Millard board honors employees and student-athletes at January meeting

At the start of its Jan. 20 meeting, the Millard Public Schools Board of Education recognized staff and student accomplishments across the district.

Dr. Schwartz introduced the district’s January employees of the month: Katiana Fisher, a speech-language pathologist at Kiewit Middle School, and Paul Zolin from Millard West High School’s technology department. Fisher thanked colleagues and family, saying the work is “incredibly rewarding” and praised her team’s support. Zolin, who has worked at Millard West for 18 years, said he felt honored and credited colleagues for making his work rewarding.

The board also welcomed multiple coaches and student-athletes. Coaches and teams from Kiewit, Central and Anderson middle schools highlighted success in girls wrestling; one coach noted the team’s combined record of 154–44, 24 pins on the tournament day and multiple conference and tournament medals. Millard West, Millard South and other high-school coaches introduced students who earned conference, state and national recognition; Millard South’s head coach Taylor Mendenhall introduced the state-champion football roster and noted more than 20 seniors were continuing to play in college.

“It's a special group of young men who ultimately won a state championship this year,” Coach Taylor Mendenhall said in introducing the team.

These recognitions were ceremonial; no formal board action was required. The board president congratulated the honorees and moved the meeting on to routine business.

What’s next: Individual awardees and teams often receive school-level follow-ups and district social-media posts; the board will return to routine business and budget items in future meetings.