THERE IS A REASON COM EMPLOYEES STICK AROUND

Mary Dehart, a 21-year employee of College of the Mainland, was selected
by her peers as Employee of the Year.
The acknowledgement was announced at the annual COM Employee Recognition
Dinner on April 6. The award marks the third time Dehart, an administrative
assistant for the dean of instruction, has been Employee of the Year.
Trumpet player extraordinaire and music professor Harry “Sparky” Koerner
and math professor Leslie Richardson were recognized for 35 years of service
while Angela Robinson has been with COM for 30 years.
Post addition: We were able to speak to Koerner about his accomplishments.
In a quote to The Post, he said: “College of the Mainland has been
a wonderful place to have spent many years teaching music. The variety of
students ages 18 to 80 that I have taught keep challenging me to be innovative
with teaching a subject, such as music theory interesting. One of my
big joys of working at COM has been directing the instrumental ensembles.
Music is for life and many of the adults that perform in these ensembles
proves that. My colleagues in the Fine Arts Department and the staff and
administration at COM are all people that care about the students that attend
this college. I take pride in working with all of them.”
Susan Gilbert and Mary Gonzalez each were awarded certificates for 25
years of service. Those with 20 years of service are Tami Allison, Denese
Angelle, Thomas English and Kathryn Park.
The 15-year milestone was completed by Tamara Hoodye-Harris, Tammy
Morin, Steven Remollino and Tina Starkey. The 10-year work anniversary
acknowledgements went to Earl Alexander, Alan Bigos, Cheryl Bordwin,
Joshua Hayes, Chandra Iwasaki, Cindy Lewis, Johnny Tinsley, Lisa Woitena,
Victor Woods and Luanne Wren.
Recognized for five years of service were Richard Avery, Jennifer Bieszke,
Doris Butler, Lauren Davila, Jerri Glen, Nathan Goldman, Julie Guardiola,
Aaron Hensley, Thomas Karlok, Ron LeVick, Amber Lummus, Kristen Mc-
Clendon, Zachary McWilliams, Ryan Montazari, Roger Mora, Lora Sescil,
Vicki Stanfield and Shinya Wakao.