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WA State Classified Employee of the Year
If ever there was a real-life, undercover superhero, Veronica Gonzalez fits the bill. She is: Hardworking like Wonder Woman, Energetic like the Flash, Responsible like Spiderman, and Erudite like Professor X. She is a genuine HERO (https://bit.ly/3HbjGgF)
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Veronica is also sweet, modest, soft spoken, and if she’s being honest, feeling a little bit overwhelmed at all the attention the awards of NWESD Classified Employee of the Year and Washington State Classified Employee of the Year have introduced into her life.
But, true to form, she is taking these new platforms and opportunities to advocate for her work in full stride. The attention is timely and well-deserved: Veronica is changing students’ and families’ lives as Multilingual Family Liaison at Mount Vernon High School in the Mount Vernon School District.
In addition to the awards already mentioned, Veronica has been nominated for National Classified Employee of the Year by OSPI stay tuned for those results later this year. Veronica has also received the SWAN person of the year for community service in Skagit County, which included an awards celebration ceremony and invitation to speak with about 250 people. She’s been invited to be a part of community conversations and asked to be a guest speaker with different organizations, including the Mount Vernon Police Department, Spanish Speaking Family Neighborhood groups and the Burlington Kiwanis.
Veronica has been advocating for students and families in the Mount Vernon School District for over 27 years. Most staff in the district know her, and understand her job is to advocate for students. Veronica does everything in her power to make sure she is breaking down barriers to be a voice and find the resources and link between school, parents and students.
“My job is to advocate for students and families, to be the voice for those who don’t have the voice, a link between students and school and family. I am very passionate and strong willed when it comes to advocating for students. Growing up it was difficult; my mom didn’t speak English, I was always her interpreter. My mom was a very kind person who helped a lot of people, she instilled the spirit of helping others in me. She always said if you can donate, do it, and whatever the other person does with it is on them. My mom was one-of-a-kind, smart businesswoman, but she only had a second-grade education and did not speak English. Everything I do is because of her. I know how much she struggled and how much she cared for so many people.”
Veronica feels fortunate for her good relationship with district staff, but continually pointed out that the work is a team effort, saying, “I work with an amazing group of people and we work so well together. When someone has an idea, we find a way to make it work and provide needed supports to our students. Veronica said, “For example, if one of us says, ‘Let’s start a pantry to help students and families who need supplies during the pandemic’, the liaison team says, ‘Yea, let’s do it!’ When we started the pantry, it was all through donations. Staff first and then community. We served over 3,500 meals in the time we had the pantry open, and it was pretty much all through donations.”
During the pandemic the pantry provided food that was part of the students’ culture, focusing on the types of food that our families consume. Families were so grateful because it was what they wanted and used. Another major accomplishment has been helping students through drivers’ education certification. Veronica’s team helped support driver’s education for 54 students this past year. The cost of driver’s ed is a huge barrier for families at almost $700 to complete the course. If families have multiple kids, it can be cost prohibative. Munros Driving Instruction School gives a little discount so they can serve a couple more students with the funds. Fifty-five kids were enrolled and only one student couldn’t complete the program because of a family situation.
2023 School Year Projects and Goals
• Mount Vernon’s parent academy and resource fair serving between 200-300 parents by providing different learning opportunities. • Starting in December, Veronica will start connecting with seniors to make sure they are on track to graduate, employing the PASS program through Sunnyside School District. PASS stands for Portable Assistance Sequence
Studies for migrant students and is aimed at giving them an opportunity to make up credits or classes that they have failed. • Planning student/parent field trips to Washington State University and Central University to expose students to different schools and possibilities. So far 17 parents and their children are signed up for the overnight trip. • Second year as advisor for LUCHA club which stands for the Latinos Unidos Con Honor y Amistad. The club is in its tenth year, with Veronica advising for the past two years. It has 50+ members. They bring in guest speakers that look like Mount Vernon students, from police officers to city council members and business people. It’s a pretty cool club and community service is the main focus. This Thanksgiving the club served dinners to 22 different families in an effort to give back to the community.
Veronica dreams of an education system that hires more paraeducators and Latinx teachers who look like the students they serve. The future is hopeful, and Veronica said that she has a lot of former students who are now her coworkers. For example, Enrique Lopez and Ana Mendoza, members of the NWESD Migrant Education Team, were two of her students. She is so proud that they continued their career path into education.
Both Enrique and Ana were delighted to talk about Veronica. Enrique said, “Veronica Gonzalez was a tremendous resource for me in navigating the school system and instrumental in motivating me to graduate, during some rough times in my academics as a high school student.”
“Mrs. Gonzalez was always helpful during my years at Mount Vernon High School. Her guidance taught me the importance of self-advocacy, she helped me to believe in myself, and instilled that nothing is impossible in this world,” said Ana.
