Paqui Paredes honored for efforts to help others

Do you work with an outstanding colleague at Western Washington University? The Western Way program provides the opportunity for faculty and staff to recognize the great efforts of others on campus.

Any time throughout the year, folks in the WWU community can visit the Western Way website to recognize a Western employee who demonstrates excellence in serving students, visitors or colleagues, based on the characteristics that make them uniquely Western: inviting, engaging, distinctive, collaborative and adventurous.

Western Way honorees are recognized online on the Western Way Wall of Acknowledgment, in Western Today and in a slideshow at the Employee Recognition Ceremony in April.

Recently recognized was Paqui Paredes, Modern and Classical Languages chair. Sean Dwyer, a faculty member in Modern and Classical Languages, submitted the following:

I have for a considerable time wanted to recognize the efforts of my chair, Paqui Paredes, in helping me reestablish myself as a Western instructor after an accident. About a year ago, I suffered a double whiplash and a double concussion when I was rear-ended. I was unable to return to teaching for the rest of the winter and spring terms. Throughout my convalescence, Paqui did many things to ease my concerns about the Spanish section’s welfare and that of my students. She, as well as the TBI people at the Speech and Hearing Clinic, primarily Dr. Michael Fraas and Lesley Stephens, sought ways for me to be able to teach despite light sensitivity, dizziness, and headaches. I was given the opportunity to hold pseudo-classes, where I did my lessons to a small group as part of my rehab. When I returned in August and more permanently in September, Paqui thought of a number of ways to accommodate my trouble with reading and grading. While I have not yet regained complete pre-accident levels of ability to read and process light, the accommodations we created together have made it possible for me to succeed at my job. That level of concern for a colleague seems to me to be a true example of the definition of what Western is all about. I am grateful to be able to work here, proud to have Paqui as my colleague, and grateful that our system allowed me the time I needed to heal.

To view more information on the nominees to date, visit the Western Way website atwww.wwu.edu/westernway/.