Each year, staff members have the opportunity to nominate another employee for all the hard work they pour into their job. One of these awards is the Vision of Excellence Award (VOE). Vision of Excellence Awards recognizes those that provide the highest levels of leadership, continuous improvement, customer focus, and teamwork to benefit the students of Jenks Public Schools. Nominations were reviewed by a selection committee and winners were announced at the Back-to-School Celebration for employees.
This year, two of our incredible staff members were nominated and then selected by the committee for the Vision of Excellence Award. Introducing Amber Whiteley and Bill Snyder as the 2023-2024 VOE winners from Jenks West Intermediate!
“Amber promotes self-confidence, encourages decision-making, brings wisdom and balance.”
“She is the first to say, “I got this.” regardless of what THIS is.”
Amber Whiteley proves that engaging, real life scenarios provide the catalyst for enthusiastic participation and cross curricular learning. Just one example of this is when her class decided to begin “Trojan Treats”. Her students had to find a way to sell treats to teachers. They worked on their social skills when having to take orders from their customers. This was also an opportunity for her class to engage with critical skills such as budgeting, making change, and purchasing. Students who previously had no interest in learning how to add money or properly place decimals became captivated by these concepts when applied to a practical, hands-on situation. Amber is always looking for a way to reel in her students because she knows that bringing joy into learning is essential!
“You thought Bill Nye had irrepressible enthusiasm, he can’t compare to Bill Sny’s approach to learning.”
“Students feel respected, heard and valued.”
“All along the way he celebrates thinking and admires their risk taking endeavors.”
Bill Snyder is constantly searching for ways to improve his craft. He encourages teachers and staff to join his classroom whenever possible. He wants to teach others just as much as he wants to learn from them. One of the specific areas he has steadily embraced is in Building Thinking Classrooms. This is where students are given the opportunity to work collaboratively on solving open ended mathematical problems. He is able to guide students to exactly where they need to be with his genuine questioning. Bill has been so devoted to the vertical thinking mathematical problem solving that he has begun leading professional development on it to encourage more of our staff to take the leap.