CCCS Internal 
There are moments when the full extent of the work becomes visible. It comes into view through the people themselves, gathered in one place and carrying stories that rarely intersect in such a direct way.
On the same day, the Colorado Community College System held its Employee Excellence Awards and Student Excellence Awards—two moments that reflect the people who make this work possible and the students who carry it forward. The Employee Excellence Awards were made possible by the Colorado Public Employees Retirement Association (Colorado PERA), which has sponsored the event for ten years. The Student Excellence Award ceremony, recognition certificates, medallions and gifts were made possible by a generous gift from the Credit Union of Colorado.
The room held faculty, staff, and students from across all 13 colleges and the System Office. What emerged was not a sequence of awards, but a series of glimpses into how opportunity is actually built, quietly and deliberately, often in response to something observed rather than assigned.
At Otero College, agriculture faculty Dr. Carrie White, Ag Science Instructor, arrived with a background in genomics and a clear understanding of how to teach science. What she encountered, alongside Linsay Rosser-Sumpter and Becky Sporrer, Ag Business Instructors, was a different kind of challenge: students driving long distances across rural southeastern Colorado just to attend class.
“We noticed students driving 20, 30, even 40 miles to get to class… and we thought, how can we make this work better for them?”
Dr. Carrie White and Lindsay Rosser-SumpterAg Science and Business InstructorsOtero College
Some came from neighboring towns. Others drove 30 or 40 miles, even in difficult weather, to sit in a classroom that could have been out of reach.
Instead of accepting that as part of the landscape, the faculty reworked it.
They partnered with local high schools, opened their classrooms through a live online format, and allowed students to log in from their own FFA classrooms while still participating in real time. The shift required coordination, trust, and a willingness to rethink how a classroom functions. It also had an immediate effect.
“We noticed students driving 20, 30, even 40 miles to get to class… and we thought, how can we make this work better for them?”
Enrollment grew. Access expanded. The classroom extended beyond its walls without losing its structure.
In Pueblo Community College, a part-time EMT instructor brought a different kind of perspective—one shaped over decades in emergency services. Max Mabry began his career in 1972, before the EMT profession had fully taken shape, and spent years as a firefighter paramedic, including time as a flight paramedic and an educator in hospital systems.
“After one class, they have a foot in the door. I just love being able to give that to them.”
Now in his seventies, that experience is distilled into something both simple and powerful. The course he teaches is designed to give students a clear starting point, preparing them for national certification and opening a direct path into the workforce.
“After one class, they have a foot in the door. I just love being able to give that to them.”
Students arrive from a range of circumstances, some searching for direction, others ready for a change. What they leave with is something tangible, a way forward that begins with a single step and quickly becomes something more.
At Red Rocks Community College, Isaiah Sanchez has spent 25 years working on the grounds crew, a role that exists almost entirely outside of visibility. His introduction to the college came through a youth summer program. What followed was not just a job, but a career shaped by mentorship, consistency, and the opportunity to learn by doing.
“When the snow is cleared and everything’s ready… it’s because we were already there.”
Isaiah SanchezGrounds & Nursery II, Facilities – GroundsRed Rocks Community College
Over time, the work expanded—building, repairing, maintaining, responding to whatever the campus required.
It also remained largely unseen.
“When the snow is cleared and everything’s ready… it’s because we were already there.”
The rhythm of the job begins before most people arrive and continues without recognition. Its success is measured by what others don’t have to think about.
At Pikes Peak State College, Kandy Ruiz, who leads Single Stop Services, works at a different intersection entirely—where education meets the realities students bring with them.
Her role centers on connecting students to essential resources: food, housing support, healthcare access, childcare supplies. The program operates in partnership with campus departments and external agencies, creating a network designed to reduce the barriers that can quietly derail a student’s progress.
“For some students, it’s not just help—it’s the difference between coming to class or not.”
Kandy RuizProgram Director of Single Stop ServicesPikes Peak State College
Each situation requires a different response—and each solution requires persistence.
“For some students, it’s not just help—it’s the difference between coming to class or not.”
The work exists alongside the academic experience, but it is inseparable from it.
Later that day, the students being recognized carried their own stories—of persistence, discipline, and forward motion shaped under pressure. Many had navigated responsibilities beyond the classroom while maintaining a steady commitment to their goals.
What became clear over the course of the day was not a distinction between those being honored, but a connection. The students and the employees represented different points along the same continuum.
One group building pathways.
The other moving through them.
Arapahoe Community College
Dr. Liliana Renteria Mendoza, Administrator of the Year
Lewis De Herrera, Jr., Classified Employee of the Year
Scott Guenthner, Faculty of the Year
Erin Jordheim, Instructor of the Year
Colorado Community College System Office
Bailee Harris, Administrator of the Year
Veronica Soto, Classified Employee of the Year
Colorado Northwestern Community College
Jennifer Mark, Administrator of the Year
Michelle Esser, Classified Employee of the Year
Dr. Todd Ward, Faculty of the Year
Ronald Granger, Instructor of the Year
Community College of Aurora
Catherine Cooper, Administrator of the Year
Jacob Longacre, Classified Employee of the Year
Matthew Baxter, Faculty of the Year
Douglas Rossi, Instructor of the Year
Community College of Denver
Bob Miller, Administrator of the Year
Sofia Hernandez, Classified Employee of the Year
Son Duong, Faculty of the Year
Rebecca Armstrong, Instructor of the Year
Front Range Community College
Vanessa Mendez, Administrator of the Year
Jessica Cromley, Classified Employee of the Year
Rita Quintana, Faculty of the Year
Richard Lippard, Instructor of the Year
Lamar Community College
Kelly Emick, Administrator of the Year
Brian England, Classified Employee of the Year
Jake Specht, Faculty of the Year
Richard Robbins, Instructor of the Year
Morgan Community College
Shelli Crandall, Administrator of the Year
Rashar Jackson, Classified Employee of the Year
Kiley David, Faculty of the Year
Marcelle Hureau, Instructor of the Year
Northeastern Junior College
Jesse Quinlin, Administrator of the Year
Kayelani Kirschbaum, Classified Employee of the Year
Jeri Garrett, Faculty of the Year
Mandy Ritter, Instructor of the Year
Otero College
McKensie Avens, Administrator of the Year
Justin Miell, Classified Employee of the Year
Agriculture Department, Faculty of the Year
Catherine Bollacker, Instructor of the Year
Pikes Peak State College
Kandy Ruiz, Administrator of the Year
Danielle Hurrell, Classified Employee of the Year
Katie Wheeler, Faculty of the Year
Rebekah Atwood, Instructor of the Year
Pueblo Community College
Jill Young, Administrator of the Year
Ray Marquez, Classified Employee of the Year
Ann Oreskovich, Faculty of the Year
Max Mabrey, Instructor of the Year
Red Rocks Community College
Shannon Webber, Administrator of the Year
Isaiah Sanchez, Classified Employee of the Year
Charlotte Briscoe, Faculty of the Year
Mathew Mondragon, Instructor of the Year
Trinidad State College
Amaya Atencio, Administrator of the Year
Mathilda Westerman, Classified Employee of the Year
Terri Herbstritt, Faculty of the Year
Dr. Bruce Knight, Instructor of the Year
