TSJC Names Anna Mae Rael-Lindsay Employee of the Year

Trinidad State Junior College has announced that Anna Mae Rael-Lindsay, Director of the Learning Resource Center on TSJC’s Valley Campus in Alamosa, has been selected as TSJC’s 2010 Administrator/Professional-Technical Employee of the Year. Rael-Lindsay will be recognized by the Colorado Community College System at a ceremony and luncheon on March 2 in Denver.

For the past decade Rael-Lindsay has been responsible for the operation and coordination of Adult Basic Education (ABE) /GED and ESL classes. Rael-Lindsay’s job description includes many responsibilities, including hiring and coordinating all instructors, tutors, aides and work study students. She also coordinates all testing and proctoring of college certification tests and manages the expenditure of federal and state grant funds that support the Center’s programs.

Under Rael-Lindsay’s direction, the Learning Resource Center serves approximately 150 students per fiscal year in ABE/GED/and ESL. “Of those students, approximately twenty-five graduate with a GED diploma and approximately 60-70% go to college,” she said.

When asked to describe her job, Rael-Lindsay doesn’t mention the long hours and many details she efficiently deals with. She says, “I am one of those fortunate people who has a career where I can make a difference in people’s lives every day with the assistance of my colleagues, who are also my friends. Every day is a learning experience and an inspiration.”

Rael-Lindsay’s smiling face and caring heart have undoubtedly touched many who have entered her brightly lit and cheerful classroom with their hopes and dreams, and who have departed with skills and diplomas as well as new confidence and a plan for the future.

Anna Mae grew up in a large, close family in several of the small farming communities of the San Luis Valley, finishing high school in Alamosa and graduating from Adams State College. “My mother and father, who valued education so much, instilled my work ethic and values,” she said. “As the eldest of four girls, responsibility was foremost and expected,” she added.

Her first job, upon graduation from college, was working as a bilingual education teacher in the Rocky Ford Public Schools. During this time, she was introduced to her future husband, David, through his “wonderful family,” she said. They have been married for 35 years and have a son, Cedric, who is a talented musician. Family is very important to her and she says that her sisters are “the pillars of my life.”

Rael-Lindsay has led a life well-balanced between the expertise and dedication she gives to her work, her esteem for and value of family, her Christian faith and 30 years of community and public service involvement on a variety of local and state boards. “I am very proud of my community and public service involvement,” she said. “The opportunity for networking with other professional people has been an invaluable experience for me, and I attribute my leadership and people skills to the participation on these boards.”