretary and custodian. Take care of them and you’ll be a success.’ That was not only true, but one of the best pieces of advice I ever received.”