WESTFIELD TWP. -- Lodi Police Chief Keith Keough and Cloverleaf High School Counseling Administrative Assistant Heather Osborn are the recipients of the 2024 Cloverleaf Pride Award, which each year recognizes one community member and one staff member who go above and beyond in their service to Cloverleaf students. They received the awards at the June 20 meeting of the Cloverleaf Board of Education.

Keough has been a police officer since 1981 and chief of the Lodi Police Department since 2009. He was nominated for the award by multiple staff members of Cloverleaf Middle School, where he is a friendly and reassuring presence to students, families and staff at the start of every school day. In presenting the honor, middle school Principal Kristina Yako said:

“Every morning, you will find Chief Keough outside the doors of the middle school a little before 7 a.m., greeting students and staff with a ‘Good morning.’ Many students shake his hand and some have a morning check-in about their expectations for the day. All the while, he’s opening doors, waving to families, and also being on the alert for safety. This happens every day, on his own time. His main purpose is that he wants parents to feel a sense of security as they drop their children off for school and wants staff and students to feel safe when entering the building.”

Keough participates in the middle school’s annual career day and has served as a speaker for the middle school’s Men in the Making group. He and his wife also are Cloverleaf parents.

Osborn began substituting at Cloverleaf in 2007 and became a paraprofessional in 2009, serving in the elementary, middle and high schools. In her current role as the administrative assistant for the high school counseling office, she is instrumental in managing many counseling and school-wide initiatives including Senior Exploration Day, academic and teacher awards, Senior Signing Day and graduation.

“Her level of organization and attention to detail is impeccable,” Yako said in presenting the award. “She is always kind and considerate to students and staff alike. She can always be found bringing snacks or trinkets for students, being a sounding board for students and staff, and she is always finding ways to make everyone around her feel special and appreciated.”

Outside of school, Osborn can be found spending time with her family or at church, volunteering with Operation Christmas Child, being outdoors or creating something. She and her two children all are graduates of Cloverleaf.

Nominations for the Cloverleaf Pride Award are submitted by the public, students, parents and district employees each spring, then reviewed by a committee of community members and staff. Winners are selected based on a rubric that factors in each nominee’s contributions in multiple categories -- including academic and extracurricular support, years of involvement, and specific examples of service to Cloverleaf students.