The Williams family includes 10-year-old Andrew, from left, Summer Williams, eight-year-old Savannah, Chris and four-year-old Maribeth. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Employees at the Central Office of Madison City School selected Summer Williams as Staff Member of the Year.

Williams works as coordinator of the Home Instruction for Parents of Preschool Youngsters (HIPPY) program.

“I truly love what I do and working for Madison City Schools,” Williams said.

HIPPY offers research-based instruction that helps parents empower themselves as their child’s first teacher by giving them the needed tools, skills and confidence to work with the child at home, Williams said in a previous interview.

HIPPY allows parents to become and remain actively involved in their children’s education, thus helping to maximize and improve outcomes for children in elementary school and beyond. “Early childhood education pays long-term dividends for children, their families and our community,” she said.

Williams is “proud of the work that we accomplish working with families preparing children for school. The fact is that, for many of our families, we are the first interaction that they have with the school system since we start serving children at age three.”

“We do a good job of helping them understand the process of starting school in Madison City Schools and the expectations,” Williams said.

Williams feels the most fulfillment in her work when she sees a three-year-old child start with HIPPY and watches the child grow and complete kindergarten successfully. “That helps me to know that we are doing a good job helping kids be successful,” she said.

Williams earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Central Florida. She has lived in this area for 10 years.

She and husband Chris are parents of Andrew, 10, a student at Columbia Elementary School; eight-year-old Savannah, also a Columbia student; and Maribeth, 4, who will enter pre-kindergarten in the 2014-2015 school year.