Yolo County SELPA Honors Contributions to Special Needs Individuals

Woodland, CA - On Monday night (May 9), the Yolo County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Community Advisory Committee honored 21 county recipients during an awards ceremony held at the Yolo County Office of Education (YCOE) in Woodland.

This year’s recipients included a principal, school psychologist, general education teacher, administrative assistant, and transportation dispatcher. This year’s outstanding team award was awarded to the Inclusion Team at Holmes Junior High in Davis.

The annual award ceremony seeks to recognize individuals for providing outstanding service to children or adults with special needs in Yolo County. Award recipients may be school employees, parents, volunteers, students, or local agency professionals.

Paul Bridge, chair of the Community Advisory Committee, said, “The awards ceremony is an opportunity for the entire community to acknowledge individuals who have given extraordinary effort to support students with disabilities in our school districts.”

Awardees and their guests were invited to a dinner, followed by the presentation of awards. Bridge and YCOE Assistant Superintendent Elizabeth Engelken introduced school district leaders who shared why the recipients were being recognized. Certificates of achievement were also provided by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and Senator Bill Dodd.

The Community Advisory Committee is an organization of parents, educators, and community members representing the five school districts in Yolo County and YCOE. This advisory committee provides community awareness projects on special education, in-service training for parents, and provides input on the Yolo County SELPA Local Plan. Meetings are open to the public.

The recipients for the 2021-2022 Community Advisory Committee awards include:

Davis Joint Unified School District

• A’Delle Duggan-Laws, Psychologist, Davis Senior High School
• Program Award: Inclusion Team, Holmes Junior High

Esparto Unified School District

• Jennifer Myers, Speech and Language Pathologist, Esparto Elementary School

Washington Unified School District

• Tiffany Keller, Teacher, Riverbank Elementary School

Winters Joint Unified School District

• Tawnya Martin, Administrative Assistant, Educational Services

Woodland Joint Unified School District

• JamieAnn Hopton, Principal, Gibson Elementary School
• Daniel Fisher, Transportation Dispatcher

Yolo County Office of Education

• Victoria Ferrendelli, Speech and Language Specialist, Greengate School

More information is available on the Yolo County SELPA website at www.ycoe.org/selpa.