Recognizing excellence in Kyrene is a long-standing tradition that has celebrated educators for eight years. Since the inception of the Kyrene Values Awards, over 800 employees have been honored.

This school year, we asked Team Kyrene to submit peer nominations for the individuals who go above and beyond for our schools, students and staff, rooted in the traits outlined in the Kyrene Key Values: Connection, Collaboration, Compassion, Courage, Curiosity. These shared values define who we are as Kyrene educators and what it takes to meet our responsibilities to students, to each other and to our community. Kyrene Values Educator awardees are recognized quarterly by the Superintendent. Awards will be given out quarterly to 12 recipients who are chosen from the nomination pool by the Kyrene Values Committee. This week, we surprised and celebrated our quarter 2 awardees amongst their students and peers.

Our quarter 2 awardees are:

1. Cory Walker, 3rd Grade Teacher, Kyrene de la Estrella
2. Ymrane Berisha, Day Porter, Kyrene Middle School
3. Sydney Ulm, Resource Teacher, Kyrene Middle School
4. Stacey Barone, Support Specialist, Kyrene del Milenio
5. Liliana Cons Duarte, Resource IA, Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy
6. Carla Lopez, Attendance/Office Clerk, Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy
7. Grisel Phillips, 3rd Grade Dual Language Teacher, Kyrene del Norte Dual Language Academy
8. Fred Lescher, IA, Kyrene de la Paloma Arts Integration Academy
9. Nick Indoma, CCDS Teacher, Kyrene del Pueblo Middle School
10. Katie Anderson, Teacher/Academic SEI Interventionist, Kyrene de la Sierra
11. Jenea Bailey, Kindergarten Teacher, C.I. Waggoner
12. Desirae Smith, Program Manager, Community Education 

Congratulations to our awardees and to all the individuals who were nominated!

Thank you to our sponsor, CORE Construction for providing each awardee with a $100 Amazon gift card.