Classified Appreciation Week

In this episode, we celebrate the contributions of our outstanding classified staff using the S.U.P.P.O.R.T. framework in gratitude of all the ways they support our students, families, and staff.

S- strength mentally, emotionally, and physically
U- unwavering commitment to Sage Oak core values
P- perseverance through challenges
P-positivity when approaching all duties
O- outstanding commitment to support the Sage Oak community
R- resilience and adaptability as needed
T- tenacity to push through, deliver, and exceed expectation

Download a PDF of the S.U.P.P.O.R.T. Infographic.

Thank you for listening to the Sage Studio podcast presented by Sage Oak Charter Schools and hosted by Tiffiny Webster, M.A.Ed. We invite you to follow the show and leave your review below. Sage Oak Charter Schools is an independent study nonclassroom based TK-12 personalized learning public charter school serving students in Southern California. Visit sageoak.education for more information.

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Transcript

0:15

Well, welcome to another episode of the Sage Studio. I'm Tiffiny Webster, and today we are celebrating the unseen heroes, the unsung heroes of Sage Oak Charter School, and that is our amazing classified staff. They are truly the ones behind the scenes who help make all of the magic happen for all of the services that we're able to provide, all of the events that we're able to plan. And just all of the ways that we're able to keep our school running and operating at an excellent level. So today our podcast is dedicated to all of them and we're going to have a little fun with appreciating them through the S.U.P.P.O.R.T. Framework. So I've created this little acronym today for the word support because these heroes are the ones that are bringing the support to Sage Oak Charter School and we want to honor them in all of these ways. So we are going to start with letter S. So when it comes to our support staff, they really bring a lot of strength. to their roles. They bring the mental strength, the emotional strength, and the physical strength to carry out all of the different job duties that are asked of them. They are often juggling multiple things at a time, or they're even asked to load up boxes and carry curriculum to some of our events or to collect some of the items that are returned from our students and our parents and bring them back to the warehouse. And they are really just there for us no matter what the task is. We also appreciate all of the emotional support that they provide our students and our families and our staff members. We know that sometimes when you are going through maybe enrollment and you're trying to upload your paperwork and things aren't going right. It can be super frustrating. And just knowing that you have that calm voice on the other end of the phone who is walking you through the process. That's just, that's just exactly what you would hope to find. And our support staff delivers in that way. all of the time. I also see this when I see the support staff that works directly with students. If they're working with a student that might also be, you know, working through a challenge at the moment. It's incredible to see the level of patience and empathy in which they are connecting with the students and just really taking their time to help the student work through that challenge, support the student in the process. And it's really great to see. That in so many ways, our support staff is giving their emotional, their physical, and their mental support to everything that they do here at Sage Oak. All right, for the you in support, this goes for their unwavering commitment. If you've ever worked with our support staff, you know how dedicated they are. They really want to make sure that their commitment to our Sage Oak values. Shines through and everything. So whether they are communicating with the parent, whether they are working with our students, they are always demonstrating our Sage Oak values. They are always staying committed to the values that make Sage Oak so special, they continue to demonstrate how we are student centered, and they go and above and beyond to make sure that that happens. They are committed to our personalization and working with students that have unique situations, or maybe parents that are in unique situations. Maybe they are enrolled in one area, moving to another area, need to have that. Information updated in the database, forgot a password, whatever it might be, our support staff is really committed to helping solve all of those problems for our Sage Oak community. The first P is for Perseverance. As you can see, this is like a running theme. Our support staff really perseveres through challenges, and we get plenty of them! Things are constantly changing in the world of education, and just when you think you have one system down, that you're going to operate perfectly, forever and ever, things change, the demands change, the requirements change, rules change, the laws change, and for some reason we have to, you know, create a new system or a new way of doing something. And whenever those obstacles arise, it just is not in their nature to back down or to resist or to quit. Our support team again and again demonstrates the ability to overcome an obstacle, to work through a problem, to get to a solution, and to keep persevering and working as a team until they do so. I've seen that in so many departments, whether it's our human resources department or the support team that is taking your calls when you are looking to register or enroll your student in school, or whether it's our support team that works with our special education students, whenever there is a need and a challenge, they always get creative. They always get innovative. They always work together and they problem solve until they find that solution that's really going to serve our Sage Oak community well. The second P in the word support stands for positivity. And that is evident. Our support staff is always positive. They're answering the phone in a positive tone. They're sending those email responses in a positive tone. They're receiving your questions and getting back to you in a friendly manner. The way that they are talking with colleagues is always in a positive way. Hey, I see that idea that you have, and you know, I'm not quite sure about this part, but what do you think about this? Or I really like what she had to say, or I've seen it done this way. What would you think? I see that positive spirit in a lot of the meetings that I Attend where I'm seeing colleagues talking with other colleagues or staff talking to other staff members in different departments. And then I also get to see it firsthand through, you know, zoom meetings, like our enrollment webinars or events like our socials, where I get to see our support staff interacting with our parents, with our students. And I just see that they are always delivering communication with that sense of positivity and approaching their tasks with that can do positive attitude, and it's really what makes them able to be so successful in supporting our community. The O stands for Outstanding Contributions, because as I've said, they contribute to so So many things behind the scenes that you might not even know whether it is paperwork or helping us get to deadlines, helping us process information that needs to be delivered to the board or input into a presentation. There are so many ways that our support staff helps our Sage Oak community. I know firsthand that there have been several events where plans changed the last minute. All of a sudden it turns into a rainy day. Something is canceled. Something is delayed and they jump right into action to make sure. That they are providing the information that's needed, contacting families, contacting students, contacting other staff members. I mean, just going above and beyond in their ability to contribute to those situations. So those outstanding contributions can be felt. Throughout our organization. They also make outstanding contributions to our Sage Oak programs. There are many programs that we would not be able to run as professionally or as well as we do without the support of our support staff. There are ability to just jump in on some of our trainings and help with the chat and answering questions or connecting resources to parents or their ability to support a team with creating positive and creative solutions to problem, whatever it might be, those contributions are really heartfelt. In addition to really felt in a resounding way throughout our organization. So we really appreciate all the ways in which our support staff continues to contribute to the success of our Sage Oak programs. The R stands for resilience, and I think many of us have found out over the last three years that sometimes we do not know what to expect, and things can change really quickly. And I have seen our support staff jump into action when it is necessary, and they really are able to be flexible. To change at a moment's notice. If it's needed to really jump in and take action. If the situation arises, that requires a sense of urgency and a sense of thoughtfulness, they're able to take the training that they have and the knowledge that they have in the skill set that they have and apply it to those. And in doing so, they've really supported our families and our students and our staff who needed them in that time of need that ability to quickly change or to push through or to go beyond what was expected is really something that helps them to be so supportive to our community and we just really appreciate their ability to do so. And the T stands for tenacity over and over. I get over and over again. I've seen our support staff go above and beyond to fulfill the needs of our students of our families and our staff members. I have seen them dive deep to come up with a resource that a parent is asking for, because they know it's important to the parent. I've seen them work really hard to answer questions that parents might have even if it requires them to reach out to a staff member to talk to another staff member to do some research to dig around to find the information that's needed, bring it back to the parent. I've seen them do it over and over again. I've seen them make trainings and little video clips to support parents on. How to sign up for a field trip or how to access some sort of information on our website. So again, that dedication to really not only doing the job, but doing the job thoroughly to exceed the expectations and exceed the customer service experience. Is really something that is worth commending, and it's something that I see in our support staff that is on the front lines. It's also something I've seen with our support staff who is working with our students and really going above and beyond to meet the needs of that student, whatever it may be. So. For all of these reasons, we are so grateful for the entire support staff that is behind all of us here at Sage Oak. And again, just to review that framework that we went over today, what we appreciate about them can be defined in these ways. Support. S stands for strength, the strength that they bring to our school. U, the unwavering commitment they have to serving in their roles. P, perseverance in the way that they just continue to work through problems until they arrive to that solution. The other P, positivity, always approaching their role in the most positive way possible to make it a great experience for the community members that they are working with. O is for their outstanding contributions, the way that they really. You know, they are the ones that take care of all the little details that help things run smoothly, that help the presentations go smoothly all of the behind the scenes, little details that make the events run smoothly, all of the small details that make the webinars run smoothly and the information to be communicated properly to all of our parents, all of those little details, all of those little outstanding contributions really make them a very strong and very valuable team. Thank you. The R is for resilience. Again, they never give up. They keep working at things. They keep facing challenges. They keep doing things a new way, a different way, a better way. And then T is for that tenacity. When they are given a task, they don't quit until they've not only carried it all the way through, but they've exceeded those expectations. So with Classified Appreciation Week in mind, I just want to thank you on behalf of everyone here at Sage Oak for all that you do for all of our students. Thank you so much classified staff. We couldn't do it without you. We thank you so much for the million ways that you contribute to all of us here and appreciate you so much. Have a great classified appreciation week. If you'd like to link to the support infographic that I created for this episode, you can grab your link in the show notes below.