Hall of Fame winners Shirley Horak & Carol Earles
Hall of Fame winners Nick Degen & Stacie Stokes
The AEA 267 “Hall of Fame” recognition program is off to an amazing start with 26 nominations already received! Ad Cabinet members reviewed the nominations and selected the following individuals for receipt of the award based on information submitted by the person nominating the individual, the desire to strive for a balance in representation in staff role and region, and background knowledge of the individual. All nominations will remain on file for consideration during future months.
Please join us in congratulating our October winners!
- Nick Degen, Educ Asst/Intervention Specialist at Pinecrest-Mason City, received his degree in Psychology from Buena Vista University and began his career with AEA 267 in 2006. Nick serves as an Ed Assistant – trainer and coach for Safety Care and Therapeutic Crisis Intervention, as well as for Pinecrest’s school wide behavior management program. Nick’s role in working with students involves responding to challenging behaviors, crisis situations, designing social skill instruction, and helping students practice those new skills. His goal is to ensure each interaction with a student is targeted to maximize learning and growth, both academically and behaviorally. When asked how he stays positive and dedicated to our mission, Nick told us that he continually challenges himself, the students and his co-workers to grow and learn. He also had high praise for the positive environment at Pinecrest and the commitment and patience of his colleagues.
- Carol Earles, Special Education Consultant assigned to North Tama Elementary School, graduated from UNI and was immediately hired by AEA 7 to serve Denver CSD. Taking time off to concentrate on her growing family, Carol returned to AEA 7 and then AEA 267 to continue teaching. She continued her education and received an MA in secondary special education. As a consultant, Carol enjoys sharing with others what she learned in her 29 years of classroom teaching. She is a firm believer in having systems in place to enable teachers to concentrate on each child’s individual needs. Carol’s goal is to make a difference with teachers and thus impact more students in the future.
- Shirley Horak, Human Resources Coordinator has been with AEA 267 for almost 30 years, starting in word processing and eventually moving into Human Resources. She previously worked for law firms in both Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls. Shirley enjoys every aspect of Human Resources and finds helping staff with problems, whether big or small, to be the most rewarding. We asked Shirley what advice she would give others about how to stay positive and dedicated to our mission. Her answer was simple-don’t take your work home with you and always be kind to others.
- Stacie Stokes, Consultant for Reading/Language Arts earned her degrees from Buena Vista, Morningside, and Drake University. Previous to joining AEA 267, Stacie worked in the Mason City CSD and at KIMT News. One of the main responsibilities of her position is meeting with administrators, teachers and colleagues to seek the best solutions to improve student learning. Quoting the Haitian Proverb that states, “Many hands make the load lighter,” Stacie tells us she feels very thankful to have the opportunity to work collaboratively with the exceptional educators served by AEA 267.
Continue to send those nominations in to recognize your fellow staff members who you think represent the best of the best!