America First Credit Union and Vegas Golden Knights Celebrate Teachers With “Game-Changer” Award

Las Vegas Knights

Winners of the America First Credit Union and Vegas Golden Nights Game-Changer award program gather at Citi National Arena, the Knight’s practice facility in Summerlin, on April 5, 2021 after a celebratory luncheon in their honor.

LAS VEGAS (May 20, 2021) – For the fourth year in a row, America First Credit Union and the Vegas Golden Knights honored teachers in the Clark County School District with a special award. The Game-Changer program awarded four outstanding teachers who made a positive impact in the classroom and in the lives of students each with a $1,000 grant that will help to improve their classrooms.

Winners were celebrated with a private lunch.

Winners include:

Melissa Finnan of Grant Sawyer Middle School

  • Finnan goes out of her way to make all students feel like family. She created a giving box with shampoo, soap, toothpaste and toothbrushes in her locker room so students could take anything they need at home. With the grant, she will continue to provide anything she can for her students to make them feel at home.

Stacye Tesh of Bozarth Elementary

  • Tesh was nominated for her unwavering dedication to her first- and second-grade autistic students. She is just one of 54 national board-certified teachers in Southern Nevada for special education, and continues to attend lectures and seminars online to further her knowledge about her practice. Tesh’s main goal with her students is to teach them basic behavior skills to join their peers in general education classes.

Shane Goffstein of Wayne Tanaka Elementary School

  • Goffstein encourages each of his first-grade students to realize their potential. He creates reading groups during the pandemic and focuses on improving his student’s different reading levels. He uses his personal funds to ensure that students have all the resources needed to succeed.

Sasha Jones of Jerome Mack Middle School

  • Jones runs an exceptional drama program for grades six through eight. In a year where being face to face with students was challenging, she went above and beyond the call of duty for her students. Her drama and anime club gained a ton of traction this year through interactive, virtual events like streaming movies, television shows, and “live performances” of other theater departments across the district. Jones even used her own money and resources for lighting, sound and décor for her theater space.

The credit union will accept new nominations around the start of the 2021/2022 hockey season.

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Editor’s Note: Please CLICK HERE for pictures of all winners.

ABOUT AMERICA FIRST CREDIT UNION

Proudly celebrating 82 years of servicing members and a long-standing history, America First Credit Union has become one of the largest, most stable and most progressive credit unions in the country, and has remained a member-owned, not-for-profit cooperative financial institution. Today, America First has 126 locations, and is the eighth largest credit union in assets in the United States with over $15.6 billion, and the fifth largest credit union in membership in America with more than 1,184,290 members.

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Nicole Cypers
America First Credit Union
801.827.8655
ncypers@americafirst.com

Jennifer López
R&R Partners
702.318.4203
jennifer.lopez@rrpartners.com