(L-R) Margaret King-Ahmed, Zeinab Allie, Supt. Glenn Maleyko, Kevin Lyscas and Troy Amen.

DEARBORN — The Dearborn Public School District has presented its second annual Impact awards to honor non-teaching district employees who work outside of the classroom to make a positive impact on students, families and colleagues. 

Zeinab Allie, Troy Amen, Margaret King-Ahmed and Kevin Lyscas were chosen by a panel of colleagues, a representative from the Dearborn Education Foundation and school district administrators to receive the awards. They were selected from among the more than 100 employees who were nominated by students, district employees and community members.

“Just as the Teacher of Year award celebrates the classroom teachers, we introduced the Impact award to recognize outstanding staff in all other roles,” said Dearborn Public Schools Superintendent Glenn Maleyko. “The recipients have made outstanding contributions to helping students or providing excellent customer service in other roles that enhance peoples’ experience with the Dearborn Public Schools.”

Maleyko added that the district is fortunate to have many dedicated, caring staff members who have made positive contributions to the district.

Zeinab Allie is a community liaison at Fordson High School. The nominations for Allie reflect her consistently caring and compassionate nature. 

“She personally helped me through a crisis and because of her, I was able to get back on track and started doing better in school,” said a student who nominated Allie. “She has shown me that even when you feel completely alone, there are always people like her to support and care for you.”

Troy Amen is a paraprofessional who is assigned to work with an individual student at Howard Elementary.

“She goes above her responsibilities in the classroom,” said an individual who nominated Amen. “…when her student does not need her assistance, she offers her help to other teachers and students.”

Margaret King-Ahmed is a parent talk educator who has helped hundreds of parents build more productive relationships with their children and, in turn, helped them to be more successful in the classroom. 

“She is respectful to the parents, patient, …polite and goes above and beyond,” said the individual who nominated her. “She really made a big impact on our parents and children because the parents go home and use what they have learned.”

Kevin Lyscas is an engineer at Lindbergh Elementary School whose actions demonstrate how important each and every staff member is to the success of students.

 “He is someone who shares his lunch break with a special needs child, gives a high five in the hall, is the first to respond to a sick child or emergency, helps parents during activity night, ties a loose shoe and knows 350 kids’ names by heart,” said one nominator. “He is an excellent role model to the students as we work to make our community a better place. He is a super hero to our young students.” 

The Impact award winners each received $500 and a framed Pewabic Pottery tile award during the annual green tie dinner hosted by the Dearborn Education Foundation and generous
sponsors.