RAFT Hall of Fame | Class of 2023
Congratulations to our 2023 STEAM Teachers of the Year, RAFT Heroes, RAFT Volunteer Awardees, and RAFT Partners of the Year! Thank you for all you do for our educators, students, our community, and RAFT!
STEAM Teachers of the Year
Michele Huesties
STEAM Teacher, Sierramont Middle School
STEAM Teacher of the Year
Presented by AON
Ms. Huesties goes above and beyond to make learning engaging and relevant to students. She has hands-on projects for every unit that inspire students to dig deeper. She not only utilizes RAFT and district instructional materials but finds sources and materials from a wide variety of areas that inspires students to think creatively and go beyond the textbook.
– Bryan Williams, Principal, Sierramont Middle School
Antoinette Schlobohm
Math and Science Teacher, Thornton Middle School
STEAM Teacher of the Year
Presented by Deloitte
From judging robotics challenges to being a Climate Change Fellow at Stanford, Toni inspires her students to explore STEAM subjects and how they affect daily life. Toni, continues to change the education fabric in STEAM through her commitment to education, community, committees, professional memberships, and to her own professional development.
– Lisa Ernst, STEAM Teacher, San Francisco Unified School District
Alvaro Orozco
STEAM Teacher, Montague Elementary
STEAM Teacher of the Year
Presented by Morgan Stanley
By combining Science and Technology, he has effectively engaged students in hands-on learning experiences. His innovative approaches and enthusiasm have inspired our students to explore the world of engineering, problem-solving, and critical thinking. Through his guidance and support, students have gained practical skills and developed a passion for STEM subjects.
– Leanna Goldenberg, Principal, Montague Elementary
RAFT Heroes of the Year
Ned Barnholt
RAFT Hero
Presented by Intuit
Ned is the former chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Agilent Technologies, a spinoff of the Hewlett Packard Company. Ned has served on the board of directors of eBay and Adobe Systems and was the non-executive chairman of the KLA Corporation. He was also on the board of trustees of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation.
Ned has been a part of RAFT’s history for over a decade and helped RAFT connect with like-minded partners and supporters, like the David and Lucile Packard foundation. Ned offered advice to founder Mary Simon on how to break into the online shopping space, helping expand RAFT’s reach around the state, country, and even the world. Ned currently serves on the RAFT Advisory Board.
John Ebner
RAFT Hero
Presented by KPMG
A previous RAFT Board chair, John has been a supporter and leader of RAFT since 2008. John is currently a member of KPMG’s Private Equity Practice, responsible for developing relationships with some of the largest private equity firms in the Bay Area. John has connected RAFT with the KPMG family and recruited multiple colleagues to serve on RAFT’s Board over the years.
John saw first hand RAFT’s mission of inspiring joy through hands-on learning when he would bring home RAFT’s STEAM Project Kits to his sons and their classmates. Over the past few years, John has jumped right in to help RAFT during the pandemic, offering his support on our fundraiser Event Committee and RAFT Advisory Board.
RAFT Volunteers of the Year
Nancy Stewart
RAFT Volunteer of the Year
Presented by Adobe
For the past 3 years Nancy Stewart has stood out as a RAFT volunteer. Nancy started volunteering with RAFT during the COVID-19 pandemic and has dedicated over 150 hours at RAFT. Not only does Nancy come in every Wednesday afternoon to volunteer, but when needed she will also bring projects home to work on and come in additional days.
The work of RAFT is important to Nancy who has a background in fundraising at San Jose State. She knows the key to student’s success in college starts when they are young. Nancy not only supports RAFT by volunteering, but also by being a monthly donor.
Carol Schelling
RAFT Volunteers of the Year
Presented by Fenwick
For years, Carol Schelling has been a dedicated RAFT volunteer. She has logged in over 650 hours supporting RAFT and the education community. When we opened back up to welcome volunteers after the COVID-19 lockdowns, Carol was one of the first volunteers who came out to help and she continues to show up for our students and educators. Carol comes in every Tuesday morning to help with a variety of projects including helping us package STEAM Project Kits and helping us prepare for our STEAM Dream Camp. Carol’s husband, Mike, is on RAFT’s education team and Carol supports him in his development of resources.
RAFT Partners of the Year
RAFT is proud to honor Cisco as our 2023 Partner of the Year Award recipient.
RAFT’s collaboration with Cisco began in 1998, and has had a profound impact on the education community. This 25 year-long partnership has included the following:
- $1.1 million in monetary donations to RAFT to support hands-on learning resources.
- Cisco employees volunteering for over 36,000 hours at RAFT
- Over 1100 tons of donated materials to RAFT for educators and students to use
RAFT also recognizes Greener Source as our Material Donor of the Year. Greener Source is one of RAFT's main furniture providers and provides really high quality items that our members really love. They also provide other things like office supplies and promotional materials, but mostly furniture. Overall, Greener Source has donated over 20 tons with 10 of that just this past year. With these materials, RAFT can provide hands-on learning to our local educators and students.