{"id":2285,"date":"2023-11-14T14:59:24","date_gmt":"2023-11-14T14:59:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/?page_id=2285"},"modified":"2025-12-04T15:57:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-04T15:57:07","slug":"educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy\/","title":{"rendered":"Educational Support Professional of the Year (ESPOY)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-1 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:104%;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-0 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-1\" style=\"--awb-text-transform:none;\"><div class=\"ui-article last-article\">\n<div class=\"ui-article-description\">\n<p>The Delaware State Educational Support Professional of the Year (ESPOY) program is administered by the Delaware Department of Education (DDOE). Each year the program recognizes outstanding service by school employees who provide direct or indirect services to students and their families. The Delaware Charter School Network also is invited to participate. Employees considered for the award include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paraprofessionals<\/li>\n<li>Custodial staff<\/li>\n<li>Secretaries<\/li>\n<li>Nutritional staff<\/li>\n<li>School- and district-employed bus drivers<\/li>\n<li>School- and district-employed bus aides<\/li>\n<li>IT Support staff<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-2 fusion-flex-container nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:104%;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-1 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-2\" style=\"--awb-text-transform:none;\"><div class=\"ui-article last-article\">\n<div class=\"ui-article-description\">\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Congratulations to the Honorees<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-2 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-color:var(--awb-color2);--awb-bg-color-hover:var(--awb-color2);--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-3\"><h3>Award Year 2026 (AY 26)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>State Winner\/Delaware&#8217;s National Nominee &#8211; Donna Ward, Laurel School District<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy\/district-charter-educational-support-professionals-of-the-year-ay-26\/\">District\/Charter Honorees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Award Year 2025 (AY 25)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>State Winner\/Delaware&#8217;s National Nominee &#8211; Melissa Wilson, Smyrna School District<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy\/district-charter-educational-support-professionals-of-the-year-ay-25\">District\/Charter Honorees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Award Year 2024 (AY 24)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>State Winner\/Delaware&#8217;s National Nominee &#8211; Sinead Ronan, Caesar Rodeny School District<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy\/district-charter-educational-support-professionals-of-the-year-ay-24-2\/\">District\/Charter Honorees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Award Year 2023 (AY 23)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>State Winner\/Delaware&#8217;s National Nominee &#8211; Heather Hitchins, Lake Forest School District<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/educators\/school-and-staff-awards\/espoy\/district-charter-education-support-professionals-of-the-year-ay-23\/\">District\/Charter Honorees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Award Year 2022 (AY 22)<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>State Winner\/Delaware&#8217;s National Nominee &#8211; David Thomas, Lake Forest School District<\/li>\n<li style=\"text-align: left\"><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/educators\/school-and-staff-awards\/espoy\/nominees\/\">District\/Charter Honorees<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-3 fusion_builder_column_1_2 1_2 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:50%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:3.84%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:3.84%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-image-element \" style=\"--awb-caption-title-font-family:var(--h2_typography-font-family);--awb-caption-title-font-weight:var(--h2_typography-font-weight);--awb-caption-title-font-style:var(--h2_typography-font-style);--awb-caption-title-size:var(--h2_typography-font-size);--awb-caption-title-transform:var(--h2_typography-text-transform);--awb-caption-title-line-height:var(--h2_typography-line-height);--awb-caption-title-letter-spacing:var(--h2_typography-letter-spacing);\"><span class=\" fusion-imageframe imageframe-none imageframe-1 hover-type-none\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" alt=\"Donna Ward is at a table surrounded by people. She smiles in surprise as her name is called as the state&#039;s 2026 Educational Support Professional of the Year.\" title=\"DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055\" src=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-300x200.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-image-3565\" srcset=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-200x133.jpg 200w, https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-400x267.jpg 400w, https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-800x533.jpg 800w, https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/12\/DOE-Educational-Suppor-Professional-2026-055-1200x800.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, (max-width: 850px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/span><\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-4\"><p>The Delaware Department of Education celebrates Donna Ward, the 2026 Educational Support Professional of the Year (ESPOY).<\/p>\n<\/div><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-5\"><p>For additional honorees, please visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/educational-support-professional-of-the-year-espoy\/previous-educational-support-professional-of-the-year-winners\/\">Previous Educational Support Professional of the Year Winners<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-fullwidth fullwidth-box fusion-builder-row-3 fusion-flex-container has-pattern-background has-mask-background nonhundred-percent-fullwidth non-hundred-percent-height-scrolling\" style=\"--awb-border-radius-top-left:0px;--awb-border-radius-top-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-right:0px;--awb-border-radius-bottom-left:0px;--awb-flex-wrap:wrap;\" ><div class=\"fusion-builder-row fusion-row fusion-flex-align-items-flex-start fusion-flex-content-wrap\" style=\"max-width:104%;margin-left: calc(-4% \/ 2 );margin-right: calc(-4% \/ 2 );\"><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-4 fusion_builder_column_1_1 1_1 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:100%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:1.92%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:1.92%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-6\"><hr \/>\n<h2>Program Information and Resources<\/h2>\n<p>From those nominated at a building level, one educational support professional of the year moves forward to represent each district or the charter school community in the state program. Each district\/charter network winner receives a $2,000 personal award from the winner\u2019s district or charter school. The state program then chooses one person annually to serve as Delaware&#8217;s Educational Support Professional of the Year. State winners receive an additional $3,000 personal award from DDOE as well as $5,000 to be used for the educational benefit of his or her students.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-5 fusion_builder_column_1_3 1_3 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:33.3333333333%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:5.76%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:5.76%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-7\" style=\"--awb-text-transform:none;\"><div class=\"ui-article last-article\">\n<div class=\"ui-article-description\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/regulations.delaware.gov\/AdminCode\/title14\/200\/237.shtml\">Regulation 237<\/a> &#8211; Establishes policies and procedures for Delaware&#8217;s annual ESPOY award.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-6 fusion_builder_column_1_3 1_3 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:33.3333333333%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:5.76%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:5.76%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-8\" style=\"--awb-text-transform:none;\"><div class=\"ui-article last-article\">\n<div class=\"ui-article-description\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/11\/2022_ESP_Guidelines.pdf\">Guidelines <\/a>&#8211; Outlines the nomination process, selection, as well as award recognition and funding.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><div class=\"fusion-layout-column fusion_builder_column fusion-builder-column-7 fusion_builder_column_1_3 1_3 fusion-flex-column\" style=\"--awb-bg-size:cover;--awb-width-large:33.3333333333%;--awb-margin-top-large:0px;--awb-spacing-right-large:5.76%;--awb-margin-bottom-large:20px;--awb-spacing-left-large:5.76%;--awb-width-medium:100%;--awb-order-medium:0;--awb-spacing-right-medium:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-medium:1.92%;--awb-width-small:100%;--awb-order-small:0;--awb-spacing-right-small:1.92%;--awb-spacing-left-small:1.92%;\"><div class=\"fusion-column-wrapper fusion-column-has-shadow fusion-flex-justify-content-flex-start fusion-content-layout-column\"><div class=\"fusion-text fusion-text-9\" style=\"--awb-text-transform:none;\"><div class=\"ui-article last-article\">\n<div class=\"ui-article-description\">\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2023\/11\/ESP.application_e.pdf\">Application<\/a> &#8211; Applications are due October 31 of each year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":4,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"protect_children":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2285","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"checksum":[],"sw_mod_date":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2285\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/education.delaware.gov\/award-programs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}