Today, IUSD announced its five 2023 Classified Employees of the Year – Erica Gant, Dominique Grenier, Anne Moore, Juan Hernandez and Victoria (Vikki) Vosbigian. Classified employees include custodians, para-educators, media technicians, food services staff members, analysts, secretaries, bus drivers, maintenance technicians, clerks, and other non-certificated staff members. Most are represented by the California School Employees Association (CSEA). This year’s five employees were selected from more than 3,000 classified employees Districtwide.
A caravan from the District, including Board Members Lauren Brooks and Katie McEwen, Superintendent Terry Walker, District staff and CSEA President Gus Talamantes traveled to each site to surprise this year’s honorees in front of their families, colleagues and students.
ERICA GANT
Behavior Interventionist Erica Gant has dedicated her career to IUSD for 18 years, joining Loma Ridge’s support team in 2021. Erica’s incredible flexibility combined with her patience have solidified her role as critical to Loma Ridge. Erica patiently and skillfully makes connections with her students, resulting in her single-handedly changing a student’s school year and the trajectory of his progress. Erica has also taken many new staff members under her wing, training them on best practices to support students and inspires her colleagues to find innovative ways to support students. Erica’s kindness, collaborative nature and helpfulness never go unnoticed, deserving her this year’s Classified Employee of the Year!
DOMINIQUE GRENIER
Special Education Instructional Assistant Dominic Grenier has filled many roles for IUSD in her 14 years of service and what makes her stand out is her ability to connect with students. She allows students to feel comfortable engaging with the curriculum and asking questions when they don’t understand. Dominique strikes the perfect balance between exhibiting compassion and maintaining high expectations. She values students for who they are, meets them there, and pushes them to grow. Dominique is a lifelong learner. She is often asked to teach concepts across multiple subjects, and without fail, hesitation or complaint she takes the time to learn the material so that she can be a more supportive for her students in a way that is meaningful and real to them. For all these reasons; her patience, her warmth and compassion, her drive and commitment, and most of all, her unique ability to bring out the best in students, Dominique is, in her own humble and understated way, a superhero at Northwood High School.
ANNE MOORE
Anne Moore is so much more than a media technician at Northwood Elementary. She is an innovator, gifted storyteller, and trusted advisor who has captured the hearts of the entire student body and her peers. Anne’s greatest impact has been in transforming the Northwood reading program with her own innovative ideas. She successfully received a grant to purchase a colorful book vending machine for the library, where students get to choose a book on their birthday. Anne has also implemented a Book Swap and hosts Astronomy Night. Her students look forward to their weekly storytelling time with Anne, where she transforms her voice into a variety of characters. And her peers appreciate her willingness to volunteer with projects and events and for bringing “Cat and The Hat” items for staff members to wear on special reading days. The Northwood community relies on Anne’s wisdom and dedication, earning her this special recognition of Classified Employee of the Year!
JUAN HERNANDEZ
Campus Control Assistant Juan Hernandez is a role model to staff and students on Creekside High School’s campus. He frequently proposes new ways to positively impact the culture, creating engagement opportunities for the students who often feel like school is not for them. Juan has helped improve self-esteem, school connectedness and attendance. Juan approaches everything with a “can do” attitude, volunteering for the SEL team. Every morning Juan greets students as they enter campus and offers them breakfast. Throughout the day he is highly visible on campus where you can find him chatting with students and offering advice. Juan will never say no to helping out anyone, making him truly deserving of this honor.
VICTORIA VOSBIGIAN
Administrative Assistant Victoria Vosbigian has been supporting the Advanced Learning and the Math Department since 2014. She knows everything there is to know about GATE, APAAS and Advanced Learning in IUSD. One of Vikki’s best attributes is her willingness to say yes with a smile. She sees every new task as an exciting challenge and looks forward to accomplishing it with efficiency and positivity. Vikki has helped streamline the proctoring process to ensure it is smooth for students and parents. She challenges herself professionally, learning new programs and mastering old ones, taking her day to day skills to an exemplary level. You can count on Vikki to be the first to send a note of gratitude, or celebrate a co-worker, bringing a positive, fun energy to the department. She is a professional, kind, thoughtful and hard-working colleague who is always looking to expand her learning and add value to IUSD. Vikki truly embodies the “US” in IUSD.