Lynnette DeChellis
Position: School Nurse and COVID-19 Coordinator
School: Fairhaven School
School District: Trumbull Board of Developmental Disabilities
City, State: Niles, OH
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Lynnette DeChellis was nominated by her colleague, Lindsey Ison.
"Lynn always greets everyone with a warm, welcoming smile," explains Ison. "Even during the pandemic, she has remained a steadfast and strong leader. She is one of our outstanding School Nurses and our Safety Committee Director. Her newest job title is COVID-19 Coordinator."
Fairhaven School encompasses preschool through high school for medically fragile and developmentally disabled children. During a normal school year, Ms. DeChellis can be found managing the needs of her school's medically fragile students with chronic conditions such as diabetes and seizures, to allow them to stay in class. As the Safety Coordinator, she leads the committee by identifying needs and developing new and innovative ways to improve safety measures during fire evacuations, mock school lockdown emergencies, and other unforeseen natural events such as tornado shelter protocols. She continues to develop new ways to keep students safe throughout the day. The staff truly look to her for support and count on her every day.
Without hesitation, she has taken on this new, important task of being the COVID-19 Coordinator with grace. She has to make on-the-spot decisions to keep everyone as safe as possible each day. She has helped develop plans to lead the school safely throughout the past two years as the pandemic has continued to impact us all globally. Ms. DeChellis has gone over and above her call of duty, and she makes herself available to staff and student's families day or night, as well as on weekends.
She fields calls regarding possible exposures and tracks COVID-19 positive cases throughout the school and transportation system. She works in coordination with the school administration and local health department, develops safety protocols, and offers her professional guidance on where to seek follow-up medical treatment if symptoms are present or if there has been a possible exposure.
Ms. DeChellis has taken the time to teach everyone how to protect themselves and remain safe in the community. She has further given her time to help by administering COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. She continues to teach everyone how to protect themselves and their loved ones, taking questions and concerns to heart as new studies emerge from this ongoing pandemic.
"Lynn is an amazing nurse, leader, colleague, and friend," said Ison. "She has remained full of grace and calm throughout the pandemic as she has taken on this additional call of duty. I would love for our community to recognize her miraculous efforts of putting our safety and our children's safety first, each and every day. Lynn definitely makes us all Bulldog proud at Fairhaven School!"
I have had the honor and privilege of working with Lynn for many years but the past 2 years with the ever changing COVID protocols and the headaches of contact tracing were crazy challenging. She has been a ROCK for the staff, students, and families. She pushed herself beyond human limits at times and then gave just a bit more. She served as our COVID Coordinator and never had a day (or minute) off because weekends and evenings were always filled with phone calls from staff or parents needing her support as they tried to figure out what to do. Her bedside manner is second to none and she has a way of making things feel calm among the chaos. Kudos to you, Lynn! This is most certainly well-deserved and an understatement of what you deserve for "literally" saving lives over the past 2 years.
I pray we never have to experience a world-wide pandemic ever again; but, if we do you are the one person I will want leading the charge. Thank you for your commitment to our Bulldog Family and for everything you did that exceeded the definition of above and beyond. In my eyes, you are and will always be A LifeChanger!
From my heart, Sandy
Sorry this took so long but I really appreciate you being in the clinic. You've helped me learn the clinic even in the midst of the pandemic. You have a heart of gold.
Lynn has gone above and beyond in her role as Covid Coordinator. She spent many hours counseling those who had Covid and their family members. She is very dedicated.
Congratulations Lynn! Best of luck job well done.
Way to go Lynn! I have witnessed your dedication and love to family for a very long time and now to the community you serve. Well deserved. Congratulations!
Way to go Lynn! Not surprised. I have witnessed your dedication and hard work to your family and now to the community you serve. Thanks for always looking out for us! Congratulations!
I have known Lynn for a very long time. I have witnessed her dedication to her employer, staff and children. She is the most caring nurse that I ever met. Good luck Lynn and thank you for everything you do for everyone around you!
Lynn is such a caring and wonderful nurse who loves and is loved by her students, present and past. She truly embodies what it means to care for and teach her students how to be the healthiest and best they can be! She is humble and loves her job without the needing the recognition she deserves! She is so deserving of this nomination! Congrats!
I am so proud and honored to hear about this nomination for my sister Lynn. I've spent much time with my sister the last few years as we cared for our mother at an assisted living facility. I heard many of the day today stories through covid and her added responsibilities. She was always gracious and very proud to have this role in trying to keep everybody safe. While continuing to do her daily nursing job she was the primary caregiver for our mom and took such great care of her. Mom was very blessed to have Lynn by her side until her dying day. Lynn is always the go-to in the family as far as questions and nursing suggestions when anybody gets sick or hurt and she always wants to help. I'm sure so many people are deserving of this nomination and award but in my opinion this is an easy choice to pick Lynn as the Life hanger of the Year.
Congratulations Lynn! How exciting! Well done! They are lucky to have you! Great job!
You deserve it Lynn keep up the good work.
I have had the pleasure to have known Lynn for well over thirty years. She has been a colleague, a friend and our neighborhood family. This nomination is more than well deserved. She is truly dedicated to her nursing profession. She has been a support and an important resource to everyone in our community during the COVID Pandemic. Congratulations and Good Luck Lynn!
Lynn has always been a dedicated nurse but she also went above and beyond during the Covid pandemic. She was there to answer questions about Covid related concerns and it was obvious how much she truly cared about all of our safety. She had a very difficult job of calling families and staff and informing them of exposure and quarantines. When everyone just wanted to get back to normal and didn't want to quarantine anymore, she still had to relay the news and she did so with grace. We are very fortunate to have such an amazing nurse to care for our students.
Congratulations, Lynnette, on this much deserved nomination and recognition!
As a Community Employment Director I have relied on Lynette for immediate answers before sending students and staff into community settings. In many situations we would find out the morning of an assignment about a possible scenario and the risk of a possible COVID contact situation. We turned to Lynette often, who helped guide us through the situation, to avoid putting anyone at risk. Her "always immediate" response was so helpful in keeping our department functioning at a safe level. Our department is very appreciative of her efforts.
Lynn has gone above and beyond her duties as a school nurse to ensure our staff and student health and safety. We are forever grateful for her dedication to our school, we couldn't have made it through the pandemic without her.
Lynn has been a valuable resource and support to the entire Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities organization to navigate the ever changing information related to the pandemic. Lynn is responsive and kind, providing information and answering questions with clarity and gentleness. I am very appreciative of Lynn's professionalism, dedication and hard work.
Congrats, Lynn! You have always been there for the Early Intervention Department, in addition to all of your other duties at the school! Anytime we have a question or concern, you always have advice and are never inconvenienced to provide it. You always think of our department when you receive any donations of supplies that our families might be able to use and we appreciate that! Our families sometimes struggle to get what they need and your generosity and knowledge helps us to serve them better. Thank you! Well deserved recognition!!
Lynn has had varying responsibilities during the pandemic and has always been concerned about our students.
Congratulations on your nomination!
As the Superintendent of the Trumbull County Board of Developmental Disabilities Fairhaven School, I can not say enough about the amazing job Lynnette did as the Board's assigned COVID Coordinator. Lynnette routinely took calls or responded to emails in the evening and weekends to ensure staff and families had the information needed to keep their fellow staff members, families, students, and others safe throughout the pandemic. Lynnette participated in weekly meetings held by the Trumbull County Health District to ensure she had the most current information regarding the virus. Lynnette also closely followed the information provided by the CDC and the Ohio Department of Health in order to share the most up to date information with myself and the other school administrative staff. I can say, without hesitation, that without Lynnette's dedication, commitment, and guidance to her fellow employees, students, and families, our Fairhaven Family would not have navigated the pandemic as well as we did. Thank you to Lynnette for all your hard work and good luck with your well deserved nomination!
Lynn is one of those colleagues who you can always count on. She goes up and beyond what her job requires.
She has such an extensive wealth of knowledge, she knows what to do, when to do it and how to do it.....all with a smile and being calm, cool and collected. WOW!
Nurse Lynn has always came to a school with a smile on her face- despite having to do the dreaded walk to peoples rooms almost daily for a while- to let them know they have been exposed to COVID. She would approach with a graceful manner to not cause panic. Lynn would ensure you with positivity and pride that it will be okay and give you the best measures to keep not only yourself but your family safe. She had a very difficult job but took it on with grace, pride and love for not only the students but our staff.
Lynn has worked well past our typical school hours handling phone calls regarding Covid cases and other crises that have come up. She has always shown professionalism and a calm demeanor throughout.
Miss Lynn is so very kind and knowledgeable. Any time I have had the pleasure of speaking to her, she has been overtly kind and thorough in her explanations. I have a great sense of relief knowing my children can see her for medical attention at any time during the school day. She is a true asset to the staff at Fairhaven schools. Her professionalism and kindness speak volumes.
Mrs DeChellis is a nurse at my daughter's school. She is so kind and caring, as well as knowledgeable and personable. My daughter has developmental delays and some chronic medical conditions. Knowing that "Nurse Lynn" is close by is a real blessing.
Lynn is an amazing and dedicated nurse. She is so patient and kind. My experience with over the past 3years has been nothing short of amazing! She is a wonderful nurse! Fairhaven is lucky to have her on staff.
Thank you, Ms. DeChellis! A great example of good people doing good work for the benefit of their teammates and others. This would be a well-deserved award. Good luck and congratulations on the wholly earned nomination.
I can’t think of a better nominee than Nurse Lynn. I can’t put into words the amount of care and also the amount of responsibility that falls on Lynn’s shoulders. She’s not just a school nurse she’s a nurse at a school that is for the developmental delayed and medical fragile. Our nurses office resembles an emergency room at times! Tube feeds, medications administered at the exact time everyday, seizure disorders, playground mishaps, just to name a few. In addition to all this Nurse Lynn was our designated Covid coordinator! Boy was she busy with that title!! She learned all she could about not only the virus but the ever changing protocol with the federal government, the CDC, and our local health department. She was in charge of contact tracing, bussing protocol, and a never ending amount of questions. Nurse Lynn has definitely been a life changer and deserves this award and probably a whole host more.
She is a wonderful nurse, she is always so caring about the kids health and so kind and patient with the parents. When my son had covid she took the time and spent a great deal of time on the phone with me answering all my questions and explaining everything to me.
We would not have made it through these last 2 years without Lynn. Her dedication to the students and staff at Fairhaven made these past 2 years bearable. She is kind to all and you can tell that her heart is full of love for everyone at the school. She has gone above and beyond to make sure that we are all safe and knowledgeable on school Covid protocols. Not only was the covid coordinator, she also takes care of our medically fragile students.
Lynn is a great asset to Fairhaven School and we are glad that she chose us!!
Teresa Boggs
Lynn is a great nurse who facilitated all aspects of the covid crisis in our facility, whether it was with staff, students, or families. Because of the far reaching aspects of this terrible virus, Lynn had to go over and beyond a regular workday frequently. We appreciate her knowledge, professionality and care she shows for everyone she works with.
