Made With Pride in Duncanville

December 2018

Staff - Lola Rodriguez, an executive secretary at the Plaza was nominated by Chief of Staff Melissa Kates. 

• She is truly a servant leader.
• Her willingness to support and serve others is apparent to anyone who has been around her. 
• Lola is hard-working and she is always willing to step in and help anyone in need. 
• Nomination read: I cannot count all the times that Lola has stopped what she was doing to lend me a hand. 
• One time in particular, I was trying to put together a presentation towards the end of the day but the copy machine was not cooperating. 
• Lola walked by and noticed my frustration and immediately stepped in to help me.  I had gotten the documents completely out of order and the copies were a complete mess. 
• Lola began to organize the presentation with me, and we were able to finish the presentation.  Had she not taken the time to help me, I would not have finished in time. 
• I have watched Lola do the same things with so many others.  Lola is always ready to help with anything that the team needs. 
• The fact that she notices when people around her need help is a true testament to her servant heart. I am grateful to Lola for her dedication, empathy, and calm spirit. 
• It is a pleasure to work with her on a daily basis.  Lola’s dedication makes us all better.

Student - Jariah Cole, senior at Duncanville High School was nominated by YAG Sponsor Steven Cain. 

• Jariah has been a part of Youth and Government program for the past 5 years, In the last 2 she has been President at DHS.
• But this year she took Youth and Government to heart and single handedly organized a voter registration drive titled Panthers at the Polls.
• Jariah Cole is not even old enough to vote.
• To follow-up on that effort, she also organized an election day results watch party.

Teacher - Claudia Ruiz, at Brandenburg. 

• Ruiz greets her students every morning with a smile and high fives.
• Her students feel valued and important. They know that their teacher is happy to see them each day.
• Ruiz has volunteered to help with the robotics club and helps the students to use their higher order thinking skills to control their robots.
• Ruiz also meets with a group of students after school to teach them how to crochet.
• They are going to donate the items that they make to those in need. The students are not only learning a skill that will be useful to them, they are learning to serve others as well.
• Ruiz is a great example of kindness and a giving spirit.