Employee of the Year: Vanessa Manning
By Ansleigh Friday
With hard work and dedication anything was possible. Mrs. Vanessa Manning proved this to be true when she won the Employee of the Year award for the 2024-25 school year. “When I found out I was Employee of the Year, I was surprised and completely honored. We have an incredible staff and there are so many that could have easily won. I was very flattered that the teachers and my colleagues voted for me,” explained Manning. As the Dean’s Office Clerk, Manning was the friendly face students would encounter when stepping into the Dean’s Office.
Manning was aware that the Dean’s Office was not the place most students wanted to be. Because of this, she would always greet students with a smile and she made sure that they felt as safe as they could. She has learned that often, a student’s behavior is caused by their circumstances, which is why she ensured she could be a safe space for anyone who needed it. Despite knowing everything she did for students, she still did not expect to win this award. “I don’t know if I had any real expectations because there were others who do such a great job at what they do,” she stated.
However, for her daughter, senior Rachael Manning, the award was no surprise. “I was very happy when I found out she had won,” explained R.Manning. “I think she deserves it because she does a lot more than it may seem to other people,” she stated. As an employee’s daughter, R.Manning saw every aspect of her mom’s job that most other students and teachers did not see. This included putting in work outside of school hours as well as how hard she worked to ensure that she was doing her job to the best of her ability.
One of V.Manning’s closest friends, media specialist Mrs. Carrie Friday, also saw how much she deserved this award. Friday had Known V.Manning long before their time at Melbourne High School. “Vanessa Manning is one of the first people I met when we moved to Melbourne almost 18 years ago. She was the friendly face that greeted me in Florida and is now the friendly face students encounter when they are having a tough day,” Friday explained. She knew how hard V.Manning worked for this accomplishment. “For as long as I’ve known her, she has gone above and beyond anything she’s responsible for and it’s no different in the Dean’s Office,” stated Friday.