By: Tianyou Lee, Staff Writer
For her work in our Wellness Department, the San Mateo Union High School District (SMUHSD) has granted the October Classified Golden Apple Award to Nancy Yance Chavez, Mills’ Lead Mental Health Therapist.
“I’m really happy about it. I think receiving the Golden Apple is a meaningful acknowledgement, and it’s not just for me,” Chavez says. “I think it’s also for my team.”
Each month, two members of SMUHSD staff receive the Classified Golden Apple Award and the Certified Golden Apple Award respectively through nominations from their colleagues. The last Mills recipient of a Golden Apple Award before Chavez was Katherine Landa, our Accounting Technician, in May.
Nominations for Chavez were led by April Torres, the District Manager of Mental Health. In addition to Torres’s, Chavez received seven other written statements from SMUHSD employees, who include Mills’ Wellness team and School Counselors alongside school admin.
In her submission for Chavez, Mills Wellness Counselor Laura Hahn describes the Lead Therapist as “an irreplaceable fixture” and a “lynchpin” for Wellness and other school departments.
“She really is the glue that holds us all together. And she’s such a lovely woman too,” Hahn says. “She’s so funny and kind and generous. She’s really a pleasure to work with.”
Chavez has worked at SMUHSD since 2006, where she started as an Instructional Assistant at Capuchino High School. She was also a Family Engagement Coordinator and Mental Health Therapist at San Mateo High School before joining Mills’ Wellness department. Currently, this is her second year being a part of the Viking community.
As a Wellness Counselor, she often meets with students whether through drop-ins, teacher referrals, or regular weekly meetings.
For Lisa Windes, the other Mills Wellness Counselor who submitted a statement for Chavez, Chavez’s ability to center students is one thing she admires.
“It can get pretty easy to get lost in all the adults or departments or things going on at a school site or in the district,” Windes says. “And she really keeps our focus on how do we best support students, which is what we’re here for and what we enjoy doing.”
Windes also commends Chavez’s ability “to slow down” in the face of overwhelming situations. “Her ability to stay calm and take a breath is something I really admire and appreciate.”
Aside from Wellness, Chavez also assists with other departments at Mills. According to Mills School Counselor Jonathan Fong, their two departments meet together every other week, and Chavez herself often attends school counseling meetings with students to support them there.
“I invite her into some of my meetings with my students, and she would just be like, ‘Hey, you know what? I am here to support you,’” Fong says. “She thinks about the student’s well-being first.”
Chavez collaborates with admin, the Special Education Department, and various teachers as well. Her work with different parts of Mills and previously with varying positions in SMUHSD is something Hahn thinks Chavez “absolutely deserves recognition for.”
“She’s worked in so many different roles in our school district,” Hahn says. “She has such a good vision for how all the different pieces of school fit together, how different roles and different departments can work together effectively, and she’s just such a calming presence for all the different departments at our school too.”
Overall, Wellness is “really happy” for Chavez winning the Golden Apple Award, as Windes says. “She’s so humble about all that she’s done in her experience and knowledge and wisdom that I was really happy to see that she was getting acknowledged on a public scale.”
