Employee of the Year

Employee of the Year is selected out of the outstanding employees who were selected as Employee of the Quarter throughout the year. Nominations are collected each quarter for employees who did an outstanding job throughout the quarter, took initiative to do something beyond his/her job, or completed a task that greatly surpassed everyone’s expectations. All awardees are then voted on by the Kawerak staff to select the overall Employee of the Year winner.

2022 Employee of the Year is Colleen Adams!

“Colleen is always courteous, helpful, and gets the job done with a positive attitude every day. She goes above and beyond to help students and works great with other employees. Her perseverance “and willingness to help out truly make a difference in our department. If anyone is scheduled to be out of the office, she can always be counted on taking the incoming phone calls and is always available if anyone has questions about our division. Before we were able to hire more employees, Colleen took on more duties than what was expected of her.

-Crystal Outwater, nominator

 

Matthew Iya

Each year Kawerak employees have the opportunity to nominate a fellow employee who helps make Kawerak a great place to work.  This award is in memory of the late Matthew Iya, who was our Eskimo Walrus Commission & Housing Improvement Director in the 1980’s and early 1990’s.  Matthew was a very hard worker, professional, and kind. He accomplished a lot, always had a great attitude and a smile on his face.  He brought a sense of fun and camaraderie to the workplace, he was a creative thinker, who thought of our people first, he went the extra mile to reach the goals, and to make sure services were improved. Matthew is missed by many who knew him, it was an honor to know him. This award honors his legacy.

The employee who is awarded this honor has accomplished a lot, has a can do attitude, comes up with innovative ways to improve services. They should be professional, pleasant, kind, creative, fun, organized, who genuinely cares about our people, goes the extra mile, creates a healthy & positive work environment, has a good sense of humor, and someone who makes Kawerak a great place to work!  All regular status employees who have passed the 6-month probationary period are eligible to be nominated. The final award is selected by All Staff through voting.

The 2022 Matthew Iya award goes to two employees, Sharla Aningayou and Kendra Takak!

Sharla’s nomination for the Matthew Iya Award read:

I’d like to nominate Sharla Aningayou from the Blueberry classroom at the Head Start.

“fellow employee(s) that accomplishes a lot, has a can do attitude, comes up with innovative ways to improve services, who is professional, pleasant, kind, creative, fun, organized, who genuinely cares about our people, goes the extra mile, creates a healthy & positive work environment, has a good sense of humor, and who makes Kawerak a great place to work!”

This is the definition of Sharla. As long as I’ve known Sharla she’s always been polite and helpful. She does all she can to make the head start department a happy/happier and healthy place to work, especially for the children and families we serve.

All teaching team members in both Salmonberry and Blueberry classrooms have wonderful things to say about her. She deserves to be recognized.

Kendra’s nomination for Matthew Iya read:

I would like to nominate Kendra Takak for the 2022 Matthew Iya Award. During such an unknowingly time, she kept our services going. Bouncing back from COVID, to training two new employees within Brandolyn and myself, she took on most duties for the Employment & Training department. She handled all of this with such compassion, creativity, and kindness. Along with much more, including our start with the new NACTEP program and forming everything from scratch. Working alongside her and seeing how she continues to do so, is an inspiration in itself and a true aspect of who we can be as employees and people within our society. Kendra is one who has each of these definitions within the Matthew Iya Award.