The January 2025 B.E.S.T. Staff Award winners are Joanna Manzanares, Keren Quinones, and Suping Li. Joanna is a Child Nutrition Staff Member at Dakota Prairie Elementary. Keren is a Child Nutrition Manger at Brookings High School. Suping is a Teacher’s Assistant at Mickelson Middle School.
Nomination: "Joanna, Keren, and Suping helped interpret for parent-teacher conferences in November. Finding interpreters is a difficult task but incredibly important to our ELL families! Joanna, Keren, and Suping were quick to help when asked and were willing to work through the busy schedules of the ELL teachers in multiple schools. They represented the school district professionally and kindly, and parents felt comfortable and at ease with them in the conferences. They did a fantastic job translating for the teachers, parents, and students. Keren and Joanna both work in our child nutrition departments and used their expertise to help answer families’ questions about how to pay for lunch, how to fill out the paperwork, and where to find it online. Every day, they also give our EL kids a friendly face and a resource to help them overcome language barriers and we are blessed to have them in our school district. They did an amazing job making our families feel heard and welcomed!”
The January 2025 B.E.S.T. Student Award winner is Clare Strong. Clare is a Junior at the Brookings High School.
Nomination: "Miss Strong has been accepted to the highly selective programs of the Maine Coast Semester at Chewonki, a place-based educational program that educates its students through high-rigor academics, field studies, and residential learning experiences. Clare’s application was one of only 45 to be accepted earlier this quarter, and she will be learning in Maine for the duration of the spring semester. This program chooses only the best university-bound students, and Clare’s application was accepted thanks to her interests in environmental stewardship and her strong resume, built from spectacular academic work and a commitment to developing her talents. The highly competitive program is lucky to have Clare as an enrollee and she is certain to make the most of the offerings that await her in the Spring of 2025. Such a distinction is clearly deserving of the Brookings B.E.S.T. Award."