Amity Regional School District No. 5 has announced that its Award of Excellence this year is being given to Paula Vallie, who has worked in Amity Regional High School’s College & Career Center for the last seven years. Before coming to the high school, she worked for nine years at Amity Middle School in Orange and at Turkey Hill School in Orange prior to that.
As the Career Center Coordinator, Vallie finds jobs, community service projects and mentors for the students.
“Paula has built a strong community outreach, often researching SSLP sites or stopping in to visit on her way home from work or on the weekends,” the district said in a release about the award. “When Amity went to virtual learning Paula came up with the idea of creating a document with links to virtual college tours for the 50 colleges that Amity students most frequently apply to, which could be shared with students and parents. Paula always puts students first and will never hesitate to go above and beyond, no matter the time of day or day of the week, if one of our students needs help with something.”
The district has also awarded its Teacher of the Year for Amity Middle School in Orange to Kristen Yaekel.
Yaekel has been with Amity schools since 2006. She started her work at Amity as an English teacher and now serves as the school’s library media specialist. She is described by her colleagues as “lighthearted and approachable,” and they note that she is always available to support faculty and staff.
Yaekel was nominated by her peers not only because of her expertise in technology and instruction, but also for her patience, persistence and kind helpful spirit.