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CH-UH Announces 2026 Staff Award Winners

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CH-UH Announces 2026 Staff Award Winners
The CH-UH City School District has named its Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Administrator of the Year for 2025-2026. We are proud to announce the following winners:
 
Teacher of the Year
Alexia Boyles - Fourth Grade Teacher, Noble Elementary School
 
Helping Hand of the Year
Deja Murray - General Office Assistant, Noble Elementary School
 
Rookie of the Year
Tiana Banks - Kindergarten Teacher, Oxford Elementary School
 
Administrator of the Year
Allison Byrd - Director of Data, Research, & Assessment
 
These four winners each received a Dell Chromebook courtesy of bluum and registration for a professional development conference in the U.S. within a one-year timeframe.
 
(Elizabeth Glorioso Photography)
 
Selection process
The building winners were chosen by their school colleagues earlier this spring. The finalists for Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, and Rookie of the Year were then selected through district-wide voting, and the overall winners were selected following panel interviews. The Administrator of the Year finalists and winner were selected by EAPSC members.
 
Staff Awards Ceremony
At the ceremony on May 29, the District also recognized several other groups of dedicated employees, including this year’s 24 retirees:
  • Nancy Ballou, Clinical Health Careers Teacher at Heights High School (23 years)
  • Amy Bloomberg, Media Specialist at Heights High School (32 years)
  • Andrea Clay, Kindergarten Paraprofessional at Noble Elementary School (25 years)
  • Patricia Earley, Lunchroom Supervisor & Lunch Nonparaprofessional at Roxboro Elementary School (33 years)
  • Vivian Gatta, Staff Assistant (Front Desk) at the Board of Education (14 years)
  • Tamar Gray, Music Teacher at Boulevard Elementary School & Fairfax Elementary School (35 years)
  • Deb Holland, Administrative Assistant at Heights High School (26 years)
  • Karen Hodson, Fourth Grade Teacher at Roxboro Elementary School (28 years)
  • Cary Jackson, Head Custodian at Fairfax Elementary School (32 years)
  • Michael Jones, Physical Education & Health Teacher at Heights High School (26 years)
  • Kathleen Kotnik, School Psychologist at Gearity Preschool (31 years)
  • Kay Milkie, Instructional Coach at Baumgardner Middle School (24 years)
  • Robert Manning, Head Security Monitor at Heights High School (18 years)
  • Arlene Mohammadpour, Supervisor of Payroll at the Board of Education (8 years)
  • David Moss, Head Custodian at Oxford Elementary School (18 years)
  • Robert O’Deens, Math Teacher at Heights High School (31 years)
  • Lawrence Perel, Bus Driver at the District (31 years)
  • Jacqueline Price, Lunchroom Supervisor & Lunch Non-Paraprofessional at Gearity Elementary School (25 years)
  • Shelley Pulling, Principal at Roxboro Elementary School (13 years)
  • Dr. Hannah Reid, Instructional Specialist at the Board of Education (28 years)
  • Sean Sullivan, STEM Teacher at Gearity Elementary School & Gearity Preschool (32 years)
  • Jacqueline Thornton, Lunch Non-Paraprofessional at Noble Elementary School (3 years)
  • Robert Weaver, Spanish & Foreign Cultures Teacher Baumgardner Middle School (24 years)
  • Karen Work-Heinsbergen, Instructional Specialist at the Board of Education (34 years)

The District recognized the 17 teachers who earned tenure, or Continuing Contract status, during the 2025-2026 school year:

  • Melissa Anderson, Intervention Specialist at Gearity Elementary School
  • Kathleen Butler, Intervention Specialist at Canterbury Elementary School
  • Lori Corrigan, Spanish Teacher at Roxboro Middle School
  • Patrick Duffy, Intervention Specialist at Heights High School
  • Elizabeth Gambatese-Somody, Fifth Grade Teacher at Noble Elementary School
  • Kimberly Holyk, ELA/Math Support at Noble Elementary School
  • Genevieve Kenealy, Fifth Grade Teacher at Boulevard Elementary School
  • Elisabeth McCray, Intervention Specialist at Roxboro Elementary School
  • Tiesha McEwen, School Counselor at Heights High School
  • Katherine O'Keeffe-Swank, Spanish Teacher at Gearity Elementary School
  • Rebecca Oberfield, Fifth Grade Teacher at Noble Elementary School
  • Abigail Pratt, Math Teacher at Baumgardner Middle School
  • Carolyn Siewiorek, Occupational Therapist for the District
  • Claudia Stadler, English Teacher at Heights High School
  • Carly Stern, Speech Language Pathologist at Canterbury Elementary School and Non-Public Schools
  • Stacey Weber, School Psychologist for the District
  • Tiffany Williams, STEM Teacher at Canterbury Elementary & Oxford Elementary schools

Tiger Nation Awards were given to those who presented at a state or national conference or who were published in a national journal during the 2025-2026 school year:

  • Jennifer Banisadr, Instructional Coach for the District, and Katie Rose, Fourth Grade Teacher at Oxford, were interviewed for an episode of “Student-Centered Coaching: The Podcast”.
  • Mel Barrett Burkeet, Assistant Principal at Noble Elementary School, presented “Making Time for Writing in the 40+ Hour Work Week” at the Literary Cleveland Inkubator Writing Conference.
  • Marc Brown, Coordinator of Information Technology, presented “It’s Not If, But When: Confessions from a Cyber Incident Survivor” at NEOTech 2026.
  • Desiree Caliguire-Maier, Social Studies Teacher at Heights High School, presented “Evaluation and Recommendations on Young Professionals' Strategic Plans on Education for Regions and States” at the National Urban League Conference.
  • Dani Copeland, ELA Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, and Lia Radke, AVID Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, co-presented “Engage and Inspire - Transforming Instructional Practices for Maximum Student Impact” at the Association for Middle Level Education National Conference.
  • Dr. Martez Glenn, Dean of Students at Oxford Elementary School, presented “Leveling Up: Building Purpose, Power, and Pathways for Black & Brown Males" at the Male Educators and Community Summit.
  • Becky McDonald, Data & Assessment Specialist, presented “From Setup to Follow-Up: A Hands-On Workshop for Building Interim Assessments That Drive Learning” at the Ohio Educational Technology Conference.
  • Mary Pigott, Student Data & Application Specialist, presented “Spring Cleaning: The Benefits of Keeping Users & User Groups Tidy” at Interchange NYC.
  • Eric Soltis, Assistant Treasurer, presented “Let's Excel Together!” at the OASBO Annual Conference.
  • Robert Swaggard, Director of College and Career Readiness, presented “Delivering High Quality Career Connected Learning Through Collective Impact” at the AIM Hire Workforce & Educational Conference and “Innovating Student and Family Programs” at the National Council for Community and Education Partnerships Directors' Summit.
  • Dr. Quinci Teer, Roxboro Middle School Science Teacher, presented “Stories That Shape Us: Educators Weaving Culture, Identity, and Belonging” and “The Architecture of Education Governance: Institutions, Leadership, and Influence” at the American Education Research Association Conference. Dr. Teer also presented “Black Women Educators’ Journeys of Cultural Reconnection and Pedagogical Innovation” at the English Language Arts Teacher Education Summer Conference.

Attendees held a moment of silence for Demetrius Todd, Oxford Elementary School Assistant Custodian, who passed away this year.

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