DOWNEY – Thirteen retirees and 107 non-teaching classified employees were honored by the Downey Unified School District and Board of Education last month. The ceremony was hosted by the DUSD Personnel Commission at the Barbara J. Riley Community and SeniorCenter.

Recognizing and congratulating the employees were commissioners Dianne Lumsdaine, John Kennedy and Angie Rademaker, along with school board members Tod Corrin, Donald LaPlante, Barbara Samperi, Martha Sodetani, Nancy Swenson and Superintendent Dr. John Garcia.

Thirteen retirees were honored for their service. Receiving recognition were Daniel Appel, Daniel Coleman, Linda Corey, Hermelinda De La Torre, Suzanne Dodd, Jacob Flores, Sarah Flores, Mary Lizotte, Barbara Orloff, Raeann Parry, James Todd, Buck Weinfurter and Charlene Wohlford.

DUSD employees recognized at the ceremony represented 1,530 total years of service. Those receiving pins were honored in five-year increments of service, ranging from five years to thirty years of dedication.  Receiving plaques, this year’s ceremony was the first to award four employees for their thirty-five years of service to the district, the largest number of employees at this service point to receive this honor.

Recognized for their five year service were Jack Andreasen, Maria Cerda, Irma Cervantes, Christina Fernandez, Luz Fernandez, Griselda Garcia, Samantha Gonzales, Dallas Gonzalez, Morgen Hoel, Izella Iriarte, Vanessa Lara, Ricardo Lizarraga, Beatriz Ortega, Raelynn Pacheco, Patricia Perez, Luz Rivaldo, Bernadette Roman, Olivia Sayula and Tiffanie Sims.

Honored along with the other 29 employees for 10 years of dedication was Vice President of the Board of Education, Tod Corrin.  Paual Alexander, Angelica Angulo, Alexandria Baldwin-Hernandez, Andrew Balck, Liza Carrizo, Peggie Chesser, Angelita Colon, David Erb, Wendi Fleer, Rafael Garcia, Guadalupe Gonzalez, Laura Gonzalez, Yesenia Gonzalez, Sheri Graff, Roberta Han, David Harris, Angel Kellogg, Debbie Labrado, Carly Lee, Maria H. Lopez, Nancy Moreno, Srboui Oganesian, Mareea Phillips,  Veronica Ramirez, Quinton Riles, Maria Carmen Rodriguez, Maria Silva, Cynthia Stott and Marcia Vandercapellen also received pins for their 10 years of service to the students.

Employees recognized for 15 years of service were Carnel Anderson, Wilronald Ayala, Elizabeth Banos, Mario Barbosa, Lydia Barraza, Milenka Bobic-Torres, Kimberly Buss, Wojciech Dondalski, Linda Garza, Martha Godinez, Brandy Gomez, Allan Harrod, Kevin Hughley, Jonathan Johnston, Maria Kulikoff, Nickie Moore, Angelica Perez, Darren Purseglove, Maria Ramirez, Andre Rios, Karen Russell, Rachelle Saddler, Sharon Scott, Randi Swoboda, John Torres, Jorge Torres, Benjamin Valdez, Tracy Vasquez, Grant Walling and Amy Worthington.

Altering her location from congratulating award receipts to receiving an award was Dianne Lumsdaine, Chair of the Personnel Commision, for her 20 years of dedication.  Also honored alongside Lumsdaine for their 20 years of service were Norma Arevalo, Deborah Buchanan, Linda Corey, Jose Cruz, Marco Estrada, Natalie Evans, Patricia Flinn, Felicia Henley, Sandra Huntsman, Nancy Lee, Leah Maldonado, Blenda Mendoza, Colette Oestreich, Estela Sharp and Joe Valdivia.

Employees honored for their twenty-five years of service for the DUSD were Helen Alvarado, Norma Apostol, Joann Castagnola, Khushnood Chaudhry and Richard Coronado.

Recognized for 30 years of dedication were Melissa Caggiano, Barbara Gibbs and Betty Lukas.

To finish the ceremony, the last awards were given to those for their 35 years of service. This group included Jeffrey Collier, Sharon Newberg, Leonard Segura and Cynthia Walters.