MARION COUNTY, FL (352today.com) – A Marion County Public School (MCPS) employee beat out thousands of contenders across the state to be named Florida’s School-Related Employee of the Year for 2024.
The Department of Education (DOE) named Edward Lanza, a paraprofessional at Saddlewood Elementary School, for the honor.
MCPS leaders surprised Lanza at school on Monday.
Lanza has worked at Saddlewood Elementary since 2016. The district says he’s a tech guy and helps in the media center, resolves technology issues including distribution of laptops to students.
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Saddlewood’s principal nominated Lanza and described him as someone who is always “exceeding every expectation every single time” when it comes to helping students, staying late, and providing innovative solutions to improve his school’s day-to-day operations.
Another nomination said Lanza’s interaction with students inspires her every day. “He listens to students and honors their humanity,” she wrote.
MCPS says he cultivates a culture of caring among the school’s more than 1,000 students.
He’s a retired U.S. Army veteran, former deputy chief in a New York volunteer fire department and project manager with a Fortune 500 company.
Lanza receives a trophy and a $10,000 cash prize from the DOE.
The district says this is the second time in eight years an MCPS employee has won the state’s top award. In 2016, Reddick-Collier Elementary School’s Abel Garcia, a paraprofessional at the time, received the same honor. He now teaches students full-time at Liberty Middle School in Ocala.