County schools honor employees for excellence

Contributed Report

Each school year, staff members from Goochland County Public Schools nominate employees and one team to be honored for their excellence. From these nominees, a Team of the Year, Employee of the Year, and Rookies of the Year are named. This year’s honorees are:

Team of the Year: GCPS

Transportation

Nominators stated that each member of the transportation department goes above and beyond to transport students safely every day. GCPS drivers are the first people who greet students at the start of the school day and strive to build relationships with children and families. Additionally, the transportation department has adopted technology to improve efficiency, and GPS-enabled buses improve routes and enhance communication.

Employee of the Year: Diane Rigsby

Diane Rigsby is all things

Goochland Elementary. She greets every visitor with a warm smile and builds relationships with families and students. As one nominator stated, “Diane goes way beyond her duties in the front office! She is an all-star coordinator of daily logistics, a calming presence, a rational voice, our staff’s number one cheerleader, and the ultimate motivator of challenging students!”

Rookies of the Year

Jane Coles, Byrd Elementary : Special education teacher Jane Coles is “amazing to work with, and the main thing I treasure about her is that she treats me and the other instructional as sistants in the classroom as an equal. She works just as hard and respects everyone.”

Bailey Nixon, Goochland Elementary : First grade teacher Bailey Nixon is “a ray of sunshine who genuinely cares about each and every one of her students,” a nominator stated. “She creates a safe space to learn and collaborates with her team to provide differentiated lessons.”

Trey Lawson, Goochland High : History teacher Trey Lawson has made quite an impact at his new school.

“He has come in and been a superstar. Aside from his

‘day job’ as a history teacher, Trey coaches two sports and has stepped up as an administrative intern. Even though he has only been here a year, I find it hard to imagine our school without the selflessness, hard work, and dedication of Mr. Lawson,” a nominator stated. “Students respond extremely well to him because of his ‘I care’ attitude and his ability to relate while teaching and engaging students in his curriculum,” another nominator stated.

Caroline Powell, Goochland Middle: School counselor Caroline Powell has made a great impression in her first year as a counselor.

“I can’t even begin to say all the things that she has done to make GMS a better place. Students love her and even request their one wish to eat lunch with her. She is a great counselor,” a nominator stated.

Katelin Nolan, Randolph Elementary: Fourth grade teacher Kaitlyn Nolan has been a pleasure to get to know as a colleague, a nominator said. “It’s been a joy to see what an amazing job she’s done in a new grade level at a new school in a new county. She creates a fun, positive, and productive learning environment and regularly gives timely and meaningful feedback related to challenging material.”

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Opinion

GCSO HONORS MOST RECENT CLASS OF D.A.R.E. GRADUATES

On april 12, the Goochland County sheriff’s Office celebrated the graduation of 72 d.a.r.e. students at Goochland elementary school.

The 5th grade students completed their 10-week d.a.r.e. curriculum with their instructor, deputy leabough. Here, sheriff steven Creasey congratulates the students on their completion of the class.

A note about litter...

(editor’s note: The following message was submitted to the Gazette by a randolph elementary 5th grader) in Goochland County there’s something called litter. But litter is not just in Goochland, it’s in more places than just here, it’s everywhere. My family lives just off of Fairgrounds and you wouldn’t believe how much trash is at our neighborhood entrance. Where do you think all that trash comes from? i think all of the trash comes from people not securing their loads in their vehicles. different people secure their loads differently. you can put your trash in a trash can then put it in your vehicle, use a tarp to cover your load then secure it, you can use bags to carry the trash in your vehicles or use cargo nets. Goochland Convenience Centers are giving away free cargo nets on april 22. you can pick up the cargo nets from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. while the supply lasts. in honor of earth day, please secure your load to reduce the amount of litter on our earth, in Goochland County and the entrance to our neighborhoods. Together, by securing our loads of trash, we can make Goochland a little bit cleaner.