TSD Surprises, Celebrates 2023 Support Staff of the Year

TSD Administrators, Friends, Family & Colleagues Surprise 2023 Support Staff Member of the Year

Today was a great day in the district, where we got to surprise and recognize our 2023 Support Staff Member of the Year. The TSD “Prize Patrol”--led by Superintendent Rich Machesky and including administration, peers, and family--quietly crept into Athens high school’s kitchen this morning in order to surprise TSD Catering Supervisor Stefanie Gervais, who was chosen as the 2023 Troy School District Support Staff Member of the Year. This award recognizes a secretary, bus driver, custodial staff, para-educator--anyone in a support capacity who goes above and beyond to assist student learning in the Troy School District. Machesky remarked how Gervais’ nomination rose to the top of the list, compiled by many people across the district—from staff, administration, building and even parents.

Primary nominator, parent, and PTO President at Barnard Elementary, Brian Smiatacz, initiated the nomination, saying “Stefanie has been working behind the scenes of the Troy School district for over 19 years and has worked inside every school; by helping to create and plan family school events all over the district, Stefanie is an unsung hero providing a service that encourages family involvement within the community and the schools. These events often bring parents forward that would otherwise not be involved at any level at the school. This gives them a reason to be present and supportive of their children’s educational and emotional needs.”

Stefanie’s efforts are recognized by staff as well, according to Judy Holmes, executive assistant to the Superintendent: “At Central Office, we depend on Stefanie for her outstanding attention to detail, her ability to adapt to last-minute changes, quickly assess needs and offer solutions or improvise, when necessary. She arrives early at each event to set up, then stays afterward to work alongside her team to clean up. There have been many instances where this has happened, and I have always been confident that Stefanie could handle any situation at hand. She works well under pressure when dealing with strict timelines and is committed to seeing every job through to completion and to her customer’s satisfaction.”

Other nominators singing Stefanie’s praises are community members, TSD parents and peers. (See attached for the complete nomination packet.)

Twenty-four other phenomenal TSD support staff members were also nominated for the 2023 award (see below). All nominees will be honored at a special reception and Gervais’ name has been sent to Oakland Schools for consideration for County Support Staff of the Year.

• Eric Adams
• Mike Borden
• Thomas Butcher
• Dean Cameron
• Stefanie Gervais
• Denise Gray
• John Grayson
• Renee Haddad
• Rhoda Hall
• Sue Hill
• Judy Holmes
• Kathy Koncagul
• Sharon Kreza
• Kim Lazarov
• Charles Marce
• Cindy Mounteer
• Becky Murphy
• Kacey Nappe
• Michele Navarro-Davis
• Sherry Rose
• Denice Schomer
• Lucy Simone
• Julie Tomasko
• Marie Weber
• Lynn Yagley

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Photos courtesy of Troy Schools:

Picture #1 – left to right – Nicole Gervais (Daughter) – Stefanie Gervais – Rob Gervais (Husband)

Picture #2 – Stefanie with staff – left to right: Jakleen Faltaous, Niran Jiddou, Michal Zinczuk, Sue Hoag, Diane Danescu, Joey Price, Jyoti Pai, Stefanie Gervais, Jason Spreyer, Becky Arwine, Lana Musemic

Picture #3 – Brian Smiatacz (Parent PTO at Barnard that initiated the nomination), Mary Frederick (Parent PTO at Barnard), Stefanie, Melanie Morey, Barnard Principal

Picture #4 -- With TFEE President Alison Hendry & big check