Congratulations to Joy Kaasa, a paraprofessional for the special education programs at the Wahluke School District in Mattawa, for being selected as Educational Service District 105’s first-ever Regional Classified School Employee of the Year!
The award is designed to recognize the excellent service that our state’s paraprofessionals, custodians, secretaries, cooks, payroll officers, and bus drivers provide to their schools. Candidates are reviewed for their contributions in helping improve student achievement, their leadership and collaboration, and their overall outstanding work performance for their school community.
Kaasa joined the Wahluke School District as a paraprofessional in 2005, serving 2nd-8th grade special education students. After beginning that role, she routinely began to seek the advice of counselors, principals, reading coaches, administrators, and veteran teachers in order to create more effective intervention strategies for the students she helped serve. Her job with Wahluke led Kaasa to decide to pursue a career as a teacher, and last year she obtained a B.S. degree in interdisciplinary social sciences from Central Washington University.
Pictured: Joy Kaasa receives her award from Wahluke Supt. Gary Greene
In her application materials for the regional award, Kaasa wrote: “Special education appeals to me because I see a bit of myself in each child I serve. Each day gives me a chance to impart a little vision into their lives and introduce the possibilities of ‘What if…?’
“To open the door of possibility for a student, to lead them to new discoveries and encourage them to do the hard things in order to reap the great rewards, these are truly enviable experiences! To see the joy in a student’s face when they finally ‘get it’ after months or years of struggling in a subject, it’s like witnessing a miracle! To put into the hands of a student the power to dream, to work hard and one day see the view from the top of the mountain – there is no feeling like it in the world.”
In her nomination letter supporting Kaasa for the award, Wahluke Special Services director Teresa Davison wrote: “Joy has a wonderful rapport with students and teachers. She cultivates team in whichever setting and building she has been assigned to. Joy has a wealth of techniques that she employs in her instructional activities and is a great resource for our students. Because of her skills and willingness to go beyond the typical duties and role of a paraeducator, she is recruited by teams of teachers for her insight into her students and help that she can provide to develop appropriate educational plans for them.”
Wahluke associate superintendent Heather Hastie-Ulery wrote: “Joy is our number one advocate for our special education students. She has high expectations for the kids, and our kids consistently meet them. She has the kids set goals and reflect, which is a very powerful technique. The kids work hard for her because she respects them and provides a caring yet accountable environment.”
The new regional award is part of a revamping of the statewide Classified School Employee of the Year that is presented annually by the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction in Olympia. This year, OSPI had each of the state’s nine ESDs obtain applications from their service areas for the new regional awards. Kaasa is now one of nine regional honorees from throughout the state who will vie for the statewide award, which OSPI is expected to formally present in late April.
Kaasa was chosen from among five nominees for the regional award. A local selection committee reviewed application materials that were provided by employees representing the East Valley, Selah, Wahluke and Wapato school districts.
