Yolo County SELPA Honors Contributions to Special Needs Individuals

Woodland, CA - On Monday, May 8, the Yolo County Special Education Local Plan Area (SELPA) Community Advisory Committee honored 18 county recipients during an awards ceremony held at the Yolo County Office of Education (YCOE) in Woodland.

This year’s recipients include teachers, paraeducators, education specialists, a speech language pathologist, a school psychologist, an elementary school student, and two high school students. This year’s outstanding program was awarded to the Special Education Instructional Assistant Team at Winters High School in Winters.

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 Patrick McGrew 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 2022-2023 Community Advisory Committee awards include:

Davis Joint Unified School District

• Jake Abenojar, student, Davis Senior High School
• Remy Glovin, teacher, Birch Lane Elementary School
• Marley Michel, student, Davis Senior High School
• Alexia Vasquez, student, Marguerite Montgomery Elementary School

Esparto Unified School District

• Kate Warde Diezel, educational specialist

Washington Unified School District

• Jennifer Schrimsher, education specialist, Southport Elementary School
• Jonathan Penaloza, speech language pathologist, Riverbank Elementary School

Winters Joint Unified School District

• Program Award: Winters High School Special Education Instructional Assistant Team (Blake Calvert, Traci Calvert, Cristina Herrera, Heather Maggenti, Sarah Martin, Maria Martinez, Brenda Rodrigues, and Yolanda Velarde)

Woodland Joint Unified School District

• Brenda Michelis, paraeducator, Lee Middle School
• Nicole Richardson, teacher, Pioneer High School

Yolo County Office of Education

• Monica Philips, school psychologist, Greengate School and Horizon programs

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