{"id":332691,"date":"2026-05-26T10:39:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:39:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332691\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T10:39:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T10:39:08","slug":"sunburst-youth-academy-paraeducator-honored-as-california-classified-school-employee-of-the-year-ocde-newsroom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/332691\/","title":{"rendered":"Sunburst Youth Academy paraeducator honored as California Classified School Employee of the Year \u2013 OCDE Newsroom"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\"FromFrom left, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Raelene Velasquez, Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Aller, Sunburst Youth Academy Director Lt. Col. Sarah Rambo, Principal Dinah Ismail, OCDE Executive Director of Special Education Dr. Amita Cloke and OCDE Manager of Human Resources Support Services Lorena Villa pose for a photo during the 2026 California Classified School Employees of the Year recognition ceremony in Sacramento. (Courtesy California Department of Education)\"StateState Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond poses for a photo with California\u2019s 2026 Classified School Employees of the Year during a recognition ceremony May 20 in Sacramento. (Courtesy California Department of Education)<\/p>\n

Quick look: Sunburst Youth Academy paraeducator Raelene Velasquez was recognized in Sacramento on May 20 as one of California\u2019s 2026 Classified School Employees of the Year and as the state\u2019s nominee for the national RISE Award.<\/p>\n

Sunburst Youth Academy paraeducator Raelene Velasquez<\/a> was honored Wednesday in Sacramento during a statewide ceremony recognizing California\u2019s 2026 Classified School Employees of the Year.<\/p>\n

Hosted by the California Department of Education during Classified School Employee Week, the May 20 event<\/a> recognized nine classified employees from across the state for their service and contributions to school communities. State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond joined education leaders, school staff and families at the celebration, which was held at the Hilton Sacramento Arden West in downtown Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Velasquez attended the ceremony alongside Sunburst Youth Academy Principal Dinah Ismail, Sunburst Youth Academy Director Lt. Col. Sarah Rambo, Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Aller, OCDE Executive Director of Special Education Dr. Amita Cloke and OCDE Human Resources Support Services Manager Lorena Villa.<\/p>\n

\"RaeleneRaelene Velasquez, left, poses for a photo with Sunburst Youth Academy Principal Dinah Ismail during the 2026 California Classified School Employees of the Year recognition event May 20 in Sacramento. (Courtesy Raelene Velasquez)<\/p>\n

Velasquez, who works at the Orange County Department of Education\u2019s Sunburst Youth Academy<\/a> in Los Alamitos, was recognized in the Paraprofessional Services category and selected as California\u2019s nominee for the national Recognizing Inspiring School Employees, or RISE, Award, which honors classified school employees who make exceptional contributions to students and school communities nationwide.<\/p>\n

According to the California Department of Education, this year\u2019s honorees were selected from 141 statewide nominations representing a wide range of classified school employee roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, this recognition is an incredible honor,\u201d Velasquez said. \u201cTo be recognized within ACCESS is amazing in itself, but to be recognized at county level, then state level and now nominated for national recognition, it is an indescribable feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n

Velasquez said working with student cadets at Sunburst Youth Academy continues to motivate and inspire her each day.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy students are my why,\u201d she said. \u201cCadets remind me every day why my presence is important in their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sunburst Youth Academy Principal Ismail said the recognition reflects the impact Velasquez has on students through her daily work and relationships with cadets.<\/p>\n

\u201cRaelene\u2019s recognition reflects the impact she has on our cadets every single day,\u201d Ismail said. \u201cShe leads with compassion, consistency and high expectations, creating meaningful relationships that help students feel supported, valued and capable of success.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"From left, State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, Raelene Velasquez, Command Sgt. Maj. Richard Aller, Sunburst Youth…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332692,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[131,133,132],"class_list":["post-332691","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-long-beach","tag-long-beach","tag-long-beach-headlines","tag-long-beach-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332691","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332691"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332691\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332691"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332691"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332691"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}