Lake Elsinore Unified School District honors “Heroes in Education”

Lake Elsinore Unified School District recognized 35 students, educators and community members as "Heroes in Education" Monday night.

As part of Celebrate our Schools Week Nov. 16-21, the Lake Elsinore Unified School District honored 35 students, educators and community members during its inaugural “Recognizing Heroes in Education” banquet Monday night at the Diamond Club in Lake Elsinore.

While recipients and their guests at the black-tie event enjoyed a three-course meal served by Lakeside High School culinary arts students at the elegantly lit club, Superintendent Frank W. Passarella shared something special about each of the “heroes.”

Each of them had a story – a reason they were chosen. Many students honored had overcome hardship in their young lives, or had worked hard to make their school and community a better place.

Among those awarded were Kayla Morales, Garret Highland, Sally Myers, Kari Strange, Ken Puccio and Brent Cisneros.

Kayla, a fourth-grader at Donald Graham Elementary received her hero award because of her selflessness and generosity in offering to donate her once-long hair to Locks of Love, and the fact that “she did it at such a young age.”

Garrett, a senior at Elsinore High School, was honored for organizing a paper drive after noticing the dwindling paper supply at his school.

Myers a community member, who owns several Sizzler restaurants, was thanked for her work with the district’s Student of the Month program, and for offering her facilities to conduct Student of the Month ceremonies.

Strange, activities director at Temescal Canyon High School was chosen for her drive in making school a place where students choose to be; Puccio, special education teacher from Elsinore High School was honored for his unwavering dedication during his eight years at the school.

“It is an honor to be included with this group,” Puccio said. “They all give so much to kids and schools, and to be included is phenomenal.”

Cisneros, a school resource officer was chosen as a hero for his work at Lakeside High School – for having the presence kids need and going above and beyond his job duties.

Community leaders including Riverside County Office of Education Superintendent Kenneth M. Young; city council members from Wildomar, Canyon Lake and Lake Elsinore; members of the Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce; and Riverside County Sheriff  Stanley Sniff, applauded both the recipients, as well as the district for recognizing them.

“Whether it be students or teachers, they are enablers in the community,” Sniff said. “The battle is done in our schools, before they fall prey to influences that destroy them as adults.”

According to Kim Cousins, LEUSD school board president, it was the first year they held nominations for “Heroes in Education.”

Elena Vergara, a senior at Lakeside High School, was named a Hero in Education. Elena wants to become a civil engineer.

“We can kind of lose sight of the people that are doing a great job in our schools every day,” Cousins said. “It is important to celebrate them, especially since we are facing such extreme budget measures.”

Nominations were taken district-wide, and they received an “avalanche” of them, Cousins said, with the stories that really made an impact floating to the top.

Recipients of LEUSD’s “Heroes in Education” award included (in order of presentation): Vivian Fox, Elijah Ham, Jim Boyer, Denine Diaz, Michelle Henricks, Daelon Saxon, Kayla Morales, Rita Post, Ken Puccio, Kyle Linton, Merlin Bock, Brent Cisneros, Kari Strange, Amber Torres, Joyce Alford, Marie Smith, Mick Gerard, Dr. Kathleen Roberts, Elena Vergara, Garrett Highland, Sally Myers, David Blake, Lexi Coliflores, Karin Chavis, Jeff McCullough, Catherine Pallares, Brandon Freese, Susie Zema, Dawn Fouts-Konkol, Sam Wensel, Heidi Dodd, Gail Forseth, Leigh Anne Paule, Kathye Aniol and Ron Hewison.

Maggie Avants is the education editor for SWRNN. Comments or story suggestions can be sent to mavants.swrnn@gmail.com. Follow SWRNNedu on Twitter!

Tags: Brent Cisneros, canyon lake, Donald Graham Elementary, elsinore high school, Frank W. Passarella, Garret Highland, Heroes in Education, Kari Strange, Kayla Morales, Ken Puccio, Kim Cousins, lake elsinore unified school district, Lake Elsinore Valley Chamber of Commerce, lakeside high school, Maggie Avants, Riverside County Office of Education Superintendent Kenneth M. Young, riverside county sheriff stanley sniff, Sally Myers, SWRNN, temescal canyon high school, wildomar

This entry was posted on Monday, November 16th, 2009 at 11:14 pm and is filed under Education, Local News . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.