St. Louis Community College counselor Harold Salmon is the St. Louis regional winner of the 2013 Missouri Outstanding Older Worker Award. Salmon, professor in counseling at Meramec, is one of only 10 workers over age 65 in Missouri to receive the award.
Don Vaisvil, director of the senior community service employee program administered by MERS-Goodwill, surprised Salmon at a division meeting to present him with the award.
“I felt extremely honored and exhilarated upon hearing that I won the regional award,” said Salmon, “MERS-Goodwill and other cosponsoring agencies throughout the state are to be commended for drawing attention to the not uncommon high value of the work of older persons.”
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Salmon’s colleague in the Counseling department, Mysha Clincy, nominated him for the award.
“The best part of the award is knowing a colleague valued my work enough to take the time and exert the effort to nominate me,” said Salmon.
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Counseling department chair Donna Zumwinkel has high praise for Salmon.
“Harold exemplifies the finest traits that anyone could hope to have in a colleague or in a counselor,” she said. “He is caring, committed and compassionate, and works as hard as anyone I’ve ever known. St. Louis Community College and our students are very fortunate to benefit from his presence and his work on the Meramec campus.”
Even with the strong endorsement from Zumwinkel, Salmon has a humble attitude.
“I am absolutely certain that I am no more dedicated and no more competent than dozens (maybe hundreds) of my colleagues, many of whom will never be singled out for any special recognition,” Salmon said. “I am incredibly blessed to be a counselor at Meramec.”
Established in 1962, St. Louis Community College is the largest community college district in Missouri and one of the largest in the United States. STLCC has four campuses – Florissant Valley, Forest Park, Meramec and Wildwood – that annually serve more than 81,000 students through credit courses, continuing education and workforce development programs. For more information about STLCC, visit www.stlcc.edu.