To recognize and promote excellence in human endeavors in the area of student services in Pennsylvania, nationally, or globally, the Pennsylvania Association of Pupil Services Administrators (PAPSA) presents the PAPSA Distinguished Service Award to recognize pupil services professionals for their exceptional contributions to the field of pupil services.

This year, the PAPSA Distinguished Service Award was given to two outstanding pupil services administrators, Ms. Pamela Vlasaty and Mr. Michael Lewis.

Pam Vlasaty

Pam Vlasaty is the Director of Pupil Services at the Nazareth Area School District and has served for 27 years in the area of pupil services. She gives tirelessly of herself to support and encourage those around her to achieve more. Much of the recent success at Nazareth has been due to her guidance, expert knowledge, and modeling of strong servant leadership by advocating for those families and students most in need of support. She is a visionary leader that recognizes the importance of growing those around her to enhance the overall effectiveness of the organization.

Ms. Vlasaty’s contributions have been essential to the success of all students in the Nazareth Area School District, a high-performing school district in the Lehigh Valley. She is a leader who models how to stop, think, reflect, and act in challenging situations. Ms.Vlasaty goes well beyond what could be expected in her support of the school district and school community. Her dedication to ensuring that family, student, and staff needs are met is unparalleled. Ms. Vlasaty cares most about the success of others and will always place that success as a higher priority. She has accomplished great things at Nazareth through sheer power of will as she dedicates all of her time to implement high-level initiatives while still maintaining that perpetual availability for all for consultation, support, or just a listening ear.

Pam was nominated for the award by Assistant Superintendent Isabel Resende.

Mike Lewis

Mr. Mike Lewis is the Director of Pupil Services at the Quaker Valley School District. Mr. Lewis and his innovative practices have significantly contributed to high quality service delivery in the Quaker Valley School District.  Notably,  his efforts during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as his ongoing endeavors in such areas as social-emotional learning, crisis intervention, summer programming, professional development, and transparency have tremendously benefited his school district .

During the pandemic, Mr. Lewis led his team of school nurses in advertising and hosting both flu and COVID-19 clinics on school premises. He also provided consistent guidance regarding policies and procedures and advised staff on special education practices, counseling practices, and school psychology practices.  He advised teams on required special education paperwork during remote learning, in-person assessment options, safety measures to use upon student re-entry into the buildings, and confidentiality considerations during remote counseling sessions.

Mr. Lewis has made significant contributions in the area of social-emotional learning through the implementation of a universal social-emotional learning curriculum for grades K-6 (Move This World) and piloting a universal social-emotional screening tool. His introducing a therapy dog at the high school has made an indescribable impact on students and he and his team are pursuing a grant opportunity to improve sensory rooms at the elementary level.

Mr. Lewis has also improved the school district’s response to nonviolent crisis intervention through training staff in Ukeru, a crisis intervention program that teaches staff how to safely manage behavioral crisis situations with the least restrictive approach possible.

In addition, Mr. Lewis has made significant improvements to summer programming for special education students by developing an in-house summer program using the Teach Town curriculum.

Mr. Lewis is an outstanding communicator who is down to earth, easily approachable, and transparent.  In 2012, Mr. Lewis was recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times as an “Up and Coming Performer” among elementary school buildings in Western, PA.

Mike was nominated by Dr. Tammy Andreyko, Superintendent and Leah Wells, Psychologist.