The PBIS Leadership Team is proud to announce our Mustang of the Month award recipients for the month of November. Congratulations to Andy Casale, Keith Williams and Alan Bard!
Andy Casale is a Teacher Assistant at Mount Markham Senior High School and a class of 1981 Mount Markham CSD alumnus. Casale primarily assists the mathematics department.
Casale’s colleagues in the mathematics department appreciate his hard work and determination.
“What has always stood out to me about Andy is how much he values hard work and how he leads by example,” one teacher said. “He is a ‘go-to-guy’ for so much of what needs to be done on a daily basis: academic instruction, support or remediation, order and discipline and athletics.”
As a former dairy farmer (that still helps on the family farm when he can), Casale understands the importance of hard work and contributes his success to those old, rural values.
“Honesty, integrity and hard work will get you through just about everything,” Casale said.
When he is not at work, Andy Casale enjoys sports (and has coached baseball and basketball), gardening, hunting, watching harness racing and playing cards with family.
Keith Williams maintains Mount Markham CSD’s buildings and grounds in addition to coaching sports. Born and raised in the Mount Markham community, Williams has deep ties to the school district; he and his wife both attended Mount Markham CSD, and his daughter currently goes to Mount Markham Senior High School.
Many students value Williams for the effort he puts into maintaining the school grounds and for his ethic as a coach.
“He [Williams] works hard to keep buildings and grounds up to date and clean, and he was a great soccer coach,” one student said.
Outside of work, Williams likes spending time outdoors, hunting, maintaining his hobby beef farm, and spending time with family.
Alan Bard is a teacher at Mount Markham Elementary School. As a West Winfield native, Bard studied in the Mount Markham Central School District and always aspired to be a teacher, receiving his post-secondary education at SUNY Oneonta and SUNY Cortland.
Bard has worked in the education field for 28 years, most of which were spent in the Mount Markham Central School District. Over that time, Bard has left a lasting impression on students, staff and parents.
“He continuously attempts to help kids when they’re struggling,” a parent said. “[Bard] communicates very well and at all times of the day. He has even gone out of his way to offer tutoring to his students after school and calls and helps with any concerns parents may have.”
In his free time, Bard enjoys being with his family and friends, camping, gardening, spending time in nature, and making annual trips to Walt Disney World with his family.
Bard has a set of guiding principles that have helped him succeed as an individual and as a teacher. “
Hard work, effort and determination are the keys to all success,” Bard said. “Being open with others, and having a willingness to lend a listening ear, helps to build lasting relationships. One suggestion when trying to improve oneself as a worker or as a person is to take care of oneself by being true to you. Think with your heart and follow your dreams. Do what you feel is right and just. End each day knowing that you have done the very best that you could do.”