Celebrate your Education Support Personnel (ESPs) during American Education Week

(Click here to nominate an Education Support Professional in your school for recognition.)

There's a good chance that students who attend schools in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County interact with the work of more education support personnel (ESPs) than they interact with classroom teachers each day.

For some students, those interactions begin with the drivers of school buses, continue with arrival in a school facility that's kept clean and safe by custodial personnel and school resource officers, and finding breakfast prepared by a staff of food service workers. Those drivers, custodians, and cafeteria workers may begin their days before students' alarm clocks ring.

Throughout the school day, students count on the contributions of more ESPs they may never see.

An army of skilled tradespeople -- electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters -- as well as maintenance workers, groundskeepers, and bus mechanics keep buildings, grounds, and vehicles in good working order.

Clerical staff members -- secretaries, bookkeepers, attendance specialists, and others -- ensure that the school's business records are maintained accurately, transactions are processed in timely and orderly fashion, and correspondence and communications with parents and community partners are managed, all to serve students' needs.

Then there are the ESPs who work hand-in-hand with classroom teachers in delivering instruction and assisting with classroom management: teacher assistants, aides, or para-educators.

Very often, the person who unlocks and opens a school building in the morning, and the person who turns off the lights and secures the building at day's end, is an ESP.

That's why the annual American Education Week includes a special day to recognize and honor the contributions of ESPs in addressing the needs of "the whole student".

CMAE joins in recognizing and honoring ESPs this week, and we invite educators, administrators, parents, and others to help CMAE to bring special attention to ESPs who exceed expectations in Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools.

Click here to complete a nomination form to recognize a special parent-volunteer in your school. The form is available for use year-round to recognize ESPs and others in the school environment.

To learn more about what ESPs are thinking about, feeling, and doing in public schools across America, click here.