RIVERSIDE – An unsuspecting library assistant and an appreciative classified administrator were named as the first 2021 Riverside County Educators of the Year in the first two surprise visits on Tuesday, March 2, by Riverside County Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Edwin Gomez.
Attended by colleagues, board members, school and district employees, the surprise visits highlighted Aven Callahan as the Classified Employee of the Year and Matt Snellings as the Classified Administrator of the Year. Five additional surprise visits are planned over the next week.
Classified Employee of the Year
Aven Callahan serves as a Library Assistant at McAuliffe Elementary School in the Alvord Unified School District. Ms. Callahan implemented a Maker Space Program for all grade levels that provides activities to activate critical thinking and problem solving skills while offering hands-on learning opportunities. During the pandemic, Ms. Callahan created training videos and hosted meetings to train new library assistants, and reads stories to students every week while recruiting guest readers. Ms. Callahan also volunteers for after-school activities and student events like Spelling Bee and Science Fair.
“I am so honored to receive this award, but the real honor is getting to work with our kids. I absolutely love what I do. It’s a calling,” Ms. Callahan said. “I used to jet-set all over as a project manager for a large telecom company, but I’d much rather be doing this work for the love of the work. Thank you for letting me work with kids. I’m smiling from ear to ear, I’m so thankful.”
Classified Administrator of the Year
Matt Snellings has served for six years as the Executive Director of Operational Support Services (OSS) at the Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE). His time in education has included more than a decade of coordinating school construction projects, and six years in community college and adult school settings as a building trades instructor. In his role at RCOE, Matt leads more than 100 employees who not only serve the programs and services at the county office, but his team also supports all 23 school districts throughout Riverside County in facility support, mail delivery, emergency management, printing services, and more.
“Thank you for believing in me and supporting me. This award isn’t about me, it is about my team,” Mr. Snellings said. “I haven’t managed a project, or printed a check—it’s been my extraordinary team, and I’m super proud to be here and lead them. This isn’t a milestone for me, but it’s proof of what’s working and motivation to try that much harder.”
The full list of categories and honorees for the 2021 Riverside County Educators of the Year is as follows:
Riverside County Classified Employee of the Year
Aven Callahan, Library Assistant I
McAuliffe Elementary School
Alvord Unified School District
Riverside County Classified Administrator of the Year
Matt Snellings, Executive Director, Operational Support Services
Riverside County Office of Education
Riverside County School Counselor of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Certificated Administrator of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Site Support Employee of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Principal of the Year – TBD week of March 1
Riverside County Confidential Employee of the Year – TBD week of March 8
The Riverside County Educators of the Year are selected from the more than 36,000 educational employees in the county. The rigorous application process starts with nominations by teachers, classified employees, and school district administrators throughout the county. Applications are then submitted to the Riverside County Office of Education, where an outside selection committee selects the honorees before the county superintendent announcement.
Clarification: The 2021 Teachers of the Year were named in mid-2020 to align with the 2021 California State Teacher of the Year competition. The 2022 Riverside County Teachers of the Year will be announced in May/June of 2021.
2021 Riverside County Teachers of the Year (named in mid-2020)
Anne-Marie (Annie) Bravo - Grade 3
Railway School of Math, Science, and Technology, Perris Elementary SD
Keisa Brown* - Grades 7 and 8 – Intro to Science and AVID
University Heights Middle School, Riverside USD
Allison Cyr* - Grade 3
Lyndon B. Johnson Elementary School, Desert Sands USD
Krysten Gonda - Grades 9 and 12 – English Language Arts, AVID
Desert Mirage High School, Coachella Valley USD
* Keisa Brown and Allison Cyr were named 2021 California Teachers of the Year in October 2020.
