The San Jose Evergreen Community College District conducted a district-wide Zoom meeting on May 21 to celebrate district retirees, newly tenured staff members, as well as hand out diversity awards.

Newly tenured employees include:

• Mark Branom, computer applications and social media instructor
• Gabriela Rios, mathematics instructor
• Carlos Rojo, biology instructor
• Kidane Sengal, computer information systems instructor
• Azar Sioshansi, mathematics instructor
• Patricia Solano, mathematics instructor
• Madhavi Sudarsana, early childhood education instructor

Retiring staff include:

• Keith Aytch, 26 years, english instructor
• Eve Mathias, 27 years, art instructor
• Michael Mok, 13 years, philosophy instructor
• Fazila Nuristani, 33 years, academic advising specialist
• Jose Romero, 12 years, custodian
• Anh Truong, 33 years, financial aid specialist
• Pamela Turner, 15 years, counselor
• Diane Wood, 13 years, history instructor
• William Watson, 4 years, executive director of strategic partnership and workforce innovation

Before ending the meeting, the district recognized the following employees with diversity awards:

• Bridge to Equity Award: Charlie Morales, SJCC counselor
• Disability Inclusion Award: Melissa Salera, deaf services coordinator
• LGBTQ+ Award: Garry Johnson, nursing instructor, EVC
• Community Engagement Award: Alyssa Lynch, superintendent metro ED