By Shari Kaplan
The Los Gatos Union School District has recognized two secretaries and one teacher as Distinguished Employees: Betsey Duggan, Toni Impey and Diane Wittman. Each received a framed certificate and bouquet of flowers at the Dec. 13 meeting of the LGUSD Board of Trustees as they received their awards, part of the district's semi-annual employee recognition program.
To be considered as distinguished employees, teachers, certificated support staff, classified employees or part-time employees are nominated by one or more of their peers, who fill out a form explaining the nominee's special service to the district.
A committee of teachers and classified personnel, supervised by acting Superintendent Steve Peck, considered about a dozen nominations this time before selecting just three.
"What we're looking for are folks who show outstanding service to the district, the community or the profession," Peck says. "They don't try to call attention to themselves--sort of the 'unsung heroes.' They're just doing their jobs very well and have gone above and beyond."
Toni Impey
Commuting daily from her Summit Road residence, Toni Impey has been school secretary at Louise Van Meter School for three years; the previous 16 years she worked throughout the district as a special-education aide.
As secretary, Impey answers telephones and makes calls, deals with parents and students, handles paperwork and bookkeeping, prepares the school budget, and corresponds with other schools. "And if the school nurse isn't here, I'm also the nurse," she adds.
"It's a very interesting job and I love it. The day goes by very quickly," she says. "I always have a plan of what needs to be done but it never goes quite how I planned. I sometimes get a little frustrated if I don't finish something by the end of the day that I set out to finish."
Impey was a special-education aide in the days when the district supplied instructors for the former Ming Quong program. In the years that followed, she would spend five years at Lexington School and a few years each at Blossom Hill, Daves Avenue and Fisher Middle School.
"A lot of times, programs are cut. If you want to retain your position, you have to move around," she explains. "I really enjoyed it [being an aide]. You're in a unique position of helping yourself also; you get back to the basics and learn as you're teaching students."
Impey also spent eight years as treasurer of the now-defunct CSEA local chapter.
Betsey Duggan
Los Gatan Betsey Duggan has spent the past decade as attendance secretary at Fisher Middle School. Her duties include admitting late students and issuing late passes, calling parents to confirm absences, scanning computerized roll sheets and grade reports, and preparing monthly attendance reports to send to the state board of education. "Basically, anything having to do with student accountability," she says.
Duggan serves on various committees related to education, including the Classified Communication Team, which meets with the superintendent to discuss various issues; the Class Negotiating Team, which deals with contract issues; and the Cost Containment Committee, dealing with insurance and benefits issues. She is a former vice president of the local chapter of the California School Employees Association, before the small chapter disbanded.
She also finds time to attend workshops and seminars to keep up-to-date on the powerful new computer programs used at the Fisher office.
In a quiet way, Duggan helps a handful of underprivileged students each year by seeking donations or other assistance to help them afford that special outfit for graduation or tickets to go on the eighth-grade graduation trip.
One of the most rewarding aspects of Duggan's job is interacting with the students. "I always gravitate toward the child with problems. Because I have a private space, I can sometimes find out things that I can share with a teacher as to why things aren't going well [with a student] in the classroom," she says.
Diane Wittman
"I love teaching; I love watching the light bulbs go on!" says Diane Wittman about her chosen profession. And she should know.
The San Jose resident has taught third- and fourth-grade classes at Van Meter since 1968, the majority being third. "Little kids in third grade still like hugs and still get excited over stickers! I really love both grades, though," she adds.
Wittman was named one of three "Math Teachers of the Year" last spring by the Santa Clara Valley Math Association. She is also serving her third and last year as a math mentor, which this year consists of helping other teachers learn about and implement new math and problem-solving approaches in the classroom. She says she was excited about the "new math" but realized not everyone shared her eagerness. She worked successfully to change that.
Not stopping there, Wittman serves as a math consultant for Lakeside School; last year she worked with Alta Vista. She advises the schools in making improvements in mathematical areas to meet certain state requirements.
The year-end Van Meter fun and field day event owes its success to Wittman as well. She says she got so excited when her daughter's school in San Jose had a field day that she wanted to bring one to Van Meter.
Forty teams consisting of all age levels take part in twenty activities such as relay races, silly games and sports, earning points and learning about teamwork.
"The neat thing is that the big kids take care of the little kids and everyone has a great time," she says.
This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, January 10, 1996.
©1996 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.