Heba Yacoub was honored today with the Loudoun County Public School’s Recognition program’s Employee of the Year Award for Food Services. Dominion’s Nutrition Manager and an LCPS trainer, she has been working at Dominion since 2014. Yakub and her team are a daily part of students’ lives, being in charge of school breakfast, lunch, and take home dinner.

“It feels amazing,” Yacoub said. She also notes that it was a big surprise that she received the award.

She also took a moment to acknowledge her team, noting that they don’t work like a traditional “manager-employee” team, but on more equal footing instead, which allows them to do the work they do.

“[Heba] grows with the knowledge she has and is willing to share; that’s how she became a training manager,” Teresa Lucas, Operations Coordinator, revealed. She remembers when Yakub became a manager earlier this year, noting that she has a promising career and hopes that she will go far.

Katie Kutch, Supervisor of Support Services for LCPS, presented the award at Dominion this morning. “This is very important, because for a long time, we’ve recognized principals and teachers and school administration, and this is a really good opportunity for us to recognize the employees who do a great job every day in our school, that are beyond teachers or principals,” she said.

Kutch stated, “We put together a group of five individuals who looked through all of the packets and all of the nomination forms. And then there was a list of criteria that they were able to look at, based on the award.” Afterwards, a panel of five looked through multiple nominations and forms, with Yakub meeting the criteria.

“It’s exciting for me [to see Heba receive the award],” Lucas noted.

Dr. Brewer stated, “Heba has been excellent from the start” and praised her work ethic, noting that she has had the difficult task of feeding 1500 students throughout the day.

“It’s a pleasure to be on her team,” he continued. Brewer also states that Yacoub has been able to adapt and grow with the changes that have happened throughout her career, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.