A Dorothy Thomas School staff member is up for Instructional Support Employee of the Year.

"Amazing" is the word that teachers and staff from Dorothy Thomas School use over and over to describe one of their own.

John Rose, a paraprofessional at the North Tampa school, recently was named a finalist for the Hillsborough County Instructional Support Employee of the Year award.

The surprise recognition came during an annual holiday party at the 80-student school; the celebration, at which each student receives a bag of gifts, is one Rose has helped make possible for years.

Rose, 46, runs a program of incentives and rewards to help with behavior modification for the students, who are from kindergarten through high school age. At Dorothy Thomas, students who have not been successful in traditional schools for various reasons have individualized programs.

"He just helps everyone at school and at home," said Donia Robinson, an Exceptional Student Education specialist. "He even volunteers at Teaching Tools (a supply center) so that we can get extra supplies from it."

Rose, a Lutz resident, was born in West Virginia and moved to Tampa when he was 12. He graduated from Chamberlain High and had been working for several years by that time.

"I started in a day care center when I was 14 and stayed there until I was 21," Rose said. "Then I got a job with the school system."

He served at other schools until moving about 20 years ago to Dorothy Thomas, where he has been nominated for the award before. This time, he competes against four other finalists, with the winner announced Jan. 27 at the David A. Straz, Jr. Center for the Performing Arts.

"I don't do it (my job) for the recognition; I do it for the kids," Rose said.

His co-workers say children would not have essentials such as socks, underwear and school supplies without Rose's support. He also gives them two other things many students lack: attention and a male role model.

"I just love these kids," Rose told his co-workers after representatives from the Hillsborough Education Foundation made the announcement that he is a finalist. "As challenges come and go, we always seem to make it."

The other finalists for the award are Sandra M. Gallogly of Alonso High School; Ernestine J. Davis of Franklin Middle Magnet School; Timothy W. Driggers from the district's transportation department; and Marilyn Delgado of Lincoln Elementary Magnet School.

The recognition of the Teacher of the Year and the Ida S. Baker Diversity Educator of the Year also will be made at the Jan. 27 event, which is expected to draw about 2,600.