Dave Ellis

Dave has been working at Gavilan College for over 30 years, and in all that time, his top priority has been his students. I have been fortunate to work directly with Dave for the past 22 years, and it has been a pleasure. In working with Dave, I have found him to be very trustworthy and responsible. He truly cares about his students and co-workers. He is a strong advocate for students with disabilities, and goes above and beyond his teaching responsibilities. He coaches the Burners Wheelchair Basketball team, and volunteers his time to coordinate a Wheelchair Basketball game to celebrate Disability Awareness on campus. He has served on many committees throughout his years, and he is currently a member of the Health and Safety and the Academic Senate.  Please consider Dave as your Full-time Faculty of the Year. He truly deserves it.

Jane Rekedal

Jane has been an integral member of the Art department for nearly three decades.  Throughout her tenure here she as almost single-handedly built and maintained the ceramics program within our department.  Jane’s leadership spans well beyond our Fine Arts department, touching the lives of both students and community members at-large.

Even though Jane is a part-time instructor, she certainly contributes as much (if not more) than a full-time instructor.  On any given day you can find Jane working on updating curriculum, assessment, program development, assisting students, collaborating with other fellow instructors, fixing a kiln, providing independent study in-kind.  Jane spends countless hours—and has for many, many years—taking care of a program that is certainly under-funded and needing of additional resources.  Jane understands that the value of the program is the opportunity it provides for students to be successful at Gavilan College. 

It is also Jane that has brought us the annual Soup-n-Bowl sales, again, working diligently to raise funds for the ceramics program.

Institutionally Jane makes substantial contributions by volunteering for numerous committees—and participating fully in them—as well as being active in union matters and constantly seeking ways to help make Gavilan a better place.  Often you can see Jane meeting with other faculty discussing issues and challenges facing our college.

Additionally, Jane serves as a board member on both the San Benito County Arts Council and the Aromas Hills Artisans, planning regional events such as San Benito County Open Studios and other art functions.   She also maintains her own pottery studio in Aromas where she produces pottery and sculpture.