Palatine woman wins state honor

There are the ESPY awards on ESPN, and among education support personnel, there are the ESP awards -- which might as well be the Academy Awards.

That's the way Joyce Sevarino of Rolling Meadows High School sees it. She recently learned she was selected -- from the thousands of support personnel working in schools across the state -- to get the ESP award as Employee of the Year.

Sevarino, a Palatine resident, will receive her award March 6 in Rosemont, at the Illinois Education Association's representative assembly.

"It's unbelievable, I'm totally surprised," said Sevarino, a nine-year employee of Northwest Suburban High School District 214.

Support personnel make up 40 percent of the work force in schools across the state, IEA officials say, and its membership has 358,000 members working in those jobs.

Sevarino's many roles are difficult to put into one job description.

Most days she can be found in Rolling Meadows High School's library, working as a computer specialist. But every week, Sevarino dresses up in costume as the main character of a storybook, which her colleague, Nancy Burns, reads to the preschool class run at the school.

"We try to make it fun for the kids," Sevarino said, "and make the book come alive."

During a study hall she moderates, she worked with students to create a 22-foot-long mural, featuring a depiction of the Golden Garden Doorway at the City Palace in Jaipur, India, among its renderings to depict the school's many ethnic groups.

She taught herself the game of cricket and stepped up to coach Rolling Meadows' cricket team, when no one else applied. She also worked to promote the annual Shannon McNamara 5K Scholarship Run, in memory of a former student.

Among her colleagues in the district's Education and Support Personnel Association -- which takes in 450 members -- Sevarino is a leader, serving as their vice president, and former communications chair during their recent negotiations.

"She is a voice of reason, and is often called upon to negotiate issues," said Cindy Hughes, division assistant in the math and science department at Wheeling High School.

Her supervisor, head librarian Michael Kic, said her nomination came from her peers, but he certainly approved of their choice.

"She is very deserving of the award, and I am glad that she received it," Kic added, "because she is very committed to the students of Rolling Meadows High School."