Rafik Jedaoui was the recipient of the 2018 Non-Instructional Support Staff of the Year. Mr. Jedaoui is a meticulous and authentic informal leader in the Atlantic Technical College Pre-College ESOL program. To say he “assists’ the program on many fronts does not truly represent his contributions. More accurately, at times he carries the program forward by anticipating, responding to, and solving problems before anyone else even realizes there is an issue. Mr. Jedaoui is not just a “jack of all trades,” he is also a master of many. In addition to his primary role as tech support across Atlantic Technical College’s three large campuses, Mr. Jedaoui has also been trained in CASAS and TABE testing, registration, and intake – much due to his taking initiative. Essentially, Mr. Jedaoui could do the work of four people it takes to register a student: he can test the student, place them in classes, register them in the student information system, serve as a student advisor, and manage any IT issues that may arise. But it is not just that Mr. Jedaoui can do these jobs, but he is always willing to serve wherever he is needed. There have been times that Mr. jedaoui is servicing a computer and sees an overcrowded office with students ready to register and he jumps on a computer and begins assisting with intake and registration. This alleviates stress on staff during high enrollment periods and demonstrates how he always puts the needs of the student first, ensuring that the students have a first class experience by reducing their wait time to register and see a counselor. Mr. Jedaoui is a consummate advocate for both the adult learner and the NEglish language learner. As a former English language learner himself, he understands the adult student experience in a unique way. He treats every student with kindness and respect, knowing that it can be a humbling experience to enroll in classes as an adult. As one of the first people the students see, Mr. Jedaoui welcomes each student with care and takes thoughtful time during their intake process to learn each individual student’s background. The time Mr. Jedaoui takes with the students is paramount in their learning journey. It highlights the student’s rich experiences they have had already as he begins to build a trusted relationship with the student. He recognizes adult students and English language learners come to the program with varying backgrounds and sometimes through great adversity and he always strives to make school a safe place for students to grow without judgement. As a colleague, Mr. Jedaoui is always professional and ready to help in any department or capacity but more notably he is warm and caring in all the special ways that make colleagues feel more like family. As a loving father to two young girls, he always makes time to ask others how their families are doing and spends a few quality minutes with anyone if he catches them down the hall or at the copy machine. He goes above and beyond every day so that nobody ever has to worry about how technical or testing tasks will get done, and they can focus on their students. He finds his reward in the successes of the programs, teachers and students. While there will surely be many worthy nominations, I contend that it will be impossible to find someone that cares or does more for their programs.