A North Eugene High School Custodian was surprised to find out she was nominated for a national award recognizing outstanding work with students.
The Everyday Heroes Award is a national honor presented by the American Federation of Teachers. But it turns out, not only teachers are nominated. June Blackwell has been a custodian at North Eugene High School for 14 years. She says she never felt she was doing anything extraordinary, she was just doing her job. Blackwell’s kindness and hard work didn’t go unnoticed. Liz Rommel, the College Career Readiness Coordinator at North Eugene saw Blackwell’s love for her students and nominated her. Blackwell says she was touched by the recognition from both faculty members and her students.
Blackwell: “When my union president presented me with the award in front of the school board, one of my students is on the school board as the North Eugene representative and he said ‘June, you are my role model and I love you.’ And he came down and gave me a big hug and I cried like a baby.”
June is one of five finalists for the award under the Paraprofessionals and School Related Personnel category. She is the only Oregon educator that was nominated.
Follow this link to vote for Blackwell: http://aft.org/everydayheroes/