Everyday Heroes:
AFT Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel Finalists

 

 

Lori Diggs
Custodian, Bend Senior High School, Bend, Ore.
Oregon School Employees Association Chapter 6, Bend-La Pine

Custodian Lori Diggs is described as a “5-foot tall ball of fire” beloved by the students at Bend Senior High School in Oregon. As Diggs sees it, her job is not only to clean the floors and doorknobs but to beautify the hearts of teenagers by taking time to listen to their troubles and hopes, get to know them and help them find solutions to some of life’s thornier problems. Diggs’ small stature doesn’t get in the way of her authority, either. In the words of her nominator: “She supervises a group of student helpers during the day who generally have discipline problems, but they like and respect her so much that they never give her any crap.” That certainly can’t be said for every one of her counterparts—even big, strapping men more than a foot taller than Diggs, who may have the physique but not the moral stature to keep students on their best behavior. Kids respect her because she’s fair and honest as well as kind. A single mom and recent breast cancer survivor, Diggs finds time to attend school events in support of “her” students. They notice her dedication. She makes a difference. “This place,” her nominator says, “wouldn’t be the same without her.”

Charles “C.J.” Johnson
Paraprofessional safety worker, North Dallas High School, Dallas
Alliance-AFT, Local 2260

After massive amounts of dedication to young people in Texas, a little bit of recognition is finally trickling in for a Dallas high school security worker who is more like a guardian angel. Charles "C.J." Johnson, along with his mother, has taken in 38 homeless students over the years. In November, the North Dallas High School employee and graduate received a prestigious local award recognizing his leadership in improving education for low-income children. Past recipients of this award have included people with pretty fancy resumes, including state senators, a school superintendent and prominent attorneys. The only thing fancy about Johnson is the fancy footwork he has done to keep dozens of kids out of trouble and on the right track. For his efforts, Johnson has seen many of his students graduate from high school. Some even have gone on to earn a college diploma. Johnson has become adept at putting his hands on extra resources for his students. He requires them all to perform some type of community service along with their schoolwork, and he keeps tabs on them, not only while they live with him but after they leave. All this makes Johnson, his nominator writes, “the epitome of what it means to serve.” And if you think this man has a pretty amazing resume, she adds, “He is even more amazing in person.”

Judie Lohman
Secretary, Arthur L. Johnson High School, Clark, N.J.
Clark Federation of School Employees

The very definition of a thankless task is the kind of work you do quietly, invisibly, behind the scenes. Judie Lohman performs this kind of work. Every year for nearly a decade, as a secretary in the guidance department of Arthur L. Johnson High School in New Jersey, Lohman has coordinated her school’s scholarship program, contacting donors, processing student applications and putting together an awards ceremony from start to finish, decorations to refreshments, October to June. She has encouraged every graduating senior to apply for something, and then has proceeded to cheer them on. As if that isn’t enough, Lohman also runs an annual holiday party for about 80 special needs children. She sends invitations to the students and their families, coordinates volunteers (including the enlistment of faculty and students to buy gifts), and also solicits donations of food and books. The big day includes Mr. and Mrs. Claus, reading, lunch, games and face painting. This year, Lohman has transferred to the main office and is working as the principal’s secretary. Because of this move, she has given up organizing the scholarship program but will continue with the holiday party. “I love to feed people. I love to give presents,” she says. “I’m like the Grinch. My heart’s got to grow.” “It’s a huge undertaking,” agrees her nominator, “but this is a woman with a huge heart.”

Cynthia Speer
School service assistant, Hutchins McMichael K-8 School, Detroit
Detroit Federation of Paraprofessionals

A parent nominated Cynthia Speer as an AFT Everyday Hero because this school service assistant at Hutchins McMichael K-8 School in Detroit is the go-to person for families. When parents and guardians need information, Speer has it. Plus, she has charisma. “She always makes time for everyone in our school,” her nominator writes. “She always has something good to say, or funny. She makes all of the kids at our school happy, and they all want to be around her. They respect her, as we do.” When it comes down to the goods, Speer has those too, which she keeps in a separate room: food, supplies for schoolwork and hygiene, even extra uniforms. She cleans up kids who need it, and as a parent herself who comes right from the neighborhood, “she is very territorial” about protecting the people under her care, watching out for staff, parents and the principal. For 12 years, Speer has come in early every day and made coffee at various spots around the building “to make sure the staff is happy, too.” Nobody at Hutchins McMichael can imagine the place without her. Last but not least, Speer is a leader. She doesn’t sit back and wait for something good to happen, her nominator says. She makes it happen.

Elizabeth Streu
Administrative professional, Portland Community College, Portland, Ore.
Portland Community College Federation of Classified Employees

Elizabeth Streu works as an administrative professional in one of the hottest hotspots of the recovering economy: a community college. As someone at the center of all that happens at Portland Community College in Oregon, Streu functions as the hub, the guts, the glue or whatever you want to call the person who keeps the college’s people working together, and who makes sure that every aspect of the college’s facilities and services are running efficiently. Streu is especially vital to the PCC Metropolitan Workforce Training Center, the engine room of the college’s efforts to train and retrain workers for the new economy. Top to bottom, she provides front office support, room scheduling and event planning. She reconciles invoices and draws up class registration forms. All this is aimed at the ultimate goal: getting unemployed workers employed in good, family-sustaining jobs. This is no abstract concept for Streu. The single mom has her sights set on high goals for her own family as well. She’s trying to help her son obtain an engineering degree. As is true in so many other professions, the work of staff who perform their jobs extremely well can be almost invisible. “Elizabeth does so much and receives so little credit for the work she does,” her nominator writes. “She truly is the hero of our campus.”