2023 Distinguished Service Award
Dr. Ronald J. Powell
Retired CEO, California Association of Health and Education Linked Professionals
Apple Valley Unified School District
Dr. Ronald J. Powell is an exceptional leader and has been a significant contributor to public education in San Bernardino County.
With over 40 years of district and county experience, Dr. Powell retired as the Chief Executive Officer of the California Association of Health and Education Linked Professions (CAHELP), a Joint Powers Authority.
As CEO of the CAHELP JPA, he was the Administrator of the Desert/Mountain Special Education Local Plan Area, the Desert/Mountain Charter SELPA, and the Desert/Mountain Children’s Center, a community-based mental health clinic serving over 8,000 children from birth to 22 years of age annually.
According to Apple Valley Unified School District Superintendent, Trenae Nelson, Dr. Powell is a leading educational expert in trauma informed instruction. Under his leadership, the Desert/Mountain Children’s Center adopted the mission, “the relentless pursuit of whatever works in the life of a child.” She asserts this is evident in everything he dedicates his time and energy to, even in retirement.
“His knowledge of the impact of trauma to the learning process in our youngest students, inspires change to systems in support of learning…he has been instrumental in supporting the high desert districts in developing wellness frameworks and supporting our work on Multi-Tiered Systems of Support,” shared Nelson.
Nelson documented how Dr. Powell has improved the quality of education in San Bernardino County and beyond by training public educators to understand and adapt instruction to support the child who has experienced trauma.
Nelson stated, “Dr. Powell models what taking risks to improve educational opportunities for students is, and we follow his leadership by taking risks to do whatever it takes to support our students’ wellness as a conduit to learning in the Apple Valley Unified School District.”
Dr. Sandra Rodriguez
Assistant Superintendent, Student Services
San Bernardino City Unified School District
With 24 years of service to her San Bernardino community, Dr. Sandra Rodriguez has an extraordinary commitment to improving student achievement.
At San Bernardino City Unified, she has served as teacher, vice principal, principal, director, assistant superintendent, and most recently, an administrator-in-charge.
In 2022, in collaboration with the Loma Linda Community Health Education Workers and the Community Action Partnership, over 15,000 food boxes and 40,000 diapers were distributed to families in need because of her actions. She collaborated with local providers to ensure that full wrap-around services were made available. Nearly 85 percent of the recipients were children under 18 years of age and 99 percent were below the poverty line.
Dr. Rodriguez also created Operation Student Recovery 1000 (OSR 1000), a carefully crafted student attendance recovery plan, which deploys district personnel to over 1,000 homes of chronically absent students in one day.
This annual “all hands on deck” approach has consistently yielded a thousand chronically absent students returning to school on the same or the next day.
Other hallmarks of her efforts include leading the COVID-19 response for the district and re-opening schools, designing “corner classrooms” for students during distance learning, creating and overseeing the TK12 Virtual Academy and expanding before and after school programming to all campuses.
According to Secondary Multilingual Director, Tex Acosta of San Bernardino City Unified School District, Dr. Rodriguez has inspired and educated countless students and community members about the benefits of serving in the community she has grown up in. Her skills as a teacher, principal and assistant superintendent have enabled her to organize and motivate individuals to have a lasting effect on our community and the surrounding region.
Jenny Owen
Director, Communications and Intergovernmental Relations
For additional information, please call 909.386.2413.
601 North E Street
San Bernardino, CA 92415-0020