Tammy Boren has been selected as our March employee of the month!

An employee of our district since September of 2004, Tammy worked for eight years as head secretary of Elmira Elementary School, and seven years as head secretary of Elmira High School.   Beginning with the 2019-2020 school year she accepted a position as the district’s special education secretary.

Tammy and her husband Mark have lived in Veneta for nearly 30 years.  They have four daughters and a son who all attended school here and graduated from EHS. Both Tammy and Mark are supporters of high school athletics helping out in many capacities.  Tammy takes care of the books for both girls and boys varsity basketball and is a constant presence on the sidelines cheering for the Falcons!  Outside of school, Tammy loves spending time with her family (and is looking forward to grandbabies!). During the summer months, she spends as many days as possible kayaking around the area with both family and friends and also enjoys working in her flower beds.

In her new position with the district, Tammy has excelled at the challenge of learning this new position.  A few of her daily jobs include maintaining confidential special education student files, data entry, assisting the district special education staff in each building, and submitting district reports to the Oregon Department of Education. She loves the “pay attention to detail” aspect of this position and enjoys the people she gets to work with.

We are fortunate to have Tammy in our district and appreciate the work she has done to benefit so many of our students.  Thank you Tammy!

Sheila Upton and Pam Zellers have both been chosen as the employees of the month for February.  It would be very hard to imagine Elmira Elementary without these two incredible instructional assistants!

Sheila has worked in our district since January of 2004.  She and her husband Scott have been married for 33 years.  They have two daughters, a son and a new grand baby!  Sheila enjoys working with horses, cooking, baking and thinks that family camping trips are the best!

Pam has been an employee since November of 2005.  She and her husband Tom have been married for 30 years, have four girls, one cat and two adorable chihuahuas.  Pam loves to backpack with her friends (who also happen to be her co-workers) and she especially enjoys reading a book while outdoors in a new place.

Sheila is one of the many staff members who greet students first thing in the morning as they arrive at school.  She teaches reading to small groups and also helps with math intervention.  Pam spends most of her day teaching math and reading to students in small groups.  However, both of these ladies do so much more.  They are always ready to step up and meet any need in any capacity.  Whether that means arriving early, staying late, or rushing back from a professional development training to make sure that there is adequate supervision on the playground.

Pam and Sheila tell us one of their favorite things about their job is how positive and supportive the staff at Elmira are,  “We have the best staff.  We share the same sense of humor and really support one another.  It is fun working with the kids and watching them grow in so many ways.”

Both of these ladies help organize food boxes and donations for EES families in need during the holiday season.  Pam has helped organize an after-school workout group and Sheila helps organize the EES Holiday Bazaar. Essentially, both in and out of the classroom, these two are a vital part of the team who make EES such a special place for staff and students every day.

Congratulations Pam and Sheila!  Thank you for all that you do for our EES staff, students and families!

Our January employee of the month, Mari Jones,  has worked for the Fern Ridge School District for 30 years!  Most of this time was spent teaching at Elmira Elementary School.  Currently, she is the Title teacher for both Elmira and Veneta Elementary Schools.

Mrs. Jones is married to Skip who is a musician and performs at many local venues.  Their son, Kenny has  Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting with a minor in dance.  Their family enjoys sharing time together cooking, watching movies, playing games and music.  They especially love anything art related and attend plays, movies, music venues and concerts.  Mrs. Jones tells us that their favorite place to vacation is the beach.  She personally loves to read, spend time with family, research and learn (on just about any topic) bike and bird watch.  She does not like hot weather, getting up early, liver or wasting time.

She is a teacher who wears many hats in our district including serving as president of the Fern Ridge Education Association, she helps as the District Wellness Coordinator, has written many grants for us, and participates on several committees including; key communicators, every student succeeds, literacy and many many more.   She is a tireless advocate for students and teachers alike.  Her service, at so many different levels of the district,  demonstrates how dedicated she is to the field of education.

Mrs. Jones tells us that she enjoys sharing her knowledge with her peers.  “Fern Ridge has been so fulfilling for me as a professional.  The district leaders have supported me to grow and thrive as an educator and teacher leader.  I appreciates how rare that is when I talk to others.”  She also enjoys helping student become confident and competent learners who are good readers, writers, mathematicians, critical thinkers and problem solvers.

Thank you Mrs. Jones for your 30 years of service and for striving everyday to make an impact on the staff and students of our district!