MOUNT VERNON — Two employees of the Knox County Career Center have received special recognition from their peers. Judy Sites and Robin Stacy were recently honored by the special needs division of the Ohio Association for Career and Technical Education for their efforts on behalf of students with special needs.
Sites, career assessment coordinator has been with KCCC for seven years. She was presented with the 2012 ACTE Distinguished Service Award. She has served on the ACTE special needs division board, assisting with conference planning, mailings, program and decorating committee. She is past president of the board.
Sites said she was surprised to get the award. “I was flattered,” she added, “because the organization is people who are workers and doers and dynamos. It’s the only organization I’ve been in where they say, ‘who will do something?’ and people, instead of putting their heads down, it’s like whose hand goes up fastest. And whatever it is, it gets done. It’s so nice.”
Stacy, whose philosphy is “everyone deserves an opportunity to succeed,” was named the 2012 Career-Technical Teacher of the Year. The KCCC Hospitality and Facilities Care instructor started her career at KCCC in 1990 with the inauguration of what was then called the community services program. She moved out of state in 2003, and returned to KCCC in 2009.
Stacy was nominated for the award by Sites because, Sites said, “I have been awed with what she does, how she helps all kids and never turns anybody away and the things they accomplish.”
Like Sites, Stacy was surprised to be honored by her peers. “Honestly, I feel very humbled,” she said, “because there are a lot of other people who do so much every day. To be identified as someone who does something well, it’s hard for me to accept that because I have learned from so many other people. I feel like I’m still working to become what I want to become in terms of being a good teacher. I want to be better every year. ... I feel very humbled — and thankful. It’s very nice to hear somebody say thank you.”
