During pandemic, school nurse aide did ‘whatever was necessary’ to protect students, staff

Kelly Landon is a licensed practical nurse aide at Erie 1 BOCES Learning Center, which provides education for special needs students.

“I just love the students and I love being a nurse,” says Landon, a member and vice president of AFSCME Local 2341 (Council 66) in New York. “That’s my favorite part, seeing them being happy and safe.”

During the coronavirus pandemic, Landon has done “whatever was necessary to help out,” according to co-worker Melissa Wall.

“We had a student who sometimes would need a change of clothes and she brought in some of her son’s clothes,” Wall says.

Bernadette Skelton, another co-worker, says Landon was there for the center’s students and staff when things got tough.

“It was either jump in or step aside, and she just did it,” Skelton says. “She just jumped in there.”

Adapting to the new COVID reality wasn’t easy, and her days were long. But like many AFSCME members across the country who are on the front lines of the war against the virus, Landon did whatever it took to get the job done.

For her service to her community, Landon is a winner of AFSCME’s Never Quit Service Award, which recognizes public service workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to make their communities better.

“It was definitely a long school year, it was definitely a long, few months, getting to work in the dark and getting home in the dark,” Landon says.

But she did it for the students, the best part of her job.

“I just love the kids and love being there and being able to help them and seeing them thrive,” she says. “I love what I do.”

Watch this video to hear Kelly Landon tell her story.