Earlier this month Maine Department of Education’s Roberta Lucas and Pam Partridge were invited to the Blaine House to be formally honored through the Governor’s Employee and Manager of the Year recognition program.
Roberta (of Special Services) was honored as Maine DOE’s Manager of the Year and Pam (of School Finance and Operations) was honored as Maine DOE’s Employee of the Year.
Pam one of 22 employees recognized and the program reads, “Pamela is an exceptional employee with outstanding abilities and tremendous dedication to the Department of Education. She excels at customer service, accounting system technical assistance and pitching in on extra projects. Pam has a positive influence on Department staff and serves as a role model for other employees.”
Pam has worked at the Department since Sept of 2000 and says, “Although I have had other job offers, you cannot replace the people you work with, so it was easy to decline the offers. Receiving The Employee of the Year award was a very rewarding experience. I am proud to be recognized for my work, and it was a pleasure to meet our Governor, have the support of my Commissioner at my side along with my coworkers in the audience.”
Roberta was one of 16 managers honored. She joined the Department in the fall 2012 and says of her recognition, “It’s a real honor to be chosen for this award. However, this doesn’t happen without a great team to work with and supportive administration.”
In recognizing Roberta, the program reads, “Roberta is responsible for monitoring and supporting public schools in educating students with disabilities. She has been a key figure in organizing monitoring protocols and providing quality professional development. She is now leading efforts to develop a system of tiered monitoring and supports that incorporate student outcome data.”
The manager and employee of the year recognition was created after the death of William Twarog in 1988. Twarog was a regional administrator for the Bureau of Mental Retardation in Lewiston working to significantly improve the nursing facility. His life ended abruptly and violently during the course of this work. Twarog was compassionate, sensitive, and dedicated to improving the lives of individuals living with a mental illness. In addition, his leadership and his commitment to team work is the basis for The William Twarog Award honoring state employees who represent these same qualities.