Fritsch Principal Dan Brown congratulates Beverly Singleton on winning the Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award.
Fritsch Elementary School special education professional Beverly Singleton, one of two school employees to be selected for the Recognizing Inspirational School Employees (RISE) Award, says building relationships with students has kept her at her school for 40 years.
“It can be very challenging at times, especially with the behavior we’ve seen lately; but it also can be rewarding when you see the kids who have learned something because you’ve explained it in a different way,” Singleton said. “You see this kid is successful because they have learned and they got what they’ve needed.”
The RISE Award was established by U.S. Congress in 2019 and administered by the U.S. Department of Education. It honors classified school personnel who serve students in pre-kindergarten through high school. Staff members including paraprofessionals, clerical and administrative staff, transportation services, food and nutrition services, custodial and maintenance services, security services, health and student services, technical services and skilled trades are nominated from local education agencies. The Nevada Department of Education reviews the submissions and forwards finalists to the Governor’s Office for selection of the honorees.
Vyron Wallace, campus security monitor at Foothill High School in Clark County School District, also was honored with the RISE Award.
“I was shocked,” Singleton said of her selection. “I’m not sure why I’m getting this. There are others just as equally, if not more, deserving than I am. I just come and do my work, support kids and support my teachers.”
Singleton began working noon duty at Fritsch in 1984 and became a part-time instructional aide the following year. She remained in that role until August 1999 when she went full-time as a special education paraprofessional in her current position and said she has stayed ever since.
“I enjoy it,” Singleton said. “Our site is like a family. The people support one another. To me, it’s one big family. We don’t always get along, but everybody helps each other.”
Her own children also attended Fritsch, which also endeared herself to the school and the district.
“My oldest son attended here for fourth and fifth grade,” she said. “At the time, we were a sister school with Corbett (Elementary) in K-3, which my two children also attended before they came to this school. It was nice, and then they went on to our zoned school.
“…I just think that we have a very wonderful school,” she said of Fritsch. “We have a great staff and people are very supportive of not only each other but the staff and our students. And we have an amazing, amazing administrative staff.”
Fritsch Principal Dan Brown, in a district statement about Singleton, emphasized her ability to serve students and be a positive example to the community.
“At Fritsch Elementary, one of the skills we pride ourselves on is building relationships,” said Principal Dan Brown. “Bev is the exemplar of this regarding students and staff. When assigned to her Special Education students, the first thing she does is make sure she has a strong relationship with the students. She builds a bond with them before she communicates the expectations. Her students and her colleagues respect and appreciate her.”