Cyndi Hawkes Shines as Communications Media Assistant

Cyndi Hawkes embraces new challenges with a smile and can-do attitude.

“Cyndi is a joy to work with,” said Samantha Womack, Communications, who nominated Hawkes for the 2023 SDCOE Classified School Employee of the Year award. “Her curiosity unlocks new ways of thinking about things, and her passion for learning new programs and systems is contagious.”

Hawkes has been with SDCOE for more than 20 years, starting with the Graphics team and moving to Communications more than a decade ago.

Hawkes works with more than two dozen different newsletter authors to send hundreds of emails to thousands of contacts each year. She trains and supports newsletter authors, which makes a huge impact across the county.

She also leads SDCOE's photo project, where the County Office partners with districts in the region to have professional photographs taken of students, staff, and school campuses that are then available on SDCOE's intranet and for use on SDCOE.net, in presentations, and more.

"Cyndi is organized, efficient, direct, and a fantastic communicator," said Maria Simon, public information officer for Coronado Unified School District. "As a huge bonus to that, she is fun, friendly, and brings great energy to the task at hand."