- April 19, 2024
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DeAndre Harris and Kim Weeks pose for photos at Flagler Auditorium. Photo Jacque Estes
Marcus Sanfilipo, Indian Trails Middle School holds his award for Assistant Principal of the Year. Photo Jacque Estes
School superintendent Jacob Oliva stands with Principal of the Year John Fanelli of Wadsworth Elementary. Photo Jacque Estes
Flagler "Super"intendent Jacob Oliva flies onto the stage at Flagler Auditorium to open the 2016 Teacher of the Year and Employee of the Year award celebration. Photo Jacque Estes
Colorful signs filled the auditorium. Photo Jacque Estes
Employee of the Year Brun Hudson skated his way onto the stage. Photo Jacque Estes
John Fanelli snaps a selfie of himself and Jacob Oliva. Photo Jacque Estes
Employee of the Year, DeAndre Harris gives School Board Chairman Colleen Conklin a big hug. Photo Jacque Estes
As she is escorted toward the stage by OKES principal Ben Osypian, Kim Weeks reaches out into her crowd of well wishers. Photo Jacque Estes
Colleen Conklin snaps a selfie of herself and the two winners. Photo Jacque Estes
DeAndre Harris and Kim Weeks. Photo Jacque Estes
Kim Weeks is surrounded by her family on stage. Photo Jacque Estes
Tears of joy are wiped away by Kim Weeks. Photo Jacque Estes
Jacob Oliva, Ed Wolff (Teacher of the Year 2015), Andy Dance, Colleen Conklin, Kim Weeks and Janet McDonald. Photo Jacque Estes
“Super”intendent Jacob Oliva “flew” across the stage at the Flagler Auditorium, wearing an emblazoned “T” (Super Teacher) blue shirt and a cape that flowed behind him, to start the 2016 Flagler Schools Teacher and Employee of the Year ceremony. 2015 Employee of the Year, Brun Hudson made his entrance on roller skates, twirling and dancing to wall-shaking music. Ed Wolff, 2015 Teacher of the Year, dapperly donned a Panama hat, linen suit, and dark sunglasses for the occasion. This definitely wasn’t going to be a stuffy awards ceremony.
The parking lot at Flagler Palm Coast High School was nearly filled to capacity more than half an hour before the awards ceremony was scheduled to begin. Inside homemade signs bearing school and candidate names, marked the “camps” of each candidate.
The Employee of the Year candidates were introduced in a video clip of Oliva “doing the jobs” of those being honored. From leaf blowing (in a suit), to cafeteria duty (with a hair net), to balancing phone calls in an elementary school (unsuccessfully), a humorous view of challenging jobs was presented.
Teachers and employees were escorted down the center aisle by principals and supervisors, some dancing and greeting the crowd – all enjoying their moment.
The Old Kings Elementary section of the auditorium exploded before Oliva could get the entire name of the school out, much less Kim Week’s name. Weeks, a teacher in the county since 2003 and the media specialist at Old Kings Elementary for the past 10 years, wiped tears away as her family joined her on stage after the program for pictures.
“It’s not unusual to find Kim teaching a technology class for students, showing them the importance of digital citizenship, while keeping an eye on their digital footprint and warning of cyber bullying,” Oliva said.
When his name was called, DeAndre Harris catapulted out of his seat; arms stretched upward, and began hugging and “high-fiving” everyone between him and the stage.
Harris is a paraprofessional who has worked with the Exceptional Student Education students at Indian Trails Middle School for the past year, and, Oliva said, “Has packed a lot of experience into those 365 days.”
The next stop for Weeks and Harris is the State competition for Teacher and Support Employees, prestigious, but probably not as much fun.
