Auxiliary Adviser"Providing Services That Power Education" |
|
| Volume 4, Issue 9 |
April
2004
|
In This Issue:
Employee Excellence Award: March 2004
Recipients
Do You Have Maintenance Questions?
Maintenance Excellence Update
Save by Powering Down the PC
New EHAS Project Manager
School Building Week
CNS Holds Taste Test
Mark Your Calendar
Training
Schedule
Jones Featured in The Maintenance Beacon
Employee Excellence Award: March 2004 Recipients
The Board of Education recognized 12 WCPSS employees with Employee Excellence Awards at it's March 16 meeting. Two of the honorees reside in the Auxiliary Services Division: Michael Trent Carter and Barbara Hatcher.
The Employee Excellence Awards were created to recognize Wake County school employees for their hard work, and providing one of the country's top-performing school districts. Employees are nominated for the honor and selected by a committee.
Superintendent Bill McNeal presented the employees to the board. McNeal awarded the employees a plaque as Assistant Superintendent Maurice Boswell described the employee's achievements.
Michael Trent Carter, WCPSS General Services Area
Facilities Manager
Trent started with the Wake County Public School System less
than two years ago as a multi-task employee in the Heritage
Cluster and has risen to his present position as area facilities
manager for the Millbrook Cluster. Trent has become an example
of what hard work and the right attitude can achieve in the
Wake County Public School System. He is currently a member
of the Preventive Maintenance Focus Group that is charged
with the creating and writing of the Preventive Maintenance
Program. Because of his attention to detail and expertise
in the maintenance field, he has been called upon to help
with the hiring of more than 40 multi-task employees for all
five regions - interviewing over a hundred applicants seeking
employment with the Wake County Public School System.
Barbara Hatcher, WCPSS Construction Management Secretary
Barbara came to the WCPSS Facilities Department seven years
ago after working as a school secretary for 16 years. Her
"in the trenches" experience has provided excellent insight
into what customer service is all about. In the final days
of preparing for new school openings, Barbara enlisted her
husband to help her set up classrooms so they would be ready
for students. She is more than willing to assist her fellow
employees when others are out, and takes on extra responsibility
as a matter of course. Barbara volunteers each year for the
Walk to Cure Diabetes and serves to coordinate that effort
for her WCPSS department. She maintains a positive attitude,
staying calm, cool, and collected under the worst of circumstances.
Do You Have Maintenance Questions?
To help ensure you are "in the loop," the Auxiliary Services staff will address your Maintenance & Operations questions and concerns in this newsletter. Sometimes there are questions you don't feel comfortable asking your supervisor - this should alleviate that concern.
Simply contact one of the Internal Communications Focus Team
members - in whatever manner is easiest for you. He or she
will submit your question to Kristin Wood (anonymously if
you wish), who will find the answer and include it in this
newsletter when appropriate. Team members include:
Kristin Wood, Communications specialist, 856.8036
Buddy McCarty, Environmental Health & Safety supervisor, 856.8031
Sylvia Surcy, processing technician, 856.8119
Mike Weisbeck, Heat Shop craftsman, 427.5172
Ron Wood, AFM, Knightdale Cluster, 266.8401
Darren Grogg, Carpentry craftsman, 868.1976
Maintenance Excellence Update
Jeri Preddy, Energy & Physical Plant Project Manager
· Joe Desormeaux, Maintenance and Operations senior director, recently shared some good news in an e-mail to department administration: "Our backlog of work orders (# of open work orders/# work orders initiated in the past 12 months) was 12.5 percent as of Feb. 9. As of March 3 the backlog is now 10 percent. That is a 2.5 percent reduction in one month. That is a great trend!"
· The Custodial Services Team developed the following goal: To get more involvement and input from principals in order to align Custodial Services with the Cluster Program and Maintenance Excellence. The focus team has also developed a pilot program in the Southern Region, which is now being reviewed by management.
We would like to welcome some new members to the Custodial Team: Kathy Warren, Adams Elementary assistant principal; Cathy Moore, Sanderson High principal; and Terri Allen, Baileywick Elementary principal.
· Congratulations to the two new planners we recently hired! Trophimus Fondren will be the planner for the Eastern Region and Patrick Jean will be the planner for the Southern Region. They will work with corrective and preventive maintenance work orders. (Emergency work orders will continue to be handled by the regional M&O staff.)
Save by Powering Down the PC
Christina Larkins, Special Projects Coordinator
We can all take simple steps to reduce our electricity consumption of the technology equipment we depend on. By shutting down your computer system - or at least the monitor, which uses the most energy - you can help Wake County schools save money. Specifically, that means shutting down PCs and office equipment at night and on weekends. You may also power off your monitor during the day, when you go out to lunch or into a meeting.
Calculating the size of savings is not complicated - it depends on the specifics of your computer and monitor, the cost of electricity, and how many hours the computer is actually used. Energy management standard calculations determined that shutting off the monitor would save the average PC user about $70 per year. For a single PC, those aren't staggering numbers, but when you multiply them by the number of PCs in the school system - approximately 36,000 - the results add up - $2,520,000!
Shutting down a computer saves more power than simply putting it in "sleep mode," because computers and monitors continue to draw power when sleeping. Many of them, like other modern appliances, also draw a steady trickle even when "off," but much less than when they're sleeping.
Please contact Christina Larkins at 856-3715 or clarkins@wcpss.net for more information.
New Environmental Health & Safety Project Manager
Mike Wiltzius was named the new Environmental Health and Safety project manager March 1. His main responsibilities include overseeing American with Disabilities Act (ADA) projects and responding to hazardous materials (HAZMAT) emergencies.
After almost five years as a WCPSS construction project manager, Wiltzius looks forward to the new challenges and opportunities that await him. You may reach Wiltzius at 856.2897 or mwiltzius@wcpss.net.
To celebrate School Building Week (April 19-23), several Wake County Public School System facility planners, project managers and architects will talk with students about their new schools or "like new" schools they will attend this fall. Planners will also meet with a Millbrook Elementary class to highlight the school's environmentally friendly features and relate them to its science magnet program.
Facilities staff will present at the following campuses: Kingswood, Millbrook and Wake Forest elementary schools, and Apex and Heritage middle schools.
CNS Holds New Product Taste Test
Wake County Public School System Nutritionist Susan Thompson and Cafeteria Manager Pat Curry held a new product taste test at Dillard Drive Elementary, Thursday, March 25.
A fifth-grade class tasted baked popcorn chicken and star hash browns, as well as Pepperidge Farm Chocolate Goldfish, Pretzel Goldfish and Parmesan Goldfish. All the items were popular with the students, who often asked for seconds.
On a sheet of paper students rated each food either great, good, OK or not good. Child Nutrition Services holds taste tests each year to decide what foods to add to the next year's menu.
For the past two years, CNS has participated in the Winner's Circle Program to help students identify great-tasting, healthy menu items at lunch. The healthy and tasty menu items are identified by a logo with a purple star and gold fork. The program emphasizes nutritional guidelines that offer disease prevention for the majority of chronic diseases. These guidelines build on fruits, vegetables, grains and calcium. The nutritional analysis ensures that the fat and sodium are within the recommended guidelines.
|
Good Friday |
Administrative Professionals' Day |
|
Easter Monday |
National Earth Day |
|
School Building Week |
|
Jones Featured in The Maintenance Beacon
Scott Jones, assistant supervisor for WCPSS Buildings and Grounds, was featured in The Maintenance Beacon's March 2004 issue. Roxie Mack, who wrote the story, rode around with Jones in January as he completed work orders and checked on various contracted jobs.
If you missed the glowing article, "A Great Visit to Wake County Schools Maintenance Facilities," a copy is posted outside Jan Bunn's office in the Operations Building at Rock Quarry. The newsletter is a monthly publication for NC Public School Maintenance Association members.
Stay Informed
The Auxiliary Adviser is e-mailed to subscribers in the school system; and posted on the intranet, Internet and Auxiliary Services Tao bulletin board. A hard copy of the Adviser is also posted on bulletin boards in the Maintenance and Facilities Buildings, placed in each maintenance shop's box, and one is sent to the head custodian and child nutrition staff at each school.
To have the newsletter e-mailed to you directly, simply send an e-mail with "subscribe" in the subject line, to kwood@wcpss.net.
Auxiliary Services Division
Vision
Providing Services That Power Education
Mission Statement
Provide quality facilities and support services to ensure
safe, healthy, inviting and optimal learning environments.
Goals
1) Recruit, develop and retain a qualified and high quality
workforce.
2) Provide and maintain quality facilities and support services
that result in a safe and healthy learning environment.
3) Effectively communicate successes, challenges and needs.