The Shaler Area School District recently presented six staff members with its annual Kim Baysek-Young Extra Mile Award, which recognizes those who have “gone above and beyond” in their work for the district.
On Jan. 21, Lisa Anderson, Greg DeFazio, Monica McElwain, Cristin Pintar, Steve Siedelson and Mitch Stivason received the honor. The prize is named for Kim Baysek-Young, a beloved teacher at Reserve Primary School who died a year after receiving the award in 2019.
The winners, who were nominated by parents, students and staff members, were selected by a panel of previous awardees.
For Siedelson, a special education teacher at Scott Primary School, the award was “extremely humbling.”
Though he said he appreciated the recognition, Siedelson said he is only one among many who deserve to be honored for their hard work in the district.
“When I think that I’m compared with them or I’ve won something that they’ve won, I definitely appreciate that,” he said. “They’re people I really look up to.”
A lifelong resident and Shaler graduate, Siedelson said he’s just “thankful to work in Shaler.”
Pintar works as a special educator and speech therapist at the high school. There, she helps run Cafe 118, a coffee shop in the school’s library staffed by special-needs students.
She also serves as the head coach of the school’s Unified Bocce team, which is made up of students with and without intellectual disabilities.
At the awards ceremony, Pintar said she was “completely surprised” when her name was announced. Serving in her several different roles, she said she feels like she does work hard, and she appreciated that others felt that way, too.
“I do just like to stay in the background, and I don’t really want to be thrown into the spotlight,” Pintar said. “But even though I want to be in the background, it felt really good to be acknowledged.”
Pintar said she admires her colleague, Anderson, who also received an award Jan. 21. To earn the same award as the “compassionate and kind” Anderson was just as much an honor, she said.
Anderson has worked as a paraprofessional with special education students at Shaler for 29 years. She said her work keeps her busy and is different every day, but she loves it.
When she won the award, Anderson said she was “shocked” and was reminded of the legacy of its namesake, Baysek-Young, who she said was an “amazing” colleague while they worked together during summer school.
“I just look at it as I’m doing my job, and if it makes the kids happy, then I’m happy, too,” Anderson said. “So, it was very humbling and very nice to be recognized.”
As for retirement, Anderson said she does not think she is “quite ready to give it up yet.”
Shaler Superintendent Bryan O’Black said he is “grateful” for the awardees’ work and “delighted to celebrate them.”
“These individuals embody the pride, professionalism and heart that are central to who we are as a community,” he said.