Covington 2009/10: Thank you!

June 2, 2010

Thank you!

As a community, we logged over 24,500 volunteer hours at Covington over the last school year. Last Friday, the PTA paused to acknowledge members that have gone the extra mile.

After the faculty hosted Volunteer Breakfast, the PTA recognized members of the community with Covington and California PTA honors. Please join us in thanking these deserving recipients.

Covington Honors

Covington Coyote Award given to an individual or organization who demonstrates a breadth, depth and consistency of volunteer service to the children of Covington School.

Kenna Fenton has been acknowledged in prior years for her wealth of contributions to our Covington Community and many other groups and organizations in her community. Today, it seems only fitting to once again show our appreciation by acknowledging this truly dedicated volunteer.

For years she has managed and budgeted our PTA dollars; co-managed the entire hot lunch program; provided our families with a way to connect - producing our directory; financial partner to auction, walk-a-thon, book fair, JO and many more Covington committees. She has served as a Covington PTA officer as well as a district PTA officer, and has consistently provided countless hours of time and energy to our PTA programs to ensure their success.

Jing Wu has been involved a mixture of activities this year at Covington, working quietly and effectively to improve things at the school. As Covington's webmaster, she has spent an immense amount of time and technical expertise in developing and managing the school website while helping us become the first school in the district to launch an online payment system - Google Checkout . Continuing in this role next year, she has already started driving efforts to rebrand the site and implement a new navigation system. Jing also lead the effort to re-establish Covington's participation in the district's National Geographic Geography Bee; a program which included a weekly Geo Club for Covington's 4th - 6th grade students. She devoted countless hours planning the program with teacher and co-sponsor, Mrs. Scatena. In addition to these activities, Jing served as the secretary of the Site Council and helped produce the Covington yearbook. She is adept not only with technology, but what makes her truly special and invaluable is her resourcefulness and mission to find a solution to any problem, technical or not! We are thankful she shares her talents with us and appreciate all the time she has dedicated to enhancing Covington School's online and extracurricular programs.

Friend of Covington Award given to an individual or organization who makes a significant and lasting impact on Covington school, its facility, culture, curriculum or infrastructure.

Judy Jorgenson, aka Mrs. "J," is an energentic, driven, caring lady! Can you believe she had her first job at the age of 13? Judy attended Berkeley undergrad and Notre Dame de Namur to attain her teaching credential and Master's degree. She worked for an attorney as her own children were growing up, but after spending time tutoring, she realized she wanted to be a teacher! Judy started her teaching career locally in the La Entrada School District and came to us after teaching at Bullis. She joined the Covington staff to teach both first and second grade! After many years of dedication, hard work, and student advocation, Judy is looking forward to some exciting family events! She will be retiring to be with her girls! Her daughter Lauren resides in NY and is having a little girl in September; Judy can't wait to be a grandmother! She also awaits her other daughter, Audrey's wedding this summer! We know we have not seen the last of Judy; she is so dedicated, when she retires, she intends to do a project at Covington to helps first and second grade students. We wish her all of the best as she enters a new chapter in her life. Congratulations, Judy!

Emi Chu-Ishida came to Covington from Springer, and with her, brought her enthusiasm and dedication to helping to create a positive, caring climate at our school! In her first year at Covington she was on the PTA Executive Board, which really helped us integrate the new families into our school culture. Our principal, Erin Green has sung her praises this year as she has willingly helped to lead the implementation of Project Cornerstone at Covington! Emi attended the 6-week parent workshop, attended the ABC Reader trainings, attended the student workshop and even networked with other parents who have had past experience with Project Cornerstone. She single-handedly recruited readers for the 4th grade pilot this year and observed the volunteers carrying out their lessons. So you can see the positive impact the lessons had, students shared the following: "I am now empowered to be an upstander and not a bystander, I learned not to take the 'bait', and I have the right to learn in a safe place where no one is laughed at or ridiculed." We are so thankful for Emi's quiet leadership! Thank you!

Communications in any environment is challenging - in a school environment with limited budget and attention spans it can be extremely frustrating. Push too hard, and people stop paying attention; pull back too far, and the community can fragment and drift. Finding that correct balance of cadence, medium, delivery was the challenge that Lori Cox stepped up to this year. She has driven the effort to refine how we communicate at the school; defining the timelines, editing messages, selecting the correct vehicles and all the while resisting the temptation to let chaos rein. And, on an even more exciting note, she has agreed to return to the role next year!

Very Special Person Award given to an individual or organization who has a significant and unique impact on Covington School, but who may not meet the criteria set forth in the other award categories.

Suzy Allison is an invaluable contributor to our Covington community. Suzy's biggest strengths are her cheerful disposition and flexible attitude that make her a joy to work with. She is always in the forefront, making a difference and supporting programs that impact our children. Suzy's direct impact on our children is unmistakable, as is clear from her involvement that includes the following: the Lair program, Project Cornerstone, 'Girls on the Run, both the Book Fairs and Summer Reading Program to kindle in our children a passion for reading, and finally, the Crew Lead in the Hot Lunch Program. Suzy has also served as our school's Financial Secretary and as a Member of the Nominating Committee. She has also been invaluable to incoming families, putting them at ease answering questions, and supported the school in the process. These activities have not prevented Suzy from contributing as a Room Parent in both her daughters' classrooms every single year. Suzy's dedication to Covington has been remarkable and she is truly a Very Special Person here in our community!

Margaret Yen has held the position of database management for the Covington Auction, which has raised over $100,000 for two years in a row. This is no small feat, as the database is the engine of the auction and the amount of donated items needed to raise that kind of money is gargantuan. Margaret was the source for managing donations, descriptions, values, auction catalog/brochure inputs, gift certificates, ticket sales, bidder numbers, sales, invoices and tax receipts. The night of the auction, she was the behind the scene force that gave credibility to Covington's fundraising efforts. Margaret left no detail unnoticed throughout her Herculean efforts. Her contributions and attention to detail made the entire team's tasks run much smoother. We thank her SO much for her effort and enthusiasm in supporting the Covington Auction!

California PTA Honors

Honorary Service Award given to an individual or organization in special recognition of outstanding service to the children at Covington School and in the broader community for several years. Such service could be demonstrated through volunteer work in groups including, but not limited to PTA, scouts, youth sports, etc.

For the past two years Covington School has benefited tremendously as a community from the contributions made by these two exceptional women. In an era when other schools in the District are looking to either eliminate their annual auction or are moving to a bi-annual cycle, these two women stepped-up and led the management of this annual fund raiser for two years in a row; raising more money at each event than any other school in the district.

While their financial contribution through tireless fundraising is significant, they also managed to increase participation rates in the event year over year, making this a truly school-wide function. Diana Ekstrand brought to Covington her knowledge of having run a highly successful auction for Bing Preschool - with amazing results. Her creativity, writing and arm-twisting skills were put to good use helping deliver two very entertaining, but wildly different events. Jenny Williams complemented those skills with her own, helping keep the small village required to deliver events of this quality on-track and on-budget. In addition to this significant time commitment, Jenny also served on the PTA Board; on the Los Altos Recreation Department committee and on Covington's Technology committee.

Continuing Service Award given to an individual or organization for continued service to children at Covington School and in the broader community for a number of years. The determining factors for this award are the candidate's body or history of service and contributions, as opposed to their service during a particular school year.

During the last 7 years this individual has graced us and our children with her energetic personality and her very mindful approach to all she takes on. In fact, one never really knows how much work she tackles because everything she does, she accomplishes effortlessly and seamlessly!

Her very long list of volunteer duties at Covington and in our greater community include; 6+ years in the science and computer lab rooms, art aide, assorted room parent duties, PE docent, yard duty, site council, auction treasurer, she has chaired tool-box, giving-tree, and staff appreciation; her officer duties include PTA treasurer, PTA historian, and PTA president! While not wanting to limit her help to just Covington; this very busy person has helped with girl scouts, girls softball, Los Altos Little League fundraising events and much, much more!

Please join us in honoring a very special person and friend - Valerie Nichols.During the last 7 years this individual has graced us and our children with her energetic personality and her very mindful approach to all she takes on. In fact, one never really knows how much work she tackles because everything she does, she accomplishes effortlessly and seamlessly!

Please join us in honoring a very special person and friend - Valerie Nichols.

Golden Oak Service Award the most prestigious PTA award in California. This award may be given to an individual or organization that has made a significant contribution to the welfare of children and youth in the school or community. Typically this is awarded for 10 years or more of service to children.

It is such a pleasure to honor this very special woman who has given so much of her time and talents to both Covington and the greater community. She is always poised, gracious, composed and never loses sight of her goal as advocate for our children here at Covington and children in our neighboring communities. She is admired by us all; how does she manage to take on so many jobs, run a household, co-raise her two great kids and her adopted dog and make it all look like a walk in the park? Anyone who knows our honoree knows that she is a very dedicated volunteer and friend.

Her list of well worn hats include; PTA president 2 years, Parliamentarian, PTA Council President, PTA Council Secretary, Art Docent and Art Docent Chairperson, Auction Co-Chair, Fundraiser Extraordinaire, Egan Holiday Faire, Hot Lunch Chair, Room Parent, Girls Softball, Boys and Girl Scouts, AYSO soccer, Los Altos Little League, LAEF, Measure A, Castro School student tutor and the list goes on! She has been involved at every level with nearly every PTA committee and beyond; her resume is amazing and also includes a job as an elementary school teacher before she decided to give us all of her attention for the real big bucks! She has a very big heart, always concerned, always ready and willing to step in; I will personally be forever grateful to her for everything she has done for all of us, all the schools and all of the community. Elena, you are so deserving of this award, an extraordinary volunteer, the easiest person I have ever worked with, and the most wonderful role model to all of us. There is no one that exemplifies the true spirit of the Golden Oak award more than Elena Shea!