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Meet
Sandy Daws—NEA-Alaska ESP of the Year 2006
Sandy
Daws with NEA-Alaska President Bill Bjork
at Delegate Assembly 2006. |
Sandy Daws sets the gold standard
as president of the Kodiak Island Education Support Association
(KIESA). She sees a need and comes up with a solution—on the job,
for the union, for the schools and her community. Sandy’s can-do
attitude and infectious enthusiasm permeate every aspect of her
life.
For example:
Sandy heard that senior citizens and others in the community needed
a safe, dry place to exercise during Kodiak’s winters. She
approached the superintendent and other administrators, secured a
liability insurance bond from the City of Kodiak, and volunteered to
open up the high school/middle school at 5:30 every morning and
monitor the program to provide a place of “mall walkers.” She
closes up at 7:15 pm. Problem solved.
For example:
Last May parents expressed concerns at a school board meeting about
school safety and bullying. The superintendent approached Sandy for
help. She worked with her colleagues of Kodiak Borough Education
Association (KBEA) and through the summer setting up a training
provided by NEA and NEA-Alaska at an August in-service. The
training was so well received that she brought the trainings back in
November to conduct a two-day session attended by staff, students
and community members. Sandy also used the success of these
trainings to underscore the need to restore the training for
paraprofessionals that had fallen victim to earlier budget cuts.
Problem solved.
For example:
Legislators and other decision makers are often unaware of the
critical contributions that paras made in helping students achieve.
As part of Alaska Legislators Back to School, Sandy worked with her
colleagues of Kodiak Borough Education Association and matched a
legislator with a special education para. Helping organize organize
an after-school reception for the legislator, she spoke from her
heart about issues facing our schools. Problem solved.
For example:
Sandy works as an accountant in the maintenance department. Her
duties include purchasing parts and supplies for maintaining six
town schools and seven rural village schools. She maintains all
utilities for each site, and her organizational skills have helped
the program run more effectively. This year she took on the
responsibility of the district’s Preventive Maintenance
Program—freeing one of the mechanics to get back into the field,
thereby increasing the shop’s productivity. Problem solved.
For example:
Through Sandy’s strong leadership within KIESA, the local has seen
membership gains and increased participation by members. She
recently asked four members to attend NEA-Alaska trainings in
Anchorage and Mat-Su then come back and train their fellow ESPs.
The four agreed reluctantly, but Sandy reports that once they gave
the training session at an in-service, they felt empowered. She
takes pride in watching her colleagues grow as individuals and
valued employees. She has fostered a secure cadre of activists
within KIESA—a true sign of leadership. Problem solved.
These are just a few examples of
the commitment and dedication of this non-release time ESP
president. Since 1998 she has served KIESA in a number of
capacities: producing the newsletter, serving on the grievance,
in-service and job description committees; serving on the bargaining
team and the extremely effective insurance committee. She is
currently in her second term as KIESA president.
Sandy is proud to be part of an
organization that encourages leadership, creativity and
personal/professional growth. She says she feels fortunate to be
able to provide her school and community with tools that make their
lives and jobs a little bit easier.
Appropriately, she coached
cheerleading for several years, and under her leadership the squad
was active in community activities and fund raising year-round.
These and other accomplishments to
date are impressive, but those who know Sandy agree that they are
just prologue for what will come from this dynamic leader.
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