Get Ready To Celebrate Our Award Winners
Grab a handful of confetti and a beverage of your choice. Now get ready to toast those who will be honored at the 2021 Champs Celebration! Hosted by Communities In Schools of Kalamazoo (CIS), this event will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, May 12 at 5 p.m. It will be livestreamed from the Radisson and you are invited to enjoy this annual celebration via the CIS Kalamazoo YouTube channel. Here is the livestream link.
For more information about the event visit: www.ciskalamazoo.org/champs
Kalsec is the presenting sponsor for this event which honors community partners who share in the CIS vision— an engaged community where every child fulfills his or her promise— by actively putting forth time, energy, talent and resources to drive this vision to reality.
This year’s Champs who support our Kalamazoo Public Schools students are:
Kathy Hogg, CIS volunteer
Kalamazoo Public School Information and Technology Team, school partner
School Food Services Team, school partner
Dr. Qiji (Jim) Zhu, CIS volunteer
Pam Dalitz will be honored with the Gulnar Husain Volunteer Award which recognizes CIS volunteers who emulate Gulnar’s belief that there is no greater calling than serving children. Prior to the pandemic, Pam Dalitz supported students in Ms. Chyna Campbell’s second grade classroom at Spring Valley Center for Exploration. She continues to support students and families by delivering food packs, technology equipment, and basic need items.
The Late Mrs. Dorothy P. Young will be honored with the Diether Haenicke Promise of Excellence Award. This award is named for Western Michigan University President Emeritus Diether Haenicke. Mrs. Dorothy P. Young spent her entire career educating students, empowering families, and developing teachers. Employed by Kalamazoo Public Schools for 37 years with most of those years serving as principal of Hillside Middle School, her impact spans across generations. In addition to nearly four decades serving as an educator, consultant, and administrator for KPS, Mrs. Young also served heavily throughout the community, ensuring that many students, especially students of color and students living in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods had access to the resources to help them succeed academically.
As a new element to this year’s celebration, the following CIS staff will be recognized for their exceptional collaborative work during an unusual year of remote service: Dana Flynn, Samantha Darby, Carli Thompson, Shannon Jones, Katherine Williamson, Phillip Hegwood, and Jane Asumadu.
To access a digital copy of this year’s program, you can find it 2021 CIS Champs Celebration Program – Digital Copy.
While waiting for tonight’s program to start, you can watch two special Champ video messages from our good friends and partners at the Kalamazoo Promise and Kalamazoo Public Schools.
Click here for message from Dr. Rita Raichoudhuri, Kalamazoo Public School Superintendent.
Click here for message from Von Washington, Jr., Kalamazoo Promise Executive Director of Community Relations.
Keep following us at Ask Me About My 12,000 Kids. In the weeks to come we will bring you more about these fabulous award recipients.
