Taking Time Out to Say Thanks

Growing up, I learned very quickly that when someone does you a good turn, it’s only polite to express your gratitude.

That’s why I took time out Monday to say ‘thank you’ to four outstanding central office employees during my regular quarterly staff meetings.

Dora Arzola is one of the first employees visitors see when they come to this building, and as the front desk receptionist, she greets more than 10,000 people each month. I can’t tell you the number of times folks have told me what a wonderful representative she is for our district, so it gave me great pleasure to present her with a Team HISD hat today and to thank her for her service.

Thomas Longoria is one of our IT professionals, and he has helped me out on several occasions when I had a technical question or a problem to resolve. One of Thomas’ best qualities is his ability to provide you with answers or assistance without making you feel silly. It’s not just his knowledge that makes him special—although he is great at his job—it’s his positive attitude. So I was very pleased to thank him personally, too.

Felecia German is our senior manager of Professional Standards, and she is a huge support to our principals, school improvement officers, and chiefs. People call her at all hours of the day and night, but she is always helpful and guides them to do what is right for our students. Staff members know they can count on her for guidance when making difficult decisions, and that is no small thing.

Finally, I wanted to recognize Gavin Dillingham (pictured with me above), our energy manager in Facilities Services. Gavin is in charge of helping us conserve natural resources such as water and natural gas, but in the short time he has been with us, he has also helped us save money, too. In fact, he helped negotiate a contract recently that will save the district about $5 million a year on electricity!

Please join me in saluting these four outstanding employees. They exemplify the best of HISD, and I, for one, am very proud to call them my colleagues.