Edward Wallace

Edward WallaceEdward Wallace, who serves as the Head Plant Operator at Lakewood Elementary School, was named the Pinellas County Schools 2021-2022 Support Employee of the Year. The announcement was made during a luncheon ceremony today. Wallace will represent the district for the Florida School-Related Employee of the Year. He will also receive $300 from the event sponsor, Achieva Credit Union.

Wallace receives high praise from both school and district personnel for his excellent work ethic, his attention to detail and his leadership role on campus. He has a reputation for arriving early and staying late to make sure classrooms and the school grounds are pristine. Wallace, who supervises a team of five plant operators, has been instrumental in keeping the school clean and sanitized during the COVID-19 health crisis. He is supportive of new staff members, and he goes above and beyond to ensure that family and community events are successful.

His respectful manner, caring nature and work ethic have made him a role model on campus.

Each of the Support Employee of the Year finalists received $200 from Achieva Credit Union. The semifinalists for each category received $100. Achieva has been sponsoring this event for 27 years.

Principal Renee Nellenbach said Lakewood Elementary opened nominations to all support staff on campus, and it was unanimous that Mr. Wallace was nominated.

"I live in the community, so I take a great deal of pride in making our school look nice for our community and for our kids and our parents," he said shortly after he was named a finalist in November.

Ensuring that the children have a clean, safe and healthy environment is his “passion.”

"I always take pride when people come, and they say we have a nice school and everything looks good," he said. "It makes me feel good."

Wallace interacts with the students all the time in the cafeteria and the hallways, and he checks on them to see how they're doing, Nellenbach said.

"He's a role model to the students on the campus, for hard work," she said.

Get to know our Support Employee of the Year, Edward Wallace: 


 Support Employee of the Year semifinalists

Support Employee of the Year semifinalists

The finalists in the 2021-2022 Support Employee of the Year recognition program were named for Pinellas County Schools. They were selected from a group of 139 nominees.

Finalists for 2021-2022 were chosen in five categories:

Nicola Rishel

Classroom Support

Nicola Rishel, Orange Grove Elementary School, Child Development Associate

Barbara Frank

Clerical

Barbara Frank, PK-12 Performing Arts Office, Secretary/Bookkeeper

Jodie Gedenberg

Food Service

Jodie Gedenberg, Sandy Lane Elementary School, Food Service Manager II

Jennifer Reznick

Maintenance/Safety/Health/Transportation

Jennifer Reznick, Cypress Woods Elementary School, Licensed Practical Nurse

Edward Wallace

Plant Operations

Edward Wallace, Lakewood Elementary School, Head Plant Operator 

Achieva Credit Union sponsors the district’s Support Employee of the Year recognition program.

 

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