Erie 1 BOCES Monthly Staff Spotlight: October 2022

The purpose of this activity is for us to share information about ourselves to get to know our colleagues better. Through this activty the goal is to help create meaningful connections, build relationships, create a strong sense of community and celebrate our differences across the many departments within BOCES. Please consider participating by clicking and completing this E1B Spotlight (submission form). The information that you choose to provide will be included in the monthly Inside Story.

Hello, my name is William Brown, but I prefer to be called Bill. 

I've been a Microcomputer Technical Support Specialist in Technology Services for 27years, originally hired to support 10 districts using cc:Mail. Man, that seems like ages ago!  Cc:Mail was replaced with Lotus Notes and now cloud email services.  Along the way, I started supporting the DNS servers used by WNYRIC.  As email became more widely used, spam started becoming a problem.  We started with CanIt Pro and now use Fortimail which integrates with the rest of our network security fabric.  Another of my responsibilities is the Listserv server. 

I was born in Southeastern Pennsylvania, but moved to New Jersey when I was young.  In 7th  grade my dad wanted to move to someplace in New England; so we ended up in a small town in Vermont.  Unfortunately, they shut down the division he worked for so he got a transfer to Michigan. I was in 10th grade at the time.  I lived in Michigan until I moved to western NY about 40 years ago.

My wife and I have two long hair dachshunds (our fourth and fifth).  I love running them in field trials and recently became a judge for the trials. I love seeing the dogs doing something they were bred for.  I live in Buffalo, so it should go without saying that I support the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres…and all the other teams of course! Something that many may not know about me, is that I am interested in Amateur Radio and astronomy.

Hello, my name is Gary D Hyla. My heritage is Polish, German, and Irish! I am a DB2 Database Administrator in the Technology Department, of Erie 1 BOCES, working with the Identity Management Team. The best thing about my job is the people that I work with! My boss is great and my co-workers all do their job extremely well, and we all get along! It is a pleasure to come to work! I got this job after hearing about Civil Service exams and taking about eight of them within a couple of months of each other. I was canvassed for several jobs here at BOCES, but hired as a Computer Programmer. I have worked  my way up through Jr. Systems Software Specialist, to Systems Software Specialist and eventually to my current DBA position!  I am proud to say, on November 17th, I will have 36 years with BOCES. 

I was born on the east side of Buffalo, lived right across from the old Emerson high school for most of my young life. There were three children in my family growing up, a brother and a sister. My mother was a home-maker and my father worked at the Chevy Axle plant. I attended Hutch-Tech in downtown Buffalo, where I studied Building Trades. I went on to RIT to receive my BS in Computer Science. I have lived in Long Island and Rochester, but predominantly Buffalo. I have also traveled to many exciting cities throughout the continental US. My lone excursion outside of the US was to Spain in my Senior year of High School.  I have been married for 34 years to my beautiful wife, Barb, and I have a son and two daughters. All very accomplished, or working towards it! Two out of the three of them are married. My youngest is currently attending Stritch Medical school, (Loyola),  in Chicago! 

 For hobbies I like to ride my motorcycle, a Yamaha V-star 1100 cc; I enjoy watching the Buffalo Bills play football (after many LONG seasons); home repairs; having people over for parties and working on classic cars/motorcycles, ('72 Old Cutlass and a ‘78 Honda 750K); and I get a thrill out of restoring anything that most people would discard. I like making things right. I am also a long-time volunteer for the Scouts USA organization and enjoy the National and World Jamborees! While I enjoy Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin, (old school rock and roll), I can’t play an instrument and you wouldn't want me to draw you a picture! I also played football, (defense - nose tackle and defensive end), for many football leagues up until my mid-thirties and wore the number 77! 

I have been President of the AFSCME Local 2567 union for 22 years and counting. I took this position to be a voice for our employees and I try to do everything for the good of all, not any specific person/group! I like to consider my organizational skills, and the ability to think logically, to be my key talents. 

I have enjoyed my 36 years working at BOCES! My how time just flies when you are having fun! I feel very blessed to have been in an organization that has allowed me to flourish both in my career and my duties as Union President! I look forward to this next chapter in my life, retirement, and after January 17th, will definitely find it awkward, at least for the immediate future, not having to get up and come to work, (unless I get the urge to continue somewhere else)? We'll see? Thank you all for being a part of my life!

Hello my name is Diane Vigrass. I am the Special Education Trainer in the West Regional Partnership, an OSE contract that focuses on school improvement in outcomes for students with disabilities. There are 3 prongs in my work based on the contract's deliverables and in order of priority: supporting districts designated as Coordinated Intervention Districts, facilitating Targeted Support Groups (focus districts designated for intervention in a specific area of special education), and regional training (for all WNY school districts). My passion is school improvement using a strategic planning process–that's the best part of my work. I have 3 years of service at Erie 1 BOCES, with 10 years prior at Orleans Niagara BOCES doing the same work under a different OSE contract.

Although I was born and spent my early years in East St. Louis, IL, my father's job took the family to a couple places in Indiana and, eventually, to WNY. I attended and graduated from Kenmore East HS. My 2 daughters are the light of my life and my 2 grandchildren are beacons of joy. On the other hand, my cat is the bane of my existence! Someday, I'd like to travel across the US to explore sights, sounds, and cultures in our wonderful country.