Local winner of state school employee award

05/01/2013 - Cheryl Gostisha, food services director at Horicon School in Annapolis, has been selected as the 2013 California Classified School Employee of the Year in the area of child nutrition. She will be honored at a May 23 reception in Sacramento, along with five other classified school employees from other areas of the state.

For the past 16 years, Cheryl Gostisha has worked as the “one-person food service program” for Horicon School, which enrolls 60 students. She plans all meals, orders and shops for products (sometimes making long-distance trips from the coast to the Highway 101 corridor), prepares breakfast and lunch daily, and acts as the food server, dishwasher, and cafeteria custodian. This year, she redesigned her menus and recipes to meet new healthy nutrition standards while keeping costs in check.

But it’s not just her cooking and menu planning that have earned Cheryl Gostisha kudos. She interacts with and engages students, and knows each student by name. When she offers a student fresh fruit and vegetables, she explains the importance of well-balanced meals. She pays attention to what students like and incorporates what she learns in her menus. Older students are invited into the kitchen as helpers, where they gain new skills and earn community service points under her guidance.

“Cheryl’s commitment to Horicon School is evident every day and at every meal,” says Patty Dineen, Horicon School’s superintendent/principal. “She cares about the students, that they eat well, and like what they eat.”

The California Classified School Employee of the Year program pays tribute to the varied school employees who work alongside teachers and administrators to support student success. The state’s annual awards program recognizes one individual in each of six categories. Award-winners are selected from nominations collected locally by county offices of education. Cheryl Gostisha was one of five Sonoma County finalists whose names were forwarded for consideration in the state awards program. The other local finalists were:

• Carol Contreras, Riebli School (instructional assistant category)
• Cynthia Deuel, Santa Rosa City Schools (office/technical)
• Mengsteab Hagos, Santa Rosa Middle School (maintenance/operations)
• Kelly Kaiser, Miwok Valley School (school safety/security)

Mengsteab Hagos, Kelly Kaiser, Cynthia Deuel, Carol Contreras, and Cheryl Gostisha