Shining Examples of Team HISD

There are moments when I am struck by how incredibly fortunate I am to work with some of the best educators and support staff in the country. I had the opportunity this week to acknowledge some of the work our staff at the central office level is doing and the great things they are accomplishing for this district.

We often talk about providing a consistent and rigorous education for the students at HISD on the academic level, but that commitment to consistency doesn’t stop there. In the Food Services Department, consistency applies to serving quality, nutritionally rich meals to hundreds of thousands of students every day. Just meeting the minimum nutritional standards isn’t enough — they exceed them. You can watch a video and learn more about the department here.

I had the pleasure of rewarding three members of the Food Services team with Team HISD hats. Brian Giles, Senior Administrator of Food Services, was one recipient. Brian is a strong leader and has a passion for child nutrition, making HISD a national leader in school nutrition. Even under a tight budget, Brian ensures our kids are getting fresh and nutritious meals — the foundation for a successful learning day. Pamela Guillory, Food Services Operations Manager, also received a hat. Pamela has trained countless HISD employees, many of whom have gone on to manage their own kitchens. She has worked in a number of HISD kitchens over the past 20 years and was recently promoted to Operations Manager. Chef Jane Mazzei, who briefly turned in her chef’s hat for a Team HISD hat, is leading the charge for a culinary overhaul of the district’s high schools. Jane has spent many years in the culinary arts and is now with Team HISD as a chef trainer. She is a welcome addition to the team.

Other employees also were honored with hats. Marmion Dambrino, who broke ground as HISD’s first female athletic director, was recently named our region’s Athletic Director of the Year by the Texas High School Athletic Directors Association. She has served under many hats at HISD: dean of students, associate principal, teacher, and coach. I am proud of all that she has accomplished and proud to have her here at HISD. The final Team HISD hat went to Multimedia Services Senior Manager Leila Walsh. Leila was instrumental in getting the word out about early voting for the HISD Schools Bond, leading her team to produce video, web and TV coverage, and social media campaigns to get the job done. She is also overseeing the conversion of our campus websites to Schoolwires, which will make those websites more user-friendly and help principals better communicate with parents. In the coming weeks, we will launch a new HISD website, and Leila is hard at work on that project as well.

I am so lucky to work with such talented people but even luckier to be in the position to acknowledge their successes. Let’s keep up the good work and finish out the year as strong as we’ve started.