Pursuit of Excellence Awards Winners for December 2018

Congratulations to the following employees who are the December 2018 recipients of the Pursuit of Excellence Award for the Baldwin County School District.

Mr. Ulysses Foston, Sr. Substitute Teacher Nominated by Anna Dunn, co-worker

Mr. Ulysses Foston, Sr. serves as a substitute teacher for the Baldwin County School District and works primarily at Midway Hills Academy. His co-worker, Ms. Anna Dunn had the following things to say about Mr. Foston, “Mr. Foston is knowledgeable and excited about education”. Ms. Dunn describes Mr. Foston as a person who is looking for more than just a paycheck. The Midway Hills Academy staff appreciates such a greatly engaged substitute. Substitute teachers play such a vital role in maintaining the high standards of education by ensuring the ongoing quality of classroom instruction in the absence of regular teachers. Mr. Foston is considered a valuable colleague to all. He has the unremarkable skill to adjust quickly to any situation that arises during the school day. He is super at navigating between what is inconsequential and what must be taken seriously. He can walk into the classroom with confidence and maintain confidence while making decisions, managing conflict, and addressing problems. Mr. Foston's punctuality is impeccable, often leading him to beat everyone to school! Many mornings Mr. Foston could've easily been at home drinking coffee and eating sausage biscuits all while listening to the birds in the morning from his porch. However, he chooses time and time again to listen to the children at MHA instead of the birds. He is as dependable as they come and always says yes to anything asked of him with an ongoing shortage of dependable substitute teachers, schools are always on the lookout for great substitute teachers exactly like Mr. Foston. MHA is proud to have such an awesome member of the team, thank you for your example of excellence!

Ms. Katherine Morgan Eligibility Clerk for School Nutrition Department

Nominated by Susan Nelson, supervisor Kathy has been an employee of the school system since 2004. She has worked in different positions since she began her employment with the district. She has previously worked as a school nutrition assistant, a cafeteria manager and she now works as the Eligibility Clerk for School Nutrition Department. Kathy is described as being very organized and stays on top of every assignment given. She is extremely versed in all aspects of running a kitchen operation and offers assistance to other managers as needed. Kathy is flexible and will roll up her sleeves and come from behind her desk as needed. During the recent audit, the auditors commended Kathy on her organization and attention to detail which helped the district receive the “deficiency free status”. Kathy not only handles eligibility, but she orders office supplies for all 7 cafeteria managers, she is the Meals Plus software "guru" and monitors orders to ensure they are compliant with the current bids. We are very lucky to have Kathy and her dedication to the school nutrition program, Kathy, thank you for modelling excellence!

Mr. Michael Stowe Bus Operator Nominated by Laurie Tyson, teacher

Mr. Stowe has been working as a bus operator for the Baldwin County School District since 2017. Ms. Laurie Tyson describes Mr. Stowe’s behavior during a recent field trip with her kindergarten class in her nomination, here is what Ms. Tyson had to say. Mr. Stowe went out of his way to make our bus ride to our field trip awesome. He was very helpful loading and unloading all of our coolers and pumpkins. He went above and beyond by helping us pass out lunches to our students and even ate lunch with some of our students. His kind and funny personality made it a trip for us to always remember. In the words of our students, "Mr. Mike is awesome". Mr. Stowe, thank you for being a shining example of excellence!

Mr. Donald Tuft

Director of Transportation Nominated by Frank May, bus operator Mr. Tuft has been employed with the BCSD since 1996. He was nominated by Mr. May, a bus operator for the district and Mr. May had the following to say about Mr. Tuft. Mr. Tuft is responsible for getting over 50% of the total school system (students) to school every day. He is responsible for over 60 school bus operators, and makes sure that each bus has a driver every day. With the current shortage of bus drivers, Mr. Tuft often drives a route, sometimes driving every day of the week. In addition to supervising the employees of the transportation department, he takes care of bus drivers, bus maintenance and repairs, works with parents, teachers, principals building administrators and board members. Mr. Tuft, thank you for your example of excellence!

Pursuit of Excellence Award Program

The Baldwin County School District Pursuit of Excellence Award, an employee recognition program, is presented monthly to employees who go above and beyond the call of duty. A maximum of four employees are chosen monthly and recognized during the regular Baldwin County Board of Education Meeting.

Application Process

Any Baldwin County School District employee is eligible for nomination, so long as they have not previously received the award. Team or groups are not eligible for recognition. Nominations may be made by any BCSD employee, student, parent, or community member. Nominations are due by the third Tuesday of each month (employees will be recognized the following month). Nomination forms will be available online or at the BCSD office.

Nominations will be reviewed monthly by the Selection Committee. The committee will consist of the Superintendent, the Human Resources Director, Assistant Superintendent, Maintenance Director, Transportation Director, Nutrition Director and the prior month's award winners. The award winners will rotate off each month as the new winners are awarded.

If a nominee is not chosen for recognition one month, his/her nomination may be forwarded to the next month at the discretion of the selection committee.

All recipients of the Pursuit of Excellence Award will be recognized on the district's website and at the monthly Board of Education Meeting.

We have many dedicated employees in our district. Please consider nominating a colleague for this award.