April 17, 2023 – Extra Effort & Team Effort Awards

The EXTRA EFFORT AWARD goes to:

Lindsay Blanchard, Administrative Assistant, Counseling Center – nominated by Michelle Caples
Lindsay recently received a phone call from a community member inquiring about programming that Lindsay determined was not part of our credit curriculum. Following that phone call, Lindsay conducted some research in the Continuing Education platform and found additional resources relevant to the inquiry. Lindsay made a return phone call to the individual and left the information in a voice mail message. Shortly thereafter, the individual called back. Finding that Lindsay was not available, the individual asked me to pass along that she was extremely impressed with Lindsay’s generosity in following up to provide additional resources at JCCC. Lindsay’s genuine curiosity and willingness to help is displayed on a daily basis. We are so fortunate to have her as part of our team!

Amy Foster, Administrative Assistant, Johnson County Adult Education (JCAE)– nominated by Georgia Deming
During testing and orientation for new ESL students, Amy does whatever is needed to help with student intake. She works split shifts to accomplish this and does everything from assisting students to complete enrollment forms, proctor tests, and get Gmail addresses and phone apps during technology training. She is always patient and kind with everyone she comes in contact with.

Samantha Johnson, ESL Instructor, Johnson County Adult Education (JCAE) – nominated by Georgia Deming
In addition to teaching her own classes, she jumped in to teach the CDL prep class for ESL students when the original teacher left the program. She also jumped in to teach yet another class this semester when yet another teacher left. She is always willing to jump in and assist wherever and whenever she is needed.

Rachel Hoyer, Box Office Manager, MTC – nominated by Kate Allen
AudienceView is the ticketing software used for the Midwest Trust Center. This vendor notified Rachel of a security breach that compromised credit card information collected between February 17-21, 2023, and that the system was being shut down completely for an unknown period of time. Rachel was proactive and issued an email to all our affected customers alerting them to the issue and telling them to keep an eye on their credit charges. She then devised a great plan to manage sales the old-fashioned way: hard copy seat maps and an Excel spreadsheet. She also worked closely with Philip Mein, Rob Caffey, Megan Casey, Sandra Warner, Rachel Lierz, Kelsey Nazar and Chris Gray to follow best protocols. Rachel’s team will be hand-validating tickets and names for performances, as our scanners also are not functional. She has done an incredible job and we are very proud to have Rachel on the MTC team!

Marianne Kunkel, Assistant Professor of English – nominated by Andrea Broomfield
Marianne is an outstanding assistant professor who is only in her second year at JCCC.  I wish to nominate her because her efforts go “above and beyond” what we require of probationary faculty. As our professor of Children’s Literature, Marianne has worked hard to bring to campus visitors who have a direct impact on her students and their learning. She coordinated the visit of U.S. Representative Sharice Davids to discuss David’s own picture book, Sharice’s Loud Voice, as well as coordinating the visit of KC Public Library’s Central Youth Services Manager, Clare Hollander, to talk to her students about successful story times for young readers. Both types of visits help Marianne’s students then write and publish their own picture books, several of which are currently on display on the second floor of Billington Library. From the beginning of her time at JCCC, she has partnered with JCCC education professor Craig Butler to give presentations and answer questions at two well-attended events, the Latinx Education Conference and the Shawnee Mission District Teacher Education College Fair. By appearing in public and networking as she does, Marianne raises awareness among both educators and students about the excellence of our Education and English programs at JCCC. Marianne also serves on many committees. Here is a sampling: She volunteered to serve on a JCCC DEI committee, Goal 3 Strategy 3: “Build an inclusive and equitable campus culture” for the fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. This work is vital to her decision to begin writing a new course for our department, African American Literature.

Joyce Friedel, Administrative Assistant, Academic Resource Center (ARC) – nominated by Christina Wolff
Joyce was recently assigned to help me set up and administer placement testing for Health Care Interpreting and Foreign Students in the LRC. Instead of just sending me email results, Joyce is in constant contact with me. She asks important questions to ensure that students at JCCC are provided with clear expectations for testing. I value Joyce because of her communication skills.

Mary Brady, Tutor, Academic Achievement Center (AAC) – nominated by Alyssa Slana
Mary goes above and beyond in her daily work in the AAC. She is dedicated to supporting students, especially those who work closely with Access Services. She is patient, kind, and loves to learn. This semester she has taken on extra tasks as asked which is much appreciated!

Sharon Powers, Tutor, Academic Achievement Center (AAC) – nominated by Alyssa Slana
Sharon is both an instructor and tutor at JCCC, and works for a nearby school district. With all these responsibilities, she always ensures the students she tutors are taken care of and feel heard. She offers plenty of tutoring time for students and, as our only Web Development & CDTP tutor, she regularly takes on more students as necessary.

Garold Oliver, Tutor, Academic Achievement Center (AAC) – nominated by Alyssa Slana
Garold has been a tutor in the AAC since the pandemic and is consistently looking for more ways he can better support the students. He has taken on many challenges this semester when it comes to tutoring students, but he continues to persevere. Even when it gets difficult, he shows the students how much he genuinely wants them to succeed. This extra effort does not go unseen!

The virtual Extra Effort Award nomination form can be found at https://blogs.jccc.edu/staffdev/awards/extra-effort/