Riverbank Unified School District employee Suzy Andalon, secretary to the Riverbank High School principal, was recognized among 27 nominees this past week for exceptional service.

For the 10th year running, the Stanislaus County Office of Education (SCOE) and the Association of California School Administrators (ACSA) Stanislaus Charter honored outstanding classified (non-supervisory) education employees in Stanislaus County through a program called “Employees Making a Difference.”

School districts throughout the county selected their own honorees and forwarded nominations to SCOE. Twenty-seven outstanding classified staff members were honored at a special reception hosted at the Martin G. Petersen Event Center.

“This program helps us recognize the efforts of some of our outstanding classified employees, many who are unsung heroes behind the scenes, yet critical to the education of our children,” said Stanislaus County Superintendent of Schools Tom Changnon.

Employees were nominated from the following service areas: Child Nutrition; Maintenance/Operations; Office/Technical; Para Educators/Instructional Assistants; Support Services/Security; and Transportation.

Six of the 27 nominees were selected to represent Stanislaus County in the California School Employee of the Year program, coordinated by the California Department of Education.

For the fifth year, the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County presented the Jane Johnston Civility Award to one of the 27 nominees who best exemplify the principles of civility. The award is named in honor of former SCOE Assistant Superintendent Jane Johnston, who helped launch the county-wide Choose Civility Initiative in 2010 and passed away unexpectedly in April 2012. Johnston advocated for and co-chaired the Employees Making a Difference Program (2008–2012), and was active with the Education Foundation of Stanislaus County.