Erie County Legislator Frank Todaro recently honored and presented Lancaster resident Denise Gonez-Santos with a proclamation to celebrate her 30 years of employment with Erie 1 BOCES.

Denise first began her employment at Erie 1 BOCES in 1989 as a resource specialist/coordinator when the program was called the Bilingual Education/ESL Technical Assistance Center—her responsibilities included professional development for English as a Second Language and bilingual education teachers.

Denise Gonez-Santos said, “The creativity and innovation that I have seen developed and implemented over time to improve our services to schools have been amazing.”

Legislator Todaro said, “Denise Gonez-Santos has been a champion for multilingual learners throughout the decades. Congratulations, Denise, on celebrating 30 years of hard work and dedication to Erie 1 BOCES. Denise and her husband Miguel have also been instrumental in helping to found the Puerto Rican & Hispanic Day Parade of WNY. It Is incredibly important that we celebrate the culture and diversity of our community.”