Sonya Lopez, who works in the Porterville Unified School District's Pathways Program has been named as the Tulare County School Employee of the Year.
Lopez was won of three winners who were named as the winners in the 29th annual Tulare County Excellence in Education Awards program. The three winners were surprised by Tulare County Superintendent of Schools Tim Hire when he notified they were named as the winners on Wednesday.
The other winners were Tammy Bradford, assistant superintendent, special services and SELPA director for TCOE, who was named as the Administrator/Manager of the Year, and Jennifer Powers, a fifth grade teacher at Tulare's Heritage Elementary School, who was named as Teacher of the Year.
Lopez is the Pathways Technical Job Developer/Work Based Learning Coordinator. A Porterville native, Lopez returned to “pay it forward,” working to support students in their transition to college and careers.
“Looking back at my own educational experience, if it wasn’t for my teachers, counselors, and staff that helped me navigate school and motivated me to reach my full potential, I wouldn't have been able to pursue my postsecondary education,” she said. “One of the most rewarding parts of being in the field of education is that I have the ability to encourage and support students to keep moving forward and reach their goals.”
Lopez provides students with work-based learning activities that support college preparation and career and workforce readiness. She also develops partnerships with businesses and community organizations to increase student work-based learning opportunities. She's responsible for finding internships for more than 1,500 high school students and placing them in those internships.
Lopez maintains relationships with hundreds of community and industry partners across the state. She works to have Pathway students meet with these partners personally or virtually.
The relationships she promotes aids the PUSD Pathway Department with placing students in the workplace. Lopez works closely with the City of Porterville, the Porterville Chamber of Commerce, and many other organizations.
Lopez also supports PUSD's various pathway advisory boards. She also helps to coordinate a number of events, including the business partner “meet and greet” for freshmen, mentor conference for sophomores, mock interviews, and senior projects and portfolio reviews.
“She definitely exemplifies professionalism and exudes on a daily basis the characteristic, not only of hard work for one, but it goes beyond," said Cynthia Brown, PUSD Pathways Director. "She really exemplifies everything she needs to do with a true passion for student experiences, and really raises the bar for students and brings those work-based opportunities and real world networking opportunities for the students on a daily basis. She goes way over and beyond.”
Last month, a selection committee of Tulare County business and education reviewed a total of 36 nominees in each of the three categories. Each nomination was reviewed and scored individually by every member of the selection committee.
“Each of these individuals is deeply creative – utilizing their resources and partnerships in the community to provide greater opportunities for their students,” Hire said.
The winners, finalists and nominees will be honored at the 29th annual Tulare County Excellence in Education Awards Ceremony on October 25. Educational Employees Credit Union supports the awards program. For more information on Excellence in Education, contact Marlene Moreno at [email protected].
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Source: Porterville Recorder