Eight OUSD Staff Members Are Honored as District Classified School Employees of the Year; Four of Them Receive Same Honor from Alameda County

Jenny Situ

Nutrition Services / Central Kitchen

Anyone who meets Jenny will notice her most welcoming demeanor and how crucial she is as an integral member of the Nutrition Services team. She is a self-starter and takes great pride in her work. She is known as a tireless, hard worker with an impeccable attendance record, rarely missing a day of work. A lot of people don’t realize that our meals are all cooked on site. They then need to be labeled, packaged, counted and distributed to our school sites and child development centers. This means over 37,000 meals a day when you include all three meals for all the schools.

Jenny is a key person on the production floor, whether she is assisting with needed items to go into packets or items that are running low, or doing the essential tasks on the line. If a machine has stopped in production, we're losing money; two minutes saved is like an eternity in a production kitchen. Jenny represents our eyes and ears, ensuring services keep running smoothly. Wherever she's needed, Jenny is there, almost without being asked. She is watchful and proactive.

Jaliza Collins

Health and Student Services

Jaliza came from this community; she graduated from Fremont High. As our College and Career Readiness Specialist, she assists students with college applications and FAFSA while also supporting them in discerning what it is they want to do. She stays fully connected to student interests and is always considering how to make things happen for students. This year, she brought the CSU College Fair to Fremont High, one of the first in Northern California: 23 CSUs attended.

She builds trust and knows students exceptionally well, the broadest range of students. Students look for her, want her help, and accept it fully, because of how much they trust her. With her support, students are being accepted into the colleges they apply for and have received a record number of financial awards and scholarships with the support that they've received from her.

Bobby Batom

Skilled Trades

Bobby has been in his current position for 34 years in the Facilities/Buildings and Grounds division. Raised in Oakland and having attended Castlemont High School himself, Bobby is involved in his local community. An avid boxer, he teaches students out-of-the box examples such as confidence, patience and discipline.

He's a true craftsman and cabinet making is his speciality. He brings joy and laughter to the workplace and coupled with his natural ability to make everyone feel better, his work is flawless and highly creative. He will take the initiative on things that will baffle others who don’t have his skills, and create something beautiful. Most importantly, we know we can count on him to do the job with excellence and on time.

Peter Bugno

Technical Services

As a Student Information Support Specialist for nine years, Peter demonstrates with utter clarity how operations are like air. We don't notice or appreciate it unless we don't have it; within seconds, we realize how much we need it.

When the ParentSquare solution launched, Peter began working closely with that team. They have been greatly impressed by how much our family contact ability has improved under Peter’s influence.

He also sits on the Quality Attendance Team, and, recently, while they had been considering strategies and outreach, he offered solutions to ensure data is captured correctly and some ideas to increase attendance.