Over the past week, Frederick County Public Schools Interim Superintendent John Lamanna has recognized five outstanding employees with Support Staff Awards. This year marks the 24th year the awards have been presented to recognize the accomplishments and contributions of the school division’s support staff.

There are five award categories for support staff which include: Bus Driver of the Year; the Gala Award for facilities services workers, custodians, couriers, mechanics and school security officers; the Macintosh Award for instructional assistants, library aides and bus aides; the Rome Award for school nutrition services staff; and the York Award for specialists, including student support specialists, clerical support, information technology staff, school psychologists, diagnosticians, social workers, sign language interpreters, accompanists and school nurses.

Ed Lambert was recognized in May for being named the Bus Driver of the Year. Lambert, who has driven a Frederick County school bus for 15 years, drives Bus 84 which serves students attending Greenwood Mill Elementary School and Millbrook High School.

This year’s Gala Award winner was James Wood High School Security Officer Zach Stiles. The runner-up was Gainesboro Elementary School Head Custodian Rick Revetta.

Amy Peschken, who worked as an instructional assistant at Admiral Richard E. Byrd Middle School during the 2021-22 school year, was the winner of the Macintosh Award. She is currently a secretary at Millbrook High School. Frederick County Middle School Instructional Assistant Danielle Riley was the runner-up.

The recipient of the Rome Award was Amber Hammons, a school nutrition services employee at James Wood Middle School. Barbara Hawes, the school nutrition services manager at Robert E. Aylor Middle School, was the runner-up.

The winner of the York Award was Brandy Bennett, a transition behavior specialist at NREP at Senseny Road School. The runner-up was Lisa Beauchamp, a secretary at Robert E. Aylor Middle School.

For the Gala, Macintosh, Rome and York Awards, the procedure begins with a nomination process. Any employee may nominate another employee for an award and each site may elect one individual in each category. The nominees then complete application forms which are reviewed by a panel of judges. An award recipient and a runner-up are selected for each category.

The recipient of each award receives a plaque and a monetary gift of $500. Each runner-up receives a framed certificate and a monetary gift of $250.