The Camden Central School District is pleased to announce that it has selected two recipients for its 2023 “Seed of Selflessness” award.
The honors were made public at the Board of Education Meeting held on Tuesday, May 16th, 2023.
This year’s recipients are Food Service Manager Pearl Romano, and Assistant Superintendent for Business Karl Keil.
The purpose of the Seed of Selflessness Award, as established by the Camden Board of Education, is to recognize the individual who best represents one or more of the following criteria:
Has chaired or participated in community and/or school committees that help to improve our school district.
Has significantly changed the lives of youngsters while motivating them to realize their full character potential.
Has volunteered or performed these additional assignments inside and outside of normal working hours.
Pearl Romano was nominated by four different individuals for her excellence and care in serving meals to generations of children in the Camden Central School District. She has worked in the district for the last 25 years. She worked at North Bay Elementary and served those students until the building’s closure. She has most recently been at Camden High School.
Pearl is known for the genuine relationships she has with staff and students, and ensuring that every student who has passed through her doors has the opportunity to have one hot meal every day regardless of their circumstances.
It is also an open secret around the District that Pearl makes an excellent turkey dinner. On those days, you can expect to find her hard at work early in the morning to prepare that meal with the care and dedication only Pearl can provide.
When the world’s way of doing things shifted in early 2020, Pearl did a lot of the heavy lifting to ensure our students could get the food they depend on, whether school was open or not. She was instrumental in setting up distribution sites during the day, and was very adaptable and flexible to ensure that families had an opportunity to receive this service, even if it fell outside normal hours.
At a time when virtually nothing felt normal, Pearl went to extraordinary lengths to ensure that food service continued for our students.
Loretta Hickok has worked with Pearl since 2004, and had this to say about her selfless nature in her nomination.
“She has always put the kids in our District first,” Hickok said. “If a child needed anything from a juice, to a cracker, to a hug, she was there.”
Karl Keil, Jr. has been employed by the District as its Assistant Superintendent for Business for the last 22 years. He attended Camden from kindergarten until graduation.
After being voted “Most Likely to Succeed” by the Camden High School Class of 1978, Karl has succeeded in just about anything he has set his mind to, including with his Alma Mater. He has been at the helm of the Business Office during a stretch of years where the world has evolved and changed significantly.
He has guided our District through a significant recession in the late 2000s, and a worldwide pandemic while keeping us operating and on sound financial footing. The use of computers and the internet was still very much in a growth stage when Karl joined the administrative team. As the digital age has changed how we disseminate information, Karl has been ready to adapt at every turn.
There is a widely-held understanding in the District Office that Karl is often the first to arrive, and the last to leave. If the lights are still on after hours, it’s probably because Karl is still hard at work.
That hard work has paid off. Karl has overseen 22 consecutive budget votes without a budget failing. His oversight has driven substantial progress in the district’s facilities, with over $105 million worth of construction and eight successful referendums to approve that construction. He created a solar farm on 9.57 acres of land that has saved the District millions of dollars. All the while, he has routinely kept taxes among the lowest in Central New York for our District taxpayers.
Karl is directly invested in student success, and you don’t have to look far to find proof in that statement. He was among the first school business officials in the state to create a Community Eligibility Provision for free meals for all students. He also installed a New York State cutting edge weather station that students could study from. You can find him at a wide range of events, musicals, concerts, and sporting events, and he has helped augment community support for students by arranging for $11,000 worth of event admission fees to be eliminated.
Karl has led by example from the very beginning, modeling a culture of humbleness, respect, and dedication to the work he does. He has maintained great relationships with so many individuals and groups who have a hand in the District’s success, including local governments, teachers, staff, students, parents, unions, and our peer districts throughout the region and state.
His nomination was submitted by District office employee Rachel Archibee.
“Karl has worked tirelessly in support of all students who attend Camden Schools,” Archibee said. “He is highly respected as a leader for modeling, lobbying, and advocating for school districts and students throughout New York State.”
Karl is set to retire from the District this summer, but rest assured, you’ll still see him in the community he calls home for years to come. We wish him health, happiness and lower golf scores in the future.
Congratulations to both of our 2023 recipients!
