Professional development days begin long before the first staff member steps into a room. They begin with planning, conversations, and the quiet belief that the people who care for our students deserve learning experiences built intentionally for them.
For Nicolle “Nikki” Crawford ’02, Employee Development Specialist, that belief guided every part of the most recent PD day. The day opened quietly, with support staff walking into rooms prepared specifically for their roles. Materials were placed with intention. Activities reflected their responsibilities. Even the layout of the space sent a signal.
“I wanted people to walk in and immediately know this was for them,” Nikki said. “That matters.”
For the first time, SDoL offered a job alike PD day created entirely for support staff, a group whose roles are essential to our district yet often overlooked in typical PD structures. This moment represented a shift in how the district honors the work of staff who help create structured and meaningful environments for students every day.
Why dedicated professional learning matters
Professional development is one of the most important tools SDoL uses to strengthen the work happening in classrooms and across school buildings. For Nikki, it is not simply about delivering information. It is about creating learning that respects the realities of staff roles and gives them the tools to grow with clarity and confidence.
Nikki sees professional learning in two distinct ways. There is the content itself, and then there is the structure that holds it together. Her passion lies in designing that structure, the part that ensures PD is clear, accessible, and meaningful.
“I do not provide the specific content,” she said. “I provide the structure for the content. I am striving to provide a solid structure so we can continue to grow and develop professional development within the district.”
Her clarity of purpose shaped this entire PD day. Support staff, who had often been placed into general educator sessions, finally received training aligned with their specific roles. The feedback spoke for itself.
“The responses were probably some of the best I have seen across the board,” Nikki shared. One staff member told her, “It did not feel like PD. I was learning, but I had so much fun that it did not feel like professional development at all.”
That comment reminded Nikki why this work matters. PD is not just information. It’s validation. It’s belonging. It’s being seen.
What a Job Alike experience brings to the District
A job alike model brings together people who truly understand one another. It centers collaboration and shared experience.
“A job alike brings people together who do the same kind of work,” Nikki explained. “Sometimes it is a specific group like library professionals. Sometimes it is broader like K through five. The point is that you are learning with people who understand your day.”
This structure allowed support staff to explore real scenarios, ask questions without hesitation, and strengthen the skills they use every single day. It also allowed them to build community with colleagues they may not cross paths with otherwise.
One of Nikki’s priorities was creating sessions that felt engaging and practical. She wanted staff to leave with tools that would help them the very next day in their classrooms and buildings.
Building a Hub for Every Educator
Behind the scenes, Nikki also manages one of the most important tools in the district: the Professional Learning Dashboard. What began as a simple organizational tool has grown into a central hub for everything related to professional learning.
“The dashboard is the hub for everything professional learning within the district,” she said. “It has the full year schedule. It is a live document that I update so no one gets overwhelmed with emails. It has networking meetings, hours for Act 48 windows, principals’ 45s, the Ed Conference catalog, Act 126 submissions, program submissions, external PD links. It is everything.”
“I want it to be the first place people go whenever they have a question,” she said.
The dashboard reflects Nikki’s style. Clear. Organized. Future focused. Built to support people in practical and accessible ways.
A career defined by developing people
When asked what she loves about her work, Nikki did not hesitate.
“Everything,” she said. “I genuinely think this role was made for me. It fulfills all of my strengths. I love developing people. I love being a supportive role in all parts of their professional development, their Act 48 hours, their PDS. I love seeing big picture future plans, and that is exactly what I have done and run with in this role.”
Her passion began long before she returned to Lancaster. After graduating from McCaskey, she attended East Stroudsburg University, where she studied community health education and discovered her love for residence life as an RA. That experience led to professional roles at York College and then graduate work at Rider University in organizational leadership. She later spent five years running residence halls at the University of Kentucky before returning home to Lancaster.
“All roads lead to McCaskey,” she said with a smile. “To quote my graduation speech, you just cannot hide that McCaskey pride.”
She was the commencement speaker in 2002, a moment she remembers fondly. “I had a really good speech,” she laughed.
Putting a face to the name
For years, Nikki joked that she was the anonymous face behind all the emails. Staff knew her name but rarely saw her in person. That began to change as she took on larger roles in shaping districtwide PD.
“People would say, ‘I thought that was you,’” she recalled. Even longtime connections resurfaced. During Ed Conference, former teacher and soccer coach Coach Deardorff emailed her asking, “Are you the Nikki Crawford that went to McCaskey and played soccer?” She confirmed it with pride.
Now, colleagues are not only recognizing her name. They are recognizing her work.
Nikki brings a thoughtful and intentional style to her work. She chooses words carefully. She designs experiences with precision. She listens deeply to what staff say about their needs and uses that insight to create learning environments that feel supportive and grounded.
“I just want people to feel like what they do matters,” she shared. “And that the district is investing in them because we believe in the work they do.”
Her leadership has strengthened professional learning across SDoL by creating spaces where staff can develop their skills and feel confident in their roles. The success of this PD day reflects not only strong planning, but also her commitment to honoring every staff member’s contribution to the district.
Nikki, thank you for the intention you bring to professional learning, for the care you show in designing meaningful experiences, and for the way you uplift the people whose work supports our students every day. Your leadership helps create a district culture where staff feel supported, valued, and empowered to grow.
Your work makes SDoL stronger. And you remind us that when we build with intention, we build community.