Honoring Top Supporting Services Employees

MCPS employs more than 10,000 supporting services staff members who work in more than 450 job classifications supporting operations and instruction. This year, in collaboration with SEIU Local 500 and the Board of Education, up to three outstanding support professionals in each of the eight chapters are being recognized and awarded. The eight chapters are: Building Services, Food Services, Media and Technology, Maintenance, Office, Paraeducators, Security and Transportation.

The Chapter Employees of the Year are listed below, with an excerpt describing each chapter’s top winner. From the first place winners, three will be selected to advance as finalists to compete for Supporting Services Employee of the Year; one will be named the winner at the Champions for Children celebration on May 1.

Chapter winners are:

Building Services

First Place: Bruno Smith, building service manager III, Mill Creek Towne Elementary School

Capable, considerate and trustworthy, Bruno Smith takes pride in his work, responds quickly to jobs that need to be handled and takes on the stresses of his job with a smile. He regularly checks in with students who have difficult days, sometimes walking with them to calm down, sitting down to have lunch with them or creating art with them. To raise school spirit, he designed what has become the favorite logo for the Mill Creek Towne Dragons—a dragon tail.

Second Place: Jennie Wright, building service worker, Diamond Elementary School

Third Place (tie): Linwood Pumphrey, building service manager III, Herbert Hoover Middle School, and Charles Ellison Jr., building service worker, Roberto W. Clemente Middle School

Food Services

First Place: Minling Huang, food services satellite manager III, Goshen Elementary School

Kind, knowledgeable and reliable, Huang is dedicated and has a strong bond with students and staff. Always early to work, she advocates for employees who might need help with their job responsibilities, especially for those whose first language is not English. Despite the unknown risks at the start of the pandemic, she was one of the first front-line responders to deliver food to MCPS students. She also volunteers at long-term care homes for Chinese-speaking senior citizens.

Media and Technology

First Place: Adrian McDaniel, media services technician, Gaithersburg High School

A Gaithersburg alum with an outgoing personality, McDaniel has a special ability to teach students in academics, social-emotional learning and athletics (he’s an assistant football coach and has coached track). He plays an integral role in providing invaluable technical assistance, has co-taught the media production class and helps students with print, non-print and equipment resources in the media center.

Second Place: Benjamin Schnapp, media services technician, Winston Churchill High School

Third Place: Charlotte Thomas, media assistant, Thomas W. Pyle Middle School

Maintenance

First Place: Juan Crespo, HVAC-R supervisor, Midcounty M&O Service Center

Crespo is a skilled technician, a dedicated team leader and a knowledgeable educator. He helped develop HVAC materials for the preventive maintenance team’s training program. He built a working model of a water source heat pump that provided hands-on learning and taught the classes to the technicians himself. The classes were a smash and the program was re-energized due to his passion for the material and his desire to help others develop their skills.

Second Place: Jose Astorima, roof mechanic, Midcounty M&O Service Center

Office

First Place: Robin McCue, administrative secretary III, Department of Athletics

Dedicated and organized, McCue has tremendous knowledge of processes and procedures and a strong commitment to the quality of the student-athlete experience. Her love for her job is evident in her interactions with athletic directors, coordinators, principals, coaches, parents and students. For more than 20 years, she has also served as director of administrative operations for the state wrestling and basketball tournaments.

Second Place: Kateri Cordova-Orellana, parent community coordinator, Strathmore Elementary School

Third Place: Donna Franklin, school financial specialist, Montgomery Blair High School

Paraeducators

First Place: Chaula Butterworth, paraeducator, Farmland Elementary School

Dependable, warm and flexible, Butterworth has developed strong relationships with students; she knows their areas of strength and who needs additional support. She is often asked to cover classes and is always prepared to teach any subject to any grade level. Highly organized and calm under pressure, she serves as a role model for new paraeducators, and produced a comprehensive manual to help other paras in assembling their own resources.

Second Place: Jenifer Borjas, special education paraeducator, Wheaton Woods Elementary School

Third Place: Haifa Aridi, paraeducator, Seneca Valley High School

Security

First Place: Ray Gray, security team leader, Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School

A strong communicator and collaborator, Gray works with members of the security team to mentor low-performing, at-risk students, encouraging them to stay in school. Along with the school’s PTA, he helped start and continues to manage the B-CC Food Pantry. He works closely with school staff as he heads the annual school breakfast, hosted by the security team.

Second Place: Tanja Harris, security assistant, Albert Einstein High School

Third Place: Tavares Cooper, security assistant, Richard Montgomery High School

Transportation

First Place: Michael Mowell, auto parts supervisor, Shady Grove Fleet Maintenance

Mowell, who has worked for MCPS for 18 years, hosts training events for qualifying employees to receive certifications. He is described as a dedicated leader who always looks out for the best interests of his coworkers and MCPS. He works hard to find answers to questions he doesn’t immediately know the answers to.