Keshet’s staff make a world of difference in people’s lives every day. They are guided by our values: Positivity, Patience, Integrity, Teamwork, Communication and Respect. To demonstrate how our staff are bringing these values to life, we initiated the Keshet Staff Values Awards.
We are thrilled to announce the Spring 2021 recipients:
Laura Bubley, MY Life | Patience
Laura lives all of our Keshet values, but her patience is especially remarkable. Whenever she is working, which is a lot, she has endless patience with our residents, co-workers, and Keshet families. She is solutions-oriented and always takes time to plan out what will be best for the residents when bumps in the road come up. She is the glue that holds together many things at MY Life and her patience allows her to create great relationships, handle challenging situations calmly, and push our participants to grow.
Shimmy Castle, Keshet Sunday School | Positivity
Shimmy exudes positivity and brings joy to our staff and participants. Just watch how he tells a story or engages with everyone during the last song of each of music session. Shimmy sings This Little Light of Mine and mentions the light we all shine and the joy we bring to them. Shimmy has been our Sunday School song leader for the last few years. Throughout COVID, he has really stepped up and taken on more song sessions. Shimmy has grown as a music educator and song leader over the years and keeps everyone happy and engaged. His positivity is contagious!
Rey Castrejon, Keshet High School | Teamwork
When Rey says he will do something, he always follows through. He epitomizes all of Keshet’s values. Most importantly, Rey wants to learn more about the students and the reasons why we do what we do for them. Rey gives unconditionally to any educational team that has asked for extra pair hands, materials made, feedback for student behavior, and fresh instructional ideas. He ensures that student success is the number one focus when collaborating and supporting team members. Rey’s presence in our classrooms is a beacon for how teamwork is defined.
Amy Patel, Keshet High School | Communication
As Keshet’s High School occupational therapist, Amy regularly demonstrates a willingness to receive and exchange information. She maintains constant, clear, and concise communication with others in the High School and Transition setting on a daily basis. She works diligently and tirelessly to ensure student programming is age-appropriate and goal oriented. To achieve this, she is highly efficient in her communication across all platforms, be it email, phone calls, team meetings, and professional developments. If Amy notices that a team is in need of additional advice, feedback, or guidance she will evaluate and adjust how to best communicate with the team. This awareness of unique communication needs makes Amy such a valuable team member.
Sharon Sarris, GADOL | Integrity
We are all so grateful that Sharon is on our GADOL team, and we appreciate the personal integrity she has to make sure that a job is done well and correctly to keep us all safe. She begins her day by cleaning our space to keep us all healthy. She is always willing to help screen staff and team members as they arrive. Sharon also takes care of the GADOL fleet, whether it’s making sure each vehicle has the supplies it needs, coordinating repairs needed, checking the mileage, driving it around the lot and even shoveling snow to make sure they are accessible when needed. She also tracks and restocks GADOL’s PPE supplies, staying on top of our constant maintenance issues and making sure everyone has what they need for the day. Sharon is someone who always finds a way to be helpful but never wants to be acknowledged for this. It is time we acknowledge her.
Lori Zisook, Education | Respect
When the pandemic shut down all opportunities for Lori to do her job as Keshet’s student inclusion and integration facilitator, she immediately called her supervisor and asked how she could be helpful. She started making phone calls to create peer Zooms and personal “get togethers” to make sure our students were not left out or alone. She is honest and demonstrates strong moral principles; she will always do what is right and consider the impact of her actions on others. Her actions and words are thoughtful and full of positive intention. Lori will always make a decision, difficult or not, thinking about Keshet programming and what is right. Her entire Keshet career is based is focused on doing what is right for our students and how the program can help each student improve.
