Auxiliary Adviser

"Providing Services That Power Education"
Volume 1, Issue 6
May 2001

EnergySavers and Five Schools Win National Recognition for Energy Education

Five Wake County schools and the EnergySavers program won national recognition for promoting energy education and will be honored at the National Energy Education Development (NEED) Youth Awards Program, June 22 - 25, 2001 in Washington, D.C. Green Hope High tied for Senior Rookie of the Year, Lockhart Elementary won Runner-up, and EnergySavers won District of the Year. Davis Drive Middle, North Ridge and Knightdale elementaries will also be recognized for their energy conservation projects. These five schools are the only ones from North Carolina being recognized at the awards ceremony.

NEED panelists judged entrants based on scrapbooks showing what projects they have done throughout the year to promote energy education. Awards are given to the winner and runner-up in the elementary, junior and senior levels. Rookie awards are given at each level for schools in their first year of the NEED program.

NEED's "Kids Teaching Kids" approach encourages students to teach their peers and communities about energy in fun and innovative ways.

WCPSS' EnergySavers program published and distributed energy conservation brochures and calendars, awarded rebates to schools that reduced their energy consumption, and established a utility database for schools. The EnergySavers team traveled across the state promoting conservation awareness and participated in the Carolina Electric Vehicle Challenge and Junior Solar Sprint.

Last year, Martin Middle won Rookie of the Year, Davis Drive Middle won the Junior Level, and EnergySavers was the District Finalist. EnergySavers was also the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 1999 Energy Star Buildings Education Partner of the Year.

Clean-up Day

Auxiliary Services has scheduled a clean-up day for the entire Rock Quarry Road complex, June 7. Areas will be designated for temporary disposal of materials until permanent disposal can occur; stopping the random distribution of garbage on the site. Hopefully, the designation will contain the trash and make the complex more environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing to all of us who work here each day.

Auxiliary Services is coordinating the effort to clean up this complex with the purchasing, transportation, and maintenance and operations departments. In addition to arranging the clean-up day, the group is discussing other ways to improve existing waste disposal processes.

Shining Stars

The North Raleigh Hilton's banquet hall sparkled May 15 with stars representing each school's stellar child nutrition staff. "Lighting the Way to the Future," was the theme of this year's child nutrition ceremony and the evening was filled with success stories.

Staff presented numerous awards, and many of them are listed below.

Driver of the Year: Frank Hunter

Managers of the Year:
Jeannette Lamotta, Wildwood Forest Elementary
Kathy Toole, Rolesville Elementary

Sanitation Awards (Based on schools with sanitation grades of 100 or higher)
Apex Middle
Apex High
Brentwood Elementary
Carroll Middle
Cary Elementary
East Millbrook Middle
East Wake High - North
East Wake High - South
East Wake Middle
Fox Road Elementary
Fuquay-Varina Middle
Jeffreys Grove Elementary
Jones Dairy Elementary
Leesville Road High
Lockhart Elementary
Morrisville Elementary
Poe Elementary
Reedy Creek Elementary
Weatherstone Elementary
Wendell Elementary
Wildwood Forest Elementary

Financial Awards Greatest Breakfast Participation
(Elementary)
1st place: Lockhart
2nd place: Aversboro & Smith
3rd place: Weatherstone

(Middle)
1st place: Lufkin Road
2nd place: East Cary

(High)
1st place: Fuquay
2nd place: Southeast Raleigh
3rd place: Green Hope

Highest Year-to-Date Financial
(Elementary)
1st place: Wildwood Forest
2nd place: Adams
3rd place: Lockhart

(Middle)
1st place: West Millbrook
2nd place: Durant Road
3rd place: West Cary

(High) 1st place: Fuquay
2nd place: Southeast Raleigh
3rd place: Sanderson

For a complete list of awards, please e-mail Jacqueline Demery at jmdemery@wcpss.net.

Custodial Awards

The Charles Mann Award was given out and seven people were inducted into the Custodial Hall of Fame at the Custodial Recognition Day at Dillard Drive Middle.

Harold Antoine was presented the prestigious Charles Mann Award, May 5, after being nominated by Carver Elementary Principal Mary Castleberry for his tremendous efforts, good attitude and willingness to learn. Antoine began full-time with Wake County schools in 1998 and less than a year-and-a-half later he was promoted to head custodian at Carver.

The award is named for Charles Mann, who worked in the WCPSS custodial department from 1978 to 1993, and is given to a fairly new employee each year. Mann worked with each custodian in the system and encouraged him to do his best. He was committed to an excellent learning environment and his training and experience helped the custodial department adapt to the changing needs of our growing system.

In addition, the following custodians were inducted into the Hall of Fame:
Lee Collins, Vance Elementary
Therone Holiday, Apex Middle
Ronald Roberson, Rand Road Elementary
Naomi Simmons, Jeffreys Grove Elementary
Ethel Townes, Brentwood Elementary
James Walker, Brentwood Elementary
Vincent Wells, Conn Elementary

These seven received the highest nominations from their principals, as well as letters of recommendation from teachers and students expressing their appreciation. The Hall of Fame was established in 1985 to recognize custodians that show exemplary pride in every phase of their job. Nominees must be with the school system at least five years.

Maximo

Maintenance employees and test schools were the first to receive instruction as Maximo training kicked off the week of May 14. Although Maximo is an extensive and multi-faceted system, everyone was cooperative, patient and more than willing to learn. We will soon have a school system full of Maximo experts.

The following Monday, 25 test schools were expected to begin submitting actual work requests through Maximo. Due to problems with the server, however, the testing phase has been temporarily postponed.

If you have any questions or concerns, please e-mail Denise Boughton (dboughton@wcpss.net) or Kate Nikolaisen (knikolaisen@wcpss.net).

Auxiliary Services Division
Severe and Inclement Weather Procedures

The following procedures are for severe or inclement weather, such as floods, snow, hurricanes or high wind, or tornadoes.

· Senior directors for each department will be responsible for having (and publishing to their department employees) a designated call-in number for employees in case of severe or inclement weather.
· Senior directors will update the message (personal greeting) on the call-in number to inform employees who call during the severe or inclement weather period.
· Senior directors will make staff aware of leave and make-up options if they are unable to get to work on a severe or inclement weather day.
· Directors and supervisors will ensure that all necessary equipment for staff to do their jobs during severe or inclement weather is available and in good working order.
· Employees will check the designated voice mailbox for instructions for their specific department personnel during severe or inclement weather.
· Employees will be responsible for contacting their supervisor or director of their section to indicate whether or not they will be able to get to work during severe or inclement weather.
· Employees will disregard media information for state employees since all employees are employees of the Wake County Public School System.
· When inclement or severe weather is anticipated, selected employees will be notified if they are to take a vehicle home (e.g. truck with a snow plow) or other necessary equipment in order to facilitate getting to work and assisting in clearing our sites.
· Contractors have been selected and assigned to plow/clear school sites. First priority for central staff will be to clear the Rock Quarry Road operations site and the Wake Forest Road administrative site.
· Employees may be called upon to assist with other duties to ensure that schools are safe and made ready for occupancy as soon as possible following a period of severe and inclement weather.

Race Winners

Four Wake schools were recognized Wednesday as results of the Carolina Electric Vehicle Challenge (CEVC) and the Junior Solar Sprint (JSS) were announced. Wake Forest Rolesville High won first place for website development (http://www.evchallenge.org/wakef/) and Enloe High placed second in troubleshooting.

Two teams at Martin and two at East Garner middle schools won awards in the Junior Solar Sprint. Martin's Kamikazes team placed first in speed and the Gypsies, Sun and Rainbows team placed second in creativity and third in technical innovation. East Garner's RKJ Speed won second for speed and second for technical innovation, while the Quicksand team placed third in speed.

High school students raced cars retrofitted with electric technology, and were judged on an oral presentation, design, speed, long distance, and a troubleshooting exercise at the CEVC in Raleigh, April 27-28. The JSS was designed to educate middle school students about solar energy through the use of solar racecars. WCPSS' EnergySavers sponsored both middle schools.

Athletic Passes

All WCPSS employees will have the opportunity to purchase an athletic pass for the 2001/2002 school year. The picture ID badge can be used at all middle and high school regular season athletic events in Wake County. Please bring $5 (cash only) to one of the following locations between 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.:

August 3, 6, 7
Southeast Raleigh, East Wake or Apex high schools

August 3, 6, 7, 8
Sanderson High School
(August 8 is for new employees only.)

Employees who have their picture taken for the athletic ID will be issued a temporary pass that day. Lifetouch Studios (taking the pictures) will send official ID badges to the various work sites by approximately August 23 for distribution.

Next year, full-time WCPSS employees that have purchased an ID will be given a validation sticker at no cost for the 2002/2003 school year. For more information, please contact Bobby Guthrie at 850-1887.

Tips on Saving Gas

· Slow down, maintain steady speeds and avoid rapid acceleration and sudden stops.
· Use the air conditioner only when absolutely necessary.
· Don't let the vehicle idle for more than a minute. Idling consumes half-a-gallon to one gallon of gas per hour and wastes more gas than restarting the engine.
· Check your vehicle owner's manual to make certain the grade of gasoline you buy is the correct one. Most vehicles are designed to operate on lower cost regular gasoline.
· Combine errands into one trip or go to one location to take care of as many errands as possible.
· Fill up at the self-serve pump. Using self-serve regular fuel compared to premium can save an average of 17 cents per gallon. Full-serve regular unleaded cost nearly 25 cents more per gallon than self-serve. If using self-serve pumps, motorists or their automotive technician should look under the hood for signs of trouble at least once a month.
· Shop for low gasoline prices locally, but don't waste gas driving to a distant filling station to save a few cents.
· Keep tires properly inflated, the air filter clean, and make sure spark plugs are in good condition.
· Don't haul extra weight and avoid carrying items on the vehicle's roof.
· Periodically calculate the vehicle's fuel economy performance. A loss of fuel economy could mean mechanical trouble.

Source: AAA

Training Survey Results

The survey data reinforces our belief that the training needs and desires of Auxiliary Services employees are fairly congruent within trade lines, though there is some overlap - particularly in the areas of safety and technology training. From the data, it appears that most respondents want training which:
1) Helps them attain the highest level of skills available in their individual areas,
2) Helps them acquire and retain licenses necessary for the performance of their jobs,
3) Allows them to become more multi-functional,
4) Helps them become more computer literate and teaches them to utilize technology to make their jobs easier,
5) Helps them develop their interpersonal and supervisory skills, and
6) Gives them the knowledge they need to keep themselves and their co-workers safe in the workplace.

Based on these conclusions, the next step will be to set priorities for how and when to conduct the training. Staff will place top priority on any training that is legally required or mandated - such as the safety training. Training will be correlated to the job description for each position, and where none exists, job descriptions will be written to include this information. Training that directly relates to licenses or certification for jobs, as well as skills which enhance an employee's ability to perform or advance to a higher level, will also be included. Based on survey results, training related to enhancing employee technology skills will be of particular importance.

In developing the training schedule, staff will consider both the current needs of our work force along with future needs as both employees and programs evolve. Training needs for new employees and educational opportunities for courses that must be renewed on a periodic basis, will also be factored in.

It is hoped that by the end of the fiscal year 2002/2003, an individual training development plan geared toward enabling each employee to reach his personal goals, the division goals, and system goals.

Stay Informed

Subscribe to the Auxiliary Adviser and stay informed of important issues and events in the Auxiliary Services Division. To subscribe, e-mail kwood@wcpss.net, with SUBSCRIBE in the subject line. The newsletter will be e-mailed to you on a monthly basis.

If you do not wish to subscribe, you can also find the Adviser on the Tao bulletin board for auxiliary services. If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact Kristin Wood at 856-8036.

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 and retain qualified employees
2) Secure funding to provide quality facilities and support services
3) Provide a safe and comfortable working environment