Sweetwater Administrators Shadow Union Employees - 5/20/2011
Employees Celebrate Classified School Employees Week
Preparing and serving lunch, ensuring student safety, driving school buses and assisting in the classroom - these are the jobs that the classified employees in the Sweetwater District and in other districts across the state do every day. This week, several administrators from across the Sweetwater District went to work alongside classified employees.
FoodServices: Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara and Food Services Staff member Sofia Pelayo prepare a food cart for lunch at Otay Ranch High
In celebration of Classified School Employees Week, approximately 40 administrators and Board of Trustee Members volunteered to spend a portion of their day working with classified staff. Job shadows took place at 14 school sites and in six different departments, including transportation, maintenance, special services, and risk management.
To view this video, click once below.
At Otay Ranch High School Superintendent Dr. Jesus Gandara assisted in preparing and serving meals with the cafeteria staff.
"They put me to work immediately," said Gandara. "I got a much better view of the staffing challenges our cafeteria employees face. We always appreciate their work and we know they work very, very hard."
At Bonita Vista Middle, Board Member Pearl Quiñones and several administrators participated in activities such as working in the library, being a campus assistant, serving lunch in the cafeteria and working with special needs students.
Library: Olympian High Assistant Principal Thomas Winters and Bonita Vista Middle Librarian Gloria Valdez checking in textbooks
"This is a great event for everybody," said Quiñones. "As a former classified employee, I applaud these administrators for taking the time to experience a day in the life of classified workers."
At Sweetwater High administrators worked in the cafeteria and in the transportation department, administrators rode along with school bus drivers.
"It's good to see the administrators here getting an idea of the work that we do every day for the students," said Jose Alberto Serratos, Cafeteria Supervisor at Otay Ranch High. "It's been great to see."