City of South San Francisco

Sue Miller : Has been a Shinkyu Shotokan Karate instructor with the South San Fracisco Recreation and Community Services Department since 1994. Sensei Sue has studied Karate for over 33 years under the guidance of Sensei Leroy Rodrigues and holds the rank of 5 th degree black belt. She is one of the highest ranked women in the area. Sensei Sue teaches five days a week for the department in addition to having a full time job! Her dedication and enthusiasm for Karate is outstanding! She is able to work with students of varying age and skill levels. Each of her students gains knowledge of self-awareness in a friendly atmosphere. Her classes are extremely popular and she works well with preschoolers, school age children, teens and adults.

For the past five years, Sensei Sue has also organized a very popular Karate Tournament, which is attended by approximately 125 individuals. The competition draws students from all over the Bay Area. Sensei Sue also organized a Japanese Karate Exchange program. In 2004, students from Japan visited South San Francisco, participated in the tournament and were hosted by South San Francisco karate families. In 2005, seven Recreation Department students traveled to Japan and were hosted by those same families in the reciprical exchange. Sensei Sue is passionate about teaching and her students are truly motivated to do their best. She is and outstanding employee and a wonderful asset to the Recreation Department.

City of Menlo Park

Jane Kellum : Over the last 21 years, Jane has influenced the lives of many girls and boys through her Show Biz Dance program. The program consists of 28 classes and over 300 students, ranging in age from four years old through high school seniors. Jane’s Philosophy is to have the students “work hard and improve their technique, style, and physical conditioning. At the same time, they learn to bond through group effort, commitment, dedication, and acceptance. Jane is both a dance teacher and a positive role model for our community’s youth. Jane is a tremendous asset to the City of Menlo Park Community Service Department as well as a valued member of our family and the community.

City of San Carlos

Kristine Pardini : Kristine is a part time employee for the San Carlos Youth Center. Her contributions to the agency significantly exceed the normal job duties. She, in collaboration with the Youth Center Foundation, spearheaded an incredibly successful Annual Appeal in 2005, which raised over $3,000 in revenue for the Youth Center. Kristine’s drive, initiative, and abilities are a great asset to the City of San Carlos. She is a wonderful example of how one person can make a big difference in their community. The youth in our programs discovered the satisfaction of making a difference by lending a hand when needed for the Annual Appeal. Kristine helped our youth feel empowered and valuable by offering them a chance to give back to the very program that supports and fosters them daily. This is a great example of Kristine’s leadership in buildins assets in youth at the San Carlos Youth Center! Kristine is currently coordinating the second Annual Appeal and hopes to exceed last year’s accomplishment. We are fortunate to have Kristine working for the San Carlos Parks & Recreation Department in the Youth Development Unit. Thank you, Kristine!

Tanya Booker & Jennifer Moore : In recognition of their leadership, problem-solving skills and customer service delivery, San Carlos Parks and Recreation recognizes Tonya Booker and Jennifer Moore for the 2005 Professional Merit Award. In addition to their regular duties, Tonya and Jennifer have spent a tremendous number of hours, over 350 each this past year alone, supporting a proposal to convert over-used San Carlos playing fields to synthetic turf fields. What began as a standard community input process to problem solve limited field space became a series of meetings, data analysis and mediation. The length and duration of this project was unforeseen

Tonya Booker : Tonya was hired into a newly created Recreation Supervisor position for Athletics in 2002, and immediately began providing leadership, expertise, support and direction for the division. Tonya’s vision and leadership, along with her ability to design new data presentations in multiple formats to provide information requested by a cross section of individuals on the committee contributed to a comprehensive and productive process. Council members, Commissioners and league representatives, have recognized Tonya for her patience, perseverance and professionalism through out the process.

Jennifer Moore : Jennifer has been involved in San Carlos athletic programs over the years, as a dedicated coach, supportive parent, and Recreation Department employee and is well known in the City of San Carlos. Strengths Jennifer brings to the San Carlos athletic programs are positive attitude, friendly nature, empathy and creative problem solving skills. During the process, she continued to help unite conflicting opinions through her ability to understand the concerns and needs of others, Jennifer provided countless hours of compiling data and updating spreadsheets to support the committee’s request for additional information.

After 3 years of community and Commission meetings and mediation sessions, the Council appointed committee voted in support of the staff recommendation to install synthetic turf on the two existing fields.

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