Erie 1 BOCES Monthly Spotlight: April 2023

Contributor: I.D.E.A Committee

Greetings, 

We hope that you enjoy reading this month's E1B Staff Spotlight. The purpose of this activity is to get to know our colleagues better, create meaningful connections, build relationships, create a strong sense of community and celebrate our differences! Please consider participating by clicking and completing this short E1B Spotlight (submission form). Your spotlight will not get posted until you preview it and give final approval. Please note that the information that you choose to provide will be posted internally, featured in the Monthly Inside Story Newsletter; and externally on our public webpage. Please use your discretion & only share information that you feel comfortable having shared publicly. Any questions please contact Nicole Kerner, nkerner@e1b.org

Warm Regards,

The I.D.E.A Culture & Climate Subcommittee

Hi WNYRIC/E1B friends! My name is Susan Grace (Ackley) Rebmann. I answer to Sue, Susie, Susan, Aunt Sue or Grammie!

My educational background includes a Master’s in Education, a Master’s in Public Administration, with SDBL certification. Before coming to E1B in 2019, I worked in a school district business office for 11 years, before that a loan officer at a local bank for 11 years and before that an Art Teacher for grades K-8 for 4 years. My passion is to energize and inspire creativity, which can be traced back to my pre-Boces days. Whether as an organizer of an all-day non-profit golf tournament, or part of a humorous staff talent show, I like bringing people together around a common interest, creating new ways to engage with people. I was excited to join the E1B Connect team, collaborating with colleagues to achieve the organization’s goals, encouraging teamwork and individual growth.

 I have been the Manager of Financial Services and Web Applications for 4 years. I supervise 2 financial application software teams, WinCap and nVision. In total, we support 89 school districts, offering training, support, and excellent customer service. These teams consist of 11 team members. I also supervise 8 web application services: PDP Premier, Budget Mailer, CapProSoft, Power School’s Applicant Tracking, Power School’s Employee Records, Frontline’s Professional Learning Management, Textbooks, and SchoolFront. This team consists of 5 team members. I am responsible for monitoring my department’s annual budget, negotiating vendor contracts and analyzing district needs. My vision and leadership style is to motivate the team to pursue the company mission and create a work culture founded on our core values. I count myself blessed every day, to have the best team members a gal could ask for!

I am married and have 2 children, 2 in-law children, 1 angel child watching over us, 5 grandchildren and 1 puppy named Eddie that is like my child! I LOVE the Buffalo Bills, LOVE going to Disney, and I won a brand-new Custom Glide Harley Davidson motorcycle that I rode for over 10 years! With just 1 ticket purchase!

I love staying busy! My daughter and I are now craft show junkies! We started making Bills earrings during Covid and have branched out to organic hand lotions! Watch for the Dream Co. business on the move. “If you dream it, you can do it!” ~Walt Disney

Hi my name is Dawn Schmidt. I have been employed at Erie 1 BOCES for 42 years, and in Finance for all 42 of those years! I started here at Erie 1 BOCES in my senior year of high school, I worked 2 hours after school everyday in CTE under a CETA work program. Upon graduation I was asked to fill in for a person who was out sick in Finance, the rest is history?? My main responsibilities are various banking transactions, accounting transactions, budget amendments, budget development, participation, and the system administrator for both WinCap and WinCapWeb. I have been on various committees over the years.  Special Events, Sick Donation, Diversity, Safety committees to name a few.  I love my job and being an employee here at  Erie 1 BOCES.

I am very crafty and love doing ceramics,  DIY projects and gardening. I have twin boys that are now instrumental as BOCES employees in Management Services and Exceptional Education. I have two dogs, Gypsy and Joey. Gypsy is a beagle rottweiler mix and was rescued from a shelter in Ohio and Joey is a nureongi and was rescued from a meat farm in Korea. 

I think my family and close friends would say that I am helpful and willing to go the extra mile, I wear my heart on my sleeve; and I am always willing to help people no matter what!