Candice Pirolli

September 19, 2017

Ms. Candice Pirolli

Dear Candice,

If I ask each of you to reflect about a very special person in your life, many of you would think of your Grandmother. I know that I would see big smiles and know that your hearts would be filled with warmth and love.  Grandmoms bring out the best in people! Their wisdom, their selfless, joy and pride, their strength and love all added up in one!  One Grandmom of our very own, Candice Pirolli, not only is making that difference in her own family but she is making that difference in the lives of all of our children in SPIN’s Parkwood PreK program.

Candice, you began your journey with SPIN as a Grandmother to your grandchildren who were enrolled in our PreK program.  You connected immediately to SPIN and that connection was magnetic for us!  When you heard that we were opening a SPIN program right in your neighborhood of Parkwood, you couldn’t resist, and lucky for SPIN, you decided to apply for a position at SPIN as a Teacher’s Aide.

Candice, your “official” role at SPIN is Break Coverage Staff, but to the Parkwood Team, you are so much more!  You live SPIN’s Pillars of People First, Professionalism, Performance Excellence and Productivity in everything you do here at Parkwood.  You have so many hats including teacher’s aide, maintenance, lunch mom, bathroom and hall monitor, crossing guard, parking lot attendant…and anything else that needs to get done. Candice, you are ready, willing, and able and you do it with smiles and joy!

Candice, you are dedicated to making sure all of the children here at SPIN Parkwood are safe and having fun!  Your Parkwood fans and nominators shared in your nomination letter that “Candice is compassionate and caring. Whether she is holding a hand or wiping a tear, Candice fills the need and then some.  She demonstrated her kindness in a very special People First way when she donated her double stroller to a father who walked to school every day with two little ones in a single stroller.  She demonstrated her ability to problem solve when we needed 80 pumpkins for our Fall Festival.  Candice reached out to her community resources and had the pumpkins donated.  She takes the initiative to do tasks that were not asked of her, but Candice is a team player who contributes so much to everyone.  Candice demonstrates Performance Excellence and Professionalism every day. One of our class room Teachers said “We thought we had a classroom elf because our snack would magically be set up when we returned from outdoor play.”   She shares her ideas related to curriculum, children’s needs, etc., in addition to helping the teachers to put their ideas into action. Candice works hard to become part of the classroom culture and is able to quickly gauge the room she is in. She adjusts her approach for each classroom and child as needed.”

Candice, on behalf of SPIN’s Corporate Board, SPIN Management team, your Children Services proud Colleagues, and most importantly the children and families in our Parkwood PreK, thank you for sharing you and your gifts and talents in all that you do and are. An unknown author said “Grandmas hold our tiny hands for just a little while, but our hearts forever. “ Candice, we can’t thank you enough for holding our children’s little hands and hearts.

With Deepest Congratulations and Appreciation,

Judith Dotzman
Executive Director