SE Valley Times

Recognizing excellence has been a tradition in Kyrene for eight years, celebrating educators who exemplify the district's core values. Since the beginning of the Kyrene Values Awards, over 800 employees have been acknowledged.

This year, Team Kyrene was invited to nominate peers who embody the key traits outlined in the Kyrene Key Values: Connection, Collaboration, Compassion, Courage, and Curiosity. These values define what it means to be an educator in Kyrene and highlight their commitment to students, colleagues, and the community. Awardees are recognized quarterly by the Superintendent from a pool of nominations reviewed by the Kyrene Values Committee. This week saw the celebration of quarter two awardees among their students and peers.

The quarter two awardees include Cory Walker, a third-grade teacher at Kyrene de la Estrella; Ymrane Berisha, a day porter at Kyrene Middle School; Sydney Ulm, a resource teacher at Kyrene Middle School; Stacey Barone, a support specialist at Kyrene del Milenio; Liliana Cons Duarte, a resource IA at Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy; Carla Lopez, an attendance/office clerk at Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy; Grisel Phillips, a third-grade dual language teacher at Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy; Fred Lescher, an IA at Kyrene de la Paloma Arts Integration Academy; Nick Indoma, a CCDS teacher at Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School; Katie Anderson, a teacher/academic SEI interventionist at Kyrene de la Sierra; Jenea Bailey, a kindergarten teacher at C.I. Waggoner; and Desirae Smith, program manager for Community Education.

Each awardee received congratulations along with gratitude extended to all nominees. The awards were sponsored by CORE Construction which provided each recipient with a $100 Amazon gift card.