WATSONVILLE—Pajaro Valley Unified School District Superintendent Michelle Rodriguez has been named as the recipient of this year’s Phil Rather award.
The Pajaro Valley Community Health Trust has been giving the annual award since 1999 to people, businesses and organizations whose contributions improve quality of life for Pajaro Valley residents.
The award is named after Phil Rather, who was instrumental in creating the Diabetes Health Center, and who advocated for access to healthcare for Pajaro Valley residents facing economic and social barriers.
On its website, the Health Trust described Rodriguez as an “inspired leader of uncommon ability.”
The Trust praised Rodriguez for her work with vulnerable student populations and her dedication to low-income districts for the 27 past years. Rodriguez also received kudos for the district’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. Those efforts included launching distance learning programs and making sure every student had access to Chromebooks, and providing free school meal services for any child age 1-18 and collaboration with Second Harvest Food Bank to feed families.
Rodriguez said she was honored to be a part of a group of recipients that include Mary Solari, Ginny Solari Mazry, Dientes Community Dental Services and Second Harvest Food Bank Santa Cruz County.
“They really are inspiring to our community, and I’m honored to be part of that, and most importantly knowing that we’re impacting our students and our community,” she said.
Teen Kitchen Project, which teaches culinary arts to young people while providing meals to families struggling with serious illness, also received this year’s award.
