From the custodians making sure buildings are clean and ready for the next day to those in information technology assisting employees and students with their technology needs, to our Early Childhood Education classified staff helping with the littlest learners in our school district, each of these roles and more are classified employees.
With over 1,900 classified employees in dozens of positions across the district, these staff serve a vital role in helping students, staff, and families. We could not support students without their work.
As we celebrate Classified Employee Appreciation Week, recognized Feb. 12-16, please take a moment to get to know Humberto Cruzado Novoa, Anna Hermanson, and Travis Tucci in their professional roles and beyond. Whether actively helping students and families or working behind the scenes, these three have roles in the district you may never have heard of before but are nonetheless crucial to student success.
Digital equity liaison
Ensuring students and their families have access to opportunities
At the PSD Future Ready Center at Foothills, many staff members can help students learn more about programs happening across the district. Humberto Cruzado Novoa is one person helping make sure all families have the same opportunities despite language barriers and other factors that might keep people from accessing these resources and programs.
As the digital equity liaison, Cruzado Novoa directly provides support to parents by sharing information about the options in PSD, referring families and students to applicable community resources, helping families bridge the digital divide by addressing technology and access challenges, and sometimes conducting home visits to support families without the means to stop by the Future Ready Center. He says all of this is to prepare students for the changing world we face every day.
Cruzado Novoa believes education and core values are the keys to positively changing our world. He has always had a passion for learning and loves teaching what he knows. Originally from northern Peru, Cruzado Novoa studied education after completing high school and later obtained two degrees in engineering. Inspired by his mother to continue to find success and improvement, he also earned two master’s degrees in business administration and logistics and operations management.
After coming to Fort Collins, he now helps other people find their path to success.
Although Cruzado Novoa takes pride in many aspects of his job, his favorite part is sharing knowledge, empowering Hispanic families, and providing technological resources and skills. All of these are the basis to help families and students make informed decisions and help students find success. These are the key aspects he highlights in his job.
“To achieve a good education based on values, it is crucial to create strong relationships between families, the community, and schools, which we can achieve with teamwork based on equity,” he said.
Fort Collins High School choir accompanist
Assisting students in their musical endeavors
Although many people may not know what an accompanist is or that this position even exists in a school district, Anna Hermanson is there to support students in their musical endeavors.
As a music paraprofessional at Fort Collins High School, people more commonly know Hermanson by her informal title, choir accompanist.
Hermanson has worked in the school district and Fort Collins High School for 10 years. She is a professional musician with piano as her main instrument and has a college degree in piano performance. These capabilities led her to specifically look for music and accompanying jobs before finding this opening at Fort Collins High School in 2014.
“I just really like being able to play piano in a school setting where I'm working closely with the choir teacher and with the students as well,” said Hermanson. “I get to do what I love to do and also what I'm good at.”
Each high school and most middle schools in PSD have an accompanist, which is not always the case in most school districts. Being at the school regularly during the day helps Hermanson feel more connected to the students and allows her to have a full-time position in this work.
Students and staff can find her before, after, and during the school day. Her primary duty as an accompanist is to play piano for the four choirs that meet during class periods, but she is deeply involved in music at Fort Collins High School. She also works with students in all the school musicals, plays for choir performances, and plays piano for the Fort Collins High School students who complete their live audition for Colorado All State Choir.
Hermanson said it is her life's dream to make music with people, and her favorite part of her job is working with students and the choir teacher.
During this Classified Employee Appreciation Week, Hermanson says she hopes everyone knows the importance of classified employees.
“We all have roles to play in the community and every role is important, so I take a lot of pride in my role,” she said. “I’ve been here for 10 years, and I just really love it. I feel like FCHS is my home and I feel appreciated, and I just love what I do.”
Child Nutrition warehouse supervisor
Helping students get the food they need
So far, PSD Child Nutrition staff has served 505,737 breakfasts and over 1.2 million lunches this school year, and it is only February. Many child nutrition staff work at schools making sure students get their meals, but some people work behind the scenes in the PSD warehouse to make this all possible, like Travis Tucci.
Tucci is the Child Nutrition warehouse supervisor. Originally from Fort Collins, Tucci and his wife were looking to transition to jobs that would allow them to spend more time with their child. After hearing from a friend working as the kitchen manager at a school, they decided to look into jobs with child nutrition. Tucci has now worked in the PSD warehouse for about six years.
In the past, Tucci has always worked in warehouse production and is drawn to this type of work that is fast paced, a little bit physical, and allows him to work with a variety of people.
“There's a lot of the things I love about the job, but the best thing is the people that I get to work with,” said Tucci.
He says this is typical warehouse work, but the sheer fact that they get to provide this service to the district is incredible.
“It's the first job that I've ever had that really affects my community,” he said. “If we weren't doing what we were doing, the kids wouldn't be eating school lunches, so I get satisfaction from knowing that we're providing kids with meals that they need to stay strong and healthy and get through their day.”
Especially during Classified Employee Appreciation Week, Tucci highlights that classified employees play a crucial role in making sure students have a functioning and safe place to go to school.