April Staff Torch Awards, Above & Beyond
April Staff Torch Awards, Above & Beyond and Hats Off
April 30, 2019
TORCH AWARDS
The following staff were nominated for the Torch Awards. The 6 winners for this month are: Bill Huffman, Cindy Garten, Brittany Bray, Bridget Brown, Pam Plagens, and Nicole Roig and they will receive a gift card.
Alex Carlotta: I was off work for 2 months and Alex kept all my work completed. She is a great co-worker!
Bill Huffman: Bill went above and beyond for one of his clients who was facing employment AND personal barriers. When this client was struggling with addiction recovery and insurance loss, Bill collaborated with the Family Advocate, and worked diligently to seek additional guidance from his supervisor, the Family Engagement Manger and Health Manager to help this parent get on the path to recovering her Medicaid. His dedication to his clients has always been a strength, and his collaboration in the department to get this parent the help she needed was remarkable.
Bridget Brown: During my 6 week absence, Bridget had to take on many new roles and responsibilities. She had to maintain my high expectations of running the classroom and assume the assistant teacher role. Bridget also had to continue on-the-job training to Elizabeth who is a new employee so the she could continue learning the lead teacher role in my absence.
Brittany Bray: Brittany offered to do my parent teacher conferences while I was out and assume my classroom responsibilities. She also always does a great job assisting me with everyday things. I really appreciate her help!
Cindy Garten: Cindy helped out in room 5 during Head Start Spring Break. She was such a blessing and helped tremendously! I can’t thank her enough for lending a helping hand and making sure we could get breaks and work on some trainings. Cindy always has smile on her face and she is one of the kindest co-workers!
Laura Kresslein: Laura is working with a parent who enrolled in the PEEP program because she wanted to obtain her high school diploma. The parent moved unexpectedly, and her child was transferred to another Head Start program. The parent remained enrolled in the PEEP program, with Laura’s support through some issues unrelated to the education piece, and helped prevent them from being a barrier to achieving her goal. I was so impressed with how proactive, supportive and caring she was for this parent, and how she made every effort to make sure that the parent made it to her test site recently. You are awesome, Laura!
Nicole Roig: Nicole was instructed to facilitate the home base social on March 29, 2019. She prepared all of the required materials plus found and shared a research video about the effects of screen time and she also used a power point to keep the conversation moving, which is not required. As a result, this was a great experience for everyone who attended!
Pam Plagens: Pam continually goes above and beyond to make sure that her family’s needs are taken care of and that she can link them to appropriate community resources to help.
Above and Beyond
Suzie DeTellem and Carrie Valenzuela were nominated for going Above and Beyond in the HR office. They both have amazing attitudes and high levels of energy, are super-efficient and consistently go above and beyond to support all CFI staff both current and incoming in the utmost professional and personal ways. CFI couldn’t do it without Suzie & Carrie in HR!
The entire business office was nominated for Above & Beyond. This team of staff not only have full time responsibilities, they also man the corporate waiting room at all hours of the work day. They are so helpful to take time out of their busy day to make sure visitors get where they need to go. They are an asset to our corporate culture!
The Forest Hills School District experienced two tragic losses to suicide in a 2 week period in March. The school and greater community was devastated. A group of dedicated and passionate CFI employees stepped up to provide crisis response to the grieving community. I could not be more proud and honored to be a part of our agency during this incredibly difficult time. All of the following staff responded to support the community in some way. The staff in blue responded multiple days in a row to be present for support during the funeral. In addition, Alison Price and Rebecca Zingarelli attended a community forum in response to the community crisis until 9:30pm when their day started at 7:30am. So much gratitude has been expressed verbally from the school district for the support provided. All of these staff deserve great recognition and praise for the incredible work they do every day and also for going the extra mile to support a community in need. Please join me in acknowledging their initiative, passion and dedication. The following were nominated for going above and beyond:
Alison Price, Amanda Hager, Cali Fuller, Bethany Puliafico, Bethany Strauss, Casey Posey, Catherine Cosker, Christie Howison, Emily Walbom, Erin Prindiville, Jackie Aucoin, Jen Johnson, Kaci Kniceley, Kate Carlson, Katie Suguitan, Kelly Gehring, Kerri Schofield, Mollie Hampton, Rebecca Zingarelli Ryan Dees, Sarah Liversage, Sarah Ryan, Shelly Baxter and Vicki Reynolds
SATURDAY:
Anne Wise, Amanda Hager, Cathy Krieg, Lisa Turner, Rebecca Zingarelli, Keely Galluzzo, Brandy Tucker, Bethany Puliafico, Casey Posey, Sam Rust, Emily Walbom
Hats Off
Jodi Quehl was nominated; Jodi received a gift basket and a card from some of the staff at the school she serves. The card shared these sentiments– “Thank you for all you do. We are so thankful you have ‘hung in there’ and stayed with us! You go above and beyond and we appreciate you!”