Meet Our 2026 Values in Action Award Recipients
Every day at ABC Head Start, extraordinary things happen.
A child discovers the confidence to try something new. A family finds support during a difficult season. A colleague steps in to lend a helping hand. These moments may seem small on their own, but together they reflect the values that define who we are as an organization.
For many years, these everyday acts of compassion, collaboration, innovation, and excellence have been celebrated through The Spirit of ABC Head Start Awards. The awards have recognized the individuals and teams whose dedication helps create a welcoming, inclusive, and supportive environment for children, families, colleagues, and community partners.
As ABC Head Start continues to grow and evolve, so too does the way we celebrate the people who make our mission possible.
Beginning in 2026, we are proud to introduce the Values in Action Awards.
While the name has changed, the purpose remains the same: recognizing the people who bring our organizational values to life through their everyday actions. The updated awards place an even greater focus on how our values are reflected in the work we do, the relationships we build, and the lasting impact we have on our community.
The Values in Action Awards celebrate excellence across six areas which align with our agency’s core values:
Belong | Empower | Integrity | Growth | Collaboration
The inaugural Values in Action Awards were presented during our 2026 Staff Appreciation Event at the end of June, where we had the privilege of recognizing six outstanding recipients. Each recipient was nominated by their peers in recognition of the meaningful impact they have on their colleagues, children, families, and our organization. These individuals represent the very best of ABC Head Start and serves as a reminder that our greatest strength has always been our people.
Belong – Orbit Together for Stronger Connections
Shana Katan
Award Citation: Shana consistently demonstrates the ability to work collaboratively and build meaningful relationships that create a supportive, inclusive, and connected environment. She is highly adaptable and flexible, readily stepping in wherever support is needed and working effectively with classroom staff, the Family Engagement team, and leadership. Her positive attitude, dependability, and willingness to assist others contribute significantly to a strong culture of teamwork and shared success.
Shana has built positive and respectful relationships with both coworkers and families, fostering trust, open communication, and collaboration. She is receptive to feedback and views it as an opportunity for growth, continually seeking ways to expand her knowledge and contribute to the team. Her proactive approach, including regularly checking in to offer assistance and seeking clarification when needed, demonstrates her commitment to supporting those around her. In addition to reliably managing administrative, financial, health and safety, and busing responsibilities, Shana consistently supports classroom operations and helps ensure the smooth functioning of daily activities. She has shown initiative by taking on increased responsibilities, supporting technology needs, participating in health and safety practices, and maintaining flexibility with her schedule to meet team needs.
Shana's willingness to collaborate, support others, and contribute wherever needed makes her a valued team member. Her reliability, initiative, and dedication to building strong connections with colleagues and families strengthen our team and positively impact our program every day.
Empower – Fuel Potential to Reach New Heights
Tara Denis
Award Citation: I am nominating Tara for both Growth and Empower. Tara demonstrates growth on the daily by asking meaningful questions, reflecting on her practice, and offering solutions when engaged in discussions within her classroom team and during our prep days. Tara always makes sure to utilize her PD hours to better her understanding of therapy principles. In her most recent PD, she became certified to deliver an AAC partner training. She took the initiative to identify an area of need, and then propose the program to management. She piloted it with her immediate speech team, and currently the Northgate team. Tara's most recent endeavor is helping develop staff skills in AAC use.
This is something that both SLAs and SLPs get minimal training in, despite being the "experts" in it. This program will not only help the speech team identify any areas of improvement, but will provide frontline staff with ongoing training and a person they can go to for help/questions. This is an amazing opportunity for ABC to be able to advertise that their speech team AND staff have completed (and in some cases will receive ongoing) structured AAC training. This is going to have a direct impact on our children and families by ensuring the AAC devices are being used to their full capacity in the classroom.
Amanda Breunig
Award Citation: Amanda truly lives the value of Empower in her role as a Teacher Team Lead. Since stepping into this position, she has built strong, positive relationships with her team and provides consistent support and mentorship to help teachers grow in confidence and skill.
She plays an important role in supporting the IPP process and bringing more consistency to practice across the program. Amanda is always willing to guide, encourage, and share her knowledge, helping teachers become the best they can be. Her supportive and approachable style creates an environment where people feel empowered to learn, improve, and succeed.
Integrity - Stay True to Our Mission
Lauren Murphy
Award Citation: Lauren consistently demonstrates integrity through her honest, accountable, and values-driven approach to her work. She shows fairness and ethical decision-making in how she supports families, always ensuring that each interaction is respectful, transparent, and in alignment with ABC's mission.
An example of this is the level of care and effort she puts into supporting both current and incoming families in our preschool program. Lauren works diligently to ensure every family feels welcomed, informed, and supported, taking the time to do things properly rather than choosing quicker or easier paths.
Her follow-through is exceptional, and she takes full accountability for her role in ensuring families have a positive and consistent experience. Lauren also demonstrates integrity through her collaborative approach. She works closely with resource staff, our other family engagement worker, and classroom teams, communicating openly and respectfully to ensure everyone is aligned and acting in the best interest of each child and family. This transparency builds trust among colleagues and strengthens team decision-making.
I feel that Lauren exemplifies integrity through her consistent actions, strong communication, and commitment to doing what is right, even when it requires extra time and effort.
Amanda Grumbach
Award Citation: I have no hesitation in recommending Amanda Grumbach for the Integrity award. Although she has a calm and quiet demeanor, Amanda is a powerful and consistent leader whose actions reflect deep integrity, authenticity, and unwavering commitment to our mission. Amanda demonstrates integrity in the way she shows up for every child in her care. Children naturally gravitate toward her gentle, grounded presence, as she creates an environment where they feel safe, respected, and valued. Despite having one of the most complex classrooms in the agency, Amanda approaches each day with patience and composure.
She does not become frustrated or overwhelmed, rather, she meets challenges with empathy, professionalism, and a steady commitment to doing what is right for children and her team. I recall observing her early in the school year with one of our most complex children during a moment of peak dysregulation. Amanda approached the child with a calm, soft, and reassuring voice that immediately shifted the tone of the interaction. Her response was not reactive, but intentional and grounded in respect. Through her presence, the child was able to feel safe and accepted, even in a moment of struggle. This example speaks directly to her ability to uphold our values, especially when it is not easy.
Growth - Sustain Momentum From Launch to Impact
Val El Krich
Award Citation: I have seen substantial leadership growth from Val this year!
Val has developed into a mentor and leader to her peers, she created a welcoming and warm environment for new team members and worked through the challenges she had in a professional and collaborative manner. This exhibits substantial growth for Val and I am truly proud of the work she has done this year to grow into her role while maintaining a high level of quality in the programming she provides.
Amazing work Val, we are so lucky to have you on the team!
Collaboration - Connected by Purpose, Propelled by Teamwork
Grace Brockie
Award Citation: Grace is always a positive smile in the classrooms, all the children interact with her even when they are not on her case load. Many times Grace has been found helping out coworkers where an extra hand was needed. For the second year in a row Grace has stepped up to help ensure all families receive cute photos of their children graduating kindergarten. She has been seen steaming the grad gowns to ensure they are in mint shape because I have heard her say the kids and families only deserve the best. Grace is always jumping up to lend a hand when we need extra hands to help settle a child, she has been seen reading to children in a quiet corner because they just need a quiet space.
Jacqueline Borrowman
Award Citation: Jacqui is always offering to help a staff member who may need an extra hand. She is always one of the first to jump up and offer support to a class who needs extra hands.
She takes great pride in her job and is always starting conversations with new staff to the site. Jacqui is always living the values of this agency, she can be found always encouraging the staff. She is great when she talks about her job and all the positive growth the children are making.
For the second year in a row Jacqui has offered to help with the site graduation pictures. She takes such pride in creating beautiful frames for the photos, she brings her good camera and takes all the pictures with grace and then she goes and gets them all printed just to ensure families have that wonder memory.
The Values in Action Awards are about more than recognizing individual accomplishments—they celebrate the people who help make ABC Head Start the community it is. Each recipient reflects the compassion, dedication, and commitment that guide our work every day. We are grateful for everyone who helps bring our values to life and create meaningful experiences for children, families, and our community. Congratulations again to our 2026 Values in Action Award recipients, and thank you for the impact you make.