Page 10 - Summer 2018_Final 3
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Volume 39, Issue 4                           EBEA Newsletter                                       Page 10







             KATHRYN DEMKO: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY                  KATHLEEN DESIMON: CHURCHILL SECRETARY
             SPECIALIST                                             Kathy’s journey began at Churchill 34 years ago, 1983
             Kathy Demko has made a difference in the lives of the   to  be  exact!  Kathy  started  in  the  attendance  office
             students  and  staff  members  since  she  joined  the   with  Pearl  Hillman.  From there,  she  moved  into  the
             district  in  1996.  When  she  started  working  in  East   guidance  department  and  took  over  as  the  main
             Brunswick  she  was  a  member  of  the  kitchen  staff  at   secretary  who  became  known  as  the  “matriarch”  of
             Hammarskjold  Middle  School.  The  next  year  she    the  office.  Anyone  who  walked  into  the  counseling
             worked as an instructional aide with one student and   office  would  be  greeted  with  a  warm  smile  and  a
             after that she became a member of the IT Department.   caring heart from Kathy.
             For the last 10 years Kathy‘s unwavering support of all   Kathy loved being here and being part of the Churchill
             staff at Bowne-Munro and Warnsdorfer has helped to     counseling  family.  She  had  many  hats  to  wear  and
             keep  technology  running  smoothly  on  a  day  to  day   took on additional responsibilities with dedication and
             basis. She accomplished all of this while being happy,   passion. The many years of experience Kathy brought
             bubbly and thoughtful. Kathy has an eye for detail and   to  the  counseling  department  were  a  tremendous
             is very thorough and dedicated to her schools and the   asset  and  helped  to  keep  the  department  cohesive
             students.  She  has  been  an  invaluable  part  of  the   and running smoothly.
             Information  Technology  team.  According  to  her
             colleagues, “we’re not saying Kathy Demko is Wonder    Kathy will spend her much deserved retirement with
             Woman,  we’re  just  saying  no  one  has  ever  seen  her   her  beautiful  grandchildren  and  close  family,  along
             and  Wonder  Woman  in  the  same  room!”  Kathy  is  a   with  traveling  to  places  she’s  never  had  the
             quiet superhero: she saves the day her own way and     opportunity  to  see.  We  will  miss  her  tremendously
             often  without  people  even  realizing  that  she  was   and  wish  her  all  the  joy  and  happiness  in  her
             involved,  or  that  there  was  ever  a  problem.  In  her   retirement!
             many  years  of  working  at  Warnsdorfer  and  Bowne
             Munro,  the  demand  for  technology  expanded  and
                                                                    PATRICIA DONAHUE:  CHURCHILL SCIENCE
             changed and so did the position. Kathy’s adaptability,   TEACHER
             flexibility, and technology skills advanced to meet the     th
             many diverse and more technical needs of the district.   The 8  grade science department is about to suffer a
             She  has  never  failed  to  help  a  child  figure  out  and   major loss with the retirement of Pat Donahue. Prior
             understand  what  was  happening  with  their  different   to  her  teaching  career,  Pat  worked  for  the  state  in
                                                                    environmental  law.  When  she  left  to  go  into
             technology  tools  and  was  known  as  a  great  problem
             solver.                                                education,  she  joked  that  she  would  work  twice  as
                                                                    hard for half as much pay . . . and work hard, she did!
             She will need some time to rest and recuperate from    Across her 20 years of teaching, Pat has been granted
             some  of  the  more  physical  demands  of  being  an   approximately  $20,000  from  the  PTA  and  EBEF,  the
             information technology specialist. However, after that   most  notable  grant  being  one  that  was  written  and
             Kathy has will be sailing away on many cruises, possibly   submitted  by  one  of  her  classes  with  Pat’s
             move  south  of  New  Jersey  and  enjoy  life  with  her   encouragement and guidance. This grant was for the
             husband, Tim. She will also have more time to spend    weather station on top of the North building, and the
             with her two sons, Chris and Brian, and her daughter   EBEF thought it was so exceptional, they tripled the
             Jen.  Retirement  will  be  a  great  adventure  for  Kathy.   maximum grant to fund it!  She successfully coached
             When asked what she would miss the most, she said, “I   our Science Olympiad Team and advised the Asteroid
             will  miss  East  Brunswick  because  I  loved  the    Club,  helping  students  to  identify  about  a  dozen
             atmosphere in the schools and I loved helping people.”   asteroids in real telescope images. She was Middlesex
                                                                    County’s Sigma Xi Science Teacher of the Year in 2008
                                                                    and has the distinction of being one of the first dozen
              “How lucky am I to have something                     people  in  New  Jersey  to  hold  a  certificate  in  Gifted
              that makes saying goodbye so hard.”                   Education. Clearly, she has had a lasting impact in the
                                                 - Winnie the Pooh   classroom, as she was asked by her former students

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