JOHNSTOWN — A possible new Johnstown school employee recognition initiative and a communications plan were presented recently to the Greater Johnstown School District Board of Education.
Michele Kelley, a local communications specialist and member of the Capital Region BOCES communications service office, addressed the board at Johnstown High School.
She mainly addressed a possible plan for an employee recognition known as the “ABCD” Award, which stands for Above and Beyond the Call of Duty. She said an online nomination form would be available for anyone, including the public, to nominate a Johnstown school district employee who excels beyond the norm.
“We would pick winners quarterly from each of the schools,” Kelley said.
She said the employee recognition, including a photo, has several benefits. They include involvement by the public, boosting the morale of staff, and showing the community how hard district employees work.
Board President Christopher Tallon asked if facilities staff could be included along with instructional staff.
“We’ve done this in other districts and we can tie in others,” Kelley said. “If you want separate categories, we can put it in.”
Assistant Superintendent Ruthie Cook said the employee recognition is “just ideas” at this point that can be structured as needed.
“We originally weren’t thinking of monetary awards,” said Johnstown Teachers Association President Nancy Lisicki. “It’s for recognition. That’s really where we started from.”
Tallon stated that one of the goals of the district is to get better factual information out to the public.
“I think that’s going to be the key the next two years,” he said.
Kelley added, “Facebook would be a great platform for something like this.”
She also addressed communications with the board.
“You were interested in a communications plan,” Kelley reminded the board.
She said her office has a proposed publication, “The Roadmap to the Future,” which asks Johnstown how it is preparing students for life after graduation. She said is centers on offerings for students at JHS and Knox Junior High School.
Kelley said the plan may be done by the end of September and will be released to the district. She said about 2,000 copies of the publication can be made available.
Michael Anich covers Johnstown and Fulton County news. He can be reached at [email protected]
