Congratulations to Mirka Chen, the FRSD October Employee of the Month! Mirka has worked as a teacher at Veneta Elementary School for the past nine years, at both the first grade and fourth grade levels. Before teaching at VES, she taught for eight years in Arizona.

Mirka’s past students remember her fondly for the extra personal attention that she gives in addition to daily math and reading lessons. She has been known to miss her breaks and lunches so that she can take the time to connect with students in non-academic ways, such as teaching them to knit or paint. As evidence of the connections she makes with students, Mirka was invited to fly back to Arizona a few years ago to attend the wedding of one of her former students whom she had continued to correspond with throughout the years.

Besides reaching students in the non-academic realm, Mirka is also a top notch teacher and has attended many trainings over her career to strengthen her already solid teaching.  Mirka and her 4^th grade teaching partner have beat the state average in mathematics on the state assessment tests by 8 percentage points for the past two years.

Mirka is also a team player both at the school and district level.  This year alone Mirka is on two district wide committees in addition to three school committees, including heading up the Safety Committee at VES. If anything needs to get done at VES, Mirka makes sure it happens. She stays late to make sure nothing is left undone, not just in her own classroom, but in the school as a whole.

Mirka’s virtues don’t end with her school life. Outside of school Mirka enjoys painting, gardening, and hiking. She also does most of her own home repairs in addition to partnering with her family in their commercial real estate holdings. She definitely leads a busy life and we’re proud to call her our own!

Custodians are the unsung heroes of a school district.  They are found working hard behind the scenes to ensure that buildings are ready for everything from a regular school day to sporting events.  Our September employee of the month is one of our custodial staff and we are excited to be able to recognize the dedication of Ms. Heidi Kinch!  Heidi began working for the district in January of 2017 and has proven herself to be a valuable part of our district and Elmira Elementary School.

Heidi and her older brother grew up in the Elmira area.  She enjoys reading (a lot), learning new things, writing, building and working in her garden.  Some of her favorite creative adventures include wire sculpting, color-pencil painting, lapidary, jewelry-making, calligraphy & lettering and sewing.

Heidi brings her strong work ethic and a quiet smile to work everyday.  She tells us that she enjoys learning about and using the maintenance equipment, being able to help people and having the satisfaction of a job well done.  She also appreciates the independence and ownership she can take in her work.  “It takes a lot of hard work every day (and year round) by all the district custodians to keep the district schools clean and safe/operational.  I like to tell people that I get paid to work out!”

At the elementary school, Heidi is sometimes approached by curious students.  One of her favorite conversations with one such student happened while she was mopping the floor.  The student asked, “are you going to ‘swamp the deck’?”

She also mentioned that she greatly appreciates the many kind and considerate people she works with and when others recognize the effort that goes into taking care of the school facilities, express appreciation and do their part, even the smallest gesture to help out, it makes even a hard day much easier.

Thank you to Heidi for your hard work, positive attitude and attention to detail!  You make Elmira Elementary a great place to work!