Tulsa Public Schools: Learn About Our District Teams' Support Employees Of The Year

Press release from Tulsa Public Schools:

2022-02-08

The site-level Support Employees of the Year have been selected for Exceptional Student Services, Transportation, Information Technology, Operations, Maintenance, and Grounds. Learn more about each winner below.

Jaxon Richins - Exceptional Student Services

Richins has been part of Team Tulsa for nine years. He currently serves as the Strategic Support Specialist for the Exceptional Student Support team.

"My favorite part of the job is building relationships with the district staff, principals, and teachers," said Richins. "I love working for TPS. The relationships and friendships I have built already are great and are credited to working here!"

Katina Stanley - Transportation (Leadership)

Stanley has been part of Team Tulsa for 10 years. She currently serves as Terminal Supervisor. 

"My favorite part of the job is the challenges that I face each day. There is never a dull moment," said Stanley. "Working for TPS has gained me extra family members whether it be students or my coworkers. I enjoy every minute of it."   
 

Cameal Hester - Transportation (Building A)

Hester has been part of Team Tulsa for 16 years. She currently serves as Communication Specialist. 

"I love being able to assist drivers to safely and successfully pick up and deliver students," said Hester. "TPS is a great place with great people!"

Debra Long - Transportation (Routing)

Long has been part of Team Tulsa for more than 20 years. She currently serves as Routing Specialist.

"I love the routing process. Trying to figure out where to fit in a new student. It’s kind of like putting together a puzzle," said Long. "I was a stay at home mom and my kids were graduating and moving out of the house, and I was getting a little depressed and thinking what am I going to do now. One day I saw an advertisement on TV about learning to drive a school bus and I just thought 'well there’s some new kids to be around.' After getting some substitute kids to watch over on my bus, my personal family grew too. I now have 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandsons. Lots of blessings."

Andrea Gourley - Service Desk

Gourley has been a part of Team Tulsa for 32 years. She currently serves as Service Desk Analyst.

"I provide technical, functional, and procedural support to district teachers and staff with all aspects of the Information Technology Systems," said Gourley. "My favorite part of the job is being able to successfully assist students and staff with their IT issues."

Ilse Mendoza - Plant Operations

Mendoza has worked as the Plant Operations Clerk for two years and was recently promoted to Zone Manager. 

"My favorite part of the job would be working with our employees," said Mendoza. "Knowing I am able to provide them with hands-on assistance and facilitating anything they might find difficult to complete. It’s important to me to represent our department well and being able to show our initial candidates a good introduction to our day-to-day operations as well as our team members that have been committed to TPS for years."

Marion “Mike” Smith - Maintenance

Smith has been part of Team Tulsa for almost eight years. He currently serves as the carpentry department foreman.

"I manage the carpenter shop, lock shop, sign shop, roofing shop, and the asbestos shop," said Smith. "My favorite part of my job is the people I work with and for."
 

Helen Lee - Operations

Lee has been part of Team Tulsa for three years. She currently serves as the ​Manager of Strategic Operations - Safety, Security, and Prevention.

"My favorite part of my job is getting to interact and work with team members and school leaders on strategies and solutions around the safety inside our buildings. My role has also allowed the opportunity to collaborate with community partners in order to host vaccination clinics for our school communities this school year," said Lee. "One of the things I appreciate working with our Operations team at Tulsa Public Schools is learning to lead with compassion, confidence, and listening. While working on Covid safety is not the easiest, seeing our team members do so much to support our schools and our students makes me feel proud to be working for Tulsa Public Schools."

Carlos Garcia - Grounds

Garcia is the grounds department journeyman. In this role, he makes sure the property around our schools are properly mowed and cared for.

"I love TPS because I love what I do and I enjoy every second of it," said Garcia. "I just love this place."

This press release was produced by Tulsa Public Schools. The views expressed here are the author’s own.