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2014 Volunteers of the Year

Poway Unified Announces the Selection of District Volunteers of the Year

Mary Belay, Zoom Duong, and Bill Warner Receive Honors

The Poway Unified School District is fortunate to have hundreds of volunteers who donate countless hours to the children on PUSD. The PUSD Board of Education and Superintendent Dr. John Collins would like to thank all of our volunteers for their time and support. Each PUSD school has the opportunity to nominate a candidate as an outstanding volunteer of the year. The following volunteers were chosen as PUSD Volunteers of the Year:


Mary Belay, Sunset Hills Elementary School

Mary Belay’s warm smile, willingness to help anyone, positive comments and daily volunteering for the past 32 years at Sunset Hills Elementary School does not go unnoticed. She can be seen every day helping out in the TK (Transitional Kindergarten) classroom. She helps with bulletin boards, sews chair covers, and attends all Sunset Hills events to lend a helping hand.

She does all of this with a broad smile and a loving attitude. Mary especially loves to work with the littlest Seagulls. She will encourage each child to do their best and sit one on one with a child to help with reading, math, writing, or to wipe a tear or skinned knee.

“One of things I love the most about Mary,” says Principal , Tina Ziegler, “is her positive twist on every situation. She often will come into the Principal's office, asking, “Do you have a minute?”. Mary never complains about any situation without having a ready solution. If the lunch lines are moving too slowly, she will come up with a different route or dismissal to ease the long lines.”

Mary generously gives her time with a loving attitude, compassion and humor. What is even more impressive is that she does not even have a child attending the school. She does not ask for accolades and is most often the ”behind the scene” person ensuring that everything goes smoothly for our students. She is a person who just loves to give her heart, time and skills to help children.


Zoom Duong, Black Mountain Middle School

Zoom Duong is involved in everything at Black Mountain Middle School: Academy program, maintaining the Academy website, maintaining the school volunteer signups, fundraising for various clubs, head coach for Science Olympiad, First Lego League, PTSA representative, 2 Foundation representative, Fall Fest advisor, and more. For each club, program or event that she is involved with she gives 110% effort. As head coach for Science Olympiad, over 120 BMMS students participate. Only 90 can be sent to compete in the regional competition, but because the school wants all of their students to have the opportunity to compete, they host their own site Science Olympiad Day. Thanks to Zoom’s leadership and organization, they are able to make this unique event possible.

She is always willing to pitch in and find ways to make the impossible happen. One example of this comes from Principal, Charan Kirpalani: “Earlier in the year, I told her about my interest to bring computer programming and coding onto the campus. I had some ideas, but nothing ready to roll out. Sure enough, Zoom took the idea and ran with it – in Spring 2014, we held our first Cyber Security Education Program meeting at school where students and parents heard from a parent volunteer/coach about joining a cyber-security team and participating in a nationwide competition.”

Zoom is recognized for her hard work, tireless effort and gigantic contributions she has made to Black Mountain Middle School.


Bill Warner Abraxas High School

Bill Warner has a great amount of patience, compassion and is heavily involved in Abraxas High School. For the past year and half, he has volunteered on a weekly basis working with students during TLC (Technology, Learning & Cooking). These are students who face the most challenges in their daily life and Bill treats them with the utmost respect, patience and dignity. He will work alongside a student giving them words of encouragement, helping them complete a cooking, vocational or craft type task. He frequently takes students for walks who need a break.

In addition to TLC, Bill has helped with two Transition Proms held off campus using his construction expertise to secure props and décor. Bill has also served as videographer during the Transition Vocational Skills Conference, staying the entire day videotaping mock interviews which students and staff review for educational purposes. Bill has also participated in campus beautification projects.

Principal Dave MacLeod says, “Bill is a natural working with students with special needs. He enters the room and jumps right into what is going on without hesitation. His time and compassion are greatly appreciated by all of us at Abraxas.”

The following is a list of all the PUSD school site Volunteers of the Year. All of these finalists are representative of the high caliber of volunteers whose sincerity and dedication benefit hundreds of PUSD students.

The Selection Committee was made up of David Hall, Personnel Support Services; Noreen Walton, Learning Support Services; and Mike Tarantino, Business Support Services.

Name Site
Bill Warner Abraxas High School
Jackie Celo Adobe Bluffs Elementary School
Kim Gimlin Bernardo Heights Middle School
Zoom Duong Black Mountain Middle School
Noriko Ashihara Canyon View Elementary School
Lisa Knecht Chaparral Elementary School
Dana Simone-Kurtz Creekside Elementary School
Sabine Schroeder Deer Canyon Elementary School
Ted Jones Del Norte High School
Kristine Song Del Sur Elementary School
Charlotte White Garden Road Elementary School
Danielle Spartz Meadowbrook Middle School
Library Volunteers Mesa Verde Middle School
Cynthia Cribbins Midland Elementary School
Linda Manning Monterey Ridge Elementary School
Charmaine Quidachay Mt. Carmel High School
Paula DeLessio Oak Valley Middle School
Abby Boretto Painted Rock Elementary School
Laurie Minark Park Village Elementary School
Kate Budd Pomerado Elementary School
Kei Laliberte Poway High School
Christ & Kathleen Kennedy Rancho Bernardo High School
Ella German Rolling Hills Elementary School
Susan Bowers Stone Ranch Elementary School
Jennifer Hunsaker Sundance Elementary School
Mary Belay Sunset Hills Elementary School
Rachel Allums Tierra Bonita Elementary School
Joann Gaytan Turtleback Elementary School
Jocelyn Lozier Twin Peaks Middle School
Tammie Statler Valley Elementary School
Julie Leonard Westview High School
Dawn Shetzer Willow Grove Elementary School