Extra Effort Awards – 12/7/2021

Cara Anderson, Office Assistant, JCAE – Nominated by Kayla Harrity
Cara works at our Antioch Library location but has been working extra hours at our West Park location on her days off to allow us to get caught up on some projects. She is very positive and is always asking what else she can do to help. Her assistance at West Park has been an immense help!

 

David Bobbitt, Programmer Analyst, Enterprise Application Support – Nominated by Mark Zolton
I received the following email from one of David’s coworkers regarding his contribution to troubleshooting a recent issue with Payroll.
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Wanted to pass along that David really save the day with his outstanding troubleshooting for the contribution file.  Payroll came across the error early this afternoon and have been troubleshooting throughout the afternoon which had to be resolved today. Pulled in Payroll, Connor, David, and myself to later troubleshoot as a group and we are good to go with the contribution file sent to TIAA!  Good work David!

 

Andrea Broomfield, Chair, Professor English, English Department – Nominated by Larry Reynolds
Aside from her normal Chair duties, Andrea has gone out of her way to modernize the department’s website, meet with adjuncts to build relationships, create an English Pathway(s), coordinate the work on a Professional Writing Certificate, help develop two Special Topics classes, coordinate work on a co-requisite learning model, and did extensive work on KBOR General Education Requirements at the request of the CAO.

 

Alexis Burley, Orientation and Office Aide/Work study – Nominated by Brent Haverkamp
In the lead up to Thanksgiving, Alexis initiated and coordinated a “I am Thankful for…” paper hand turkey craft for the Success Advocate team. Alexis created the paper turkeys and then asked everyone on the team to write on their turkey 5 things they are thankful for. Once everyone was done, she posted all the turkeys in the Success Advocates workspace for everyone on the team to see. This was a nice opportunity to pause and reflect on our own blessings and to share in the joy of the great things that are going on in the lives of our teammates.

 

Amy Cruz, Office Asst JCAE • Adult Education & Literacy – Nominated by Leslie Dykstra
Amy is new to JCAE this year and has been a huge support to our students, staff, and program. Amy supported JCAE in its renewed pilot of AccuCampus. She has worked alongside Leslie to make AccuCampus a success for both students and staff. Amy continues to find ways to make it easier to generate reports and provide information to instructors daily. She has helped to streamline our attendance process. We are so fortunate to have her on our staff.

 

Michelle Elwood, Antioch Lead Instructor, JCAE – Nominated by Leslie Dykstra
Michelle came up with the idea of providing real-world science experiments to JCAE students. She researched, wrote the lesson plans, and implemented this opportunity.  All JCAE students who had not passed the Science GED test joined together at West Park for a Science class. Michelle set-up experiments for students to do. She focused on the scientific method, vocabulary, and the most commonly missed questions on the GED exam. Students then took the Science GED Ready (practice) exam. Michelle’s hard work paid off in a HUGE way.  90+% of students felt more confident and prepared to take the Science GED test. Students were able to connect book learning with hands-on tools and find success on the practice GED test. We look forward to expanding on Michelle’s idea next semester.

 

Mike Fluke, Senior Enterprise Desk Engineer, Academic Technology Services – Nominated by Kim Steinmetz
Mike has done wonderful work supporting our staff with technology needs throughout the pandemic. We recently converted to laptops and Mike did a lot of work to ensure we’re able to access our computers. The transition went smoothly thanks to his support. Mike always goes above and beyond to help staff.

 

 

Travis Garrod, Senior Enterprise Desktop Engineer, Academic Technology Services – Nominated by Brenda Edmonds
Travis worked tirelessly over the end of the week of October 11 and into the next week to troubleshoot and implement a fix for a serious technology problem that affected nearly all Math faculty. The editing app that was used to create and edit nearly all math equations in our documents became incompatible with Microsoft Word, and the method to fix the problem was not straightforward. Travis worked with math faculty and engineers at the software company to figure out how to fix the problem, and then implement the solution remotely. Thank you, Travis!

 

Lisa Gates, HR Generalist, Human Resources
Lisa Sullivan, HR Benefits Specialist, Human Resources – Nominated by Sara Hartman
Since the day I joined JCCC, their continued support is something I can always count on. They have shown me patience and given me their time and expertise whenever needed. I am not only grateful to have landed at JCCC, but also on a team that truly cares for one-another.

 

Darren Jenkins, Senior Cloud Sys/Application Adm., Academic Technology Services – Nominated by Beth Edmonds
Darren Jenkins has consistently “taken care of” the mathematics department (faculty, students, and staff) for many years now. Any need we express; Darren is always there to fulfill that need or help us to find resolution. Darren’s unfailing good nature and his expertise has made him a real asset for us. His name is well-known by us all as the person to call if you need help.

 

Chelsea Pyle, Office Assistant, JCAE – Nominated by Kayla Harrity
Chelsea is an evening Office Assistant at our Olathe location. We recently need some extra help to complete a project at West Park. Chelsea swooped into to save the day! She came for some daytime hours, even though she had to that evening as well, and made a huge difference in our ability to get the project done.

 

Tim Poholsky, Senior Enterprise Desk, Academic Technology – Nominated by Angela King
I needed a new docking station for my laptop since it was new.  Tim immediately called me to see what I needed and came by my office right after my class. Tim went above and beyond because he removed everything from my setup and started over.  He removed various cables and power bricks and rearranged things to be neater. He had to reconnect everything too.  He reconnected the keyboard and mouse to the laptop also. He even asked for dusting rags to clean up all the dust (I went to the restroom to get paper towels for him.) He even dusted! It was a mess and he made everything look and function better. I now have more room on my desk too. He was so helpful. Thank you!

 

Janet Reh, Kitchen Aide, Hiersteiner Child Development – Nominated by Mary Thibault
Janet has risen to the occasion and taken on more responsibilities in the absence of a staff member.  She is willing to learn new recipe’s and explore new foods.  She has maintained a positive attitude during this time.

 

Natalie Spar, Writing Center Tutor, Writing Center – Nominated by Lindsay Blanchard
Natalie serves all her students with such care and is an inspiration and wonderful teammate to work with. I have seen her get tissues for a crying student and encourage them to take a walking break before tutoring while she looked over their paper before they came back. For another student, Natalie took over an hour to help them with their Chromebook and walk them through calling IT for solving technology problems.

 

Ruth Schweitzer, ATS Support Technician, IS – Nominated by Kim Steinmetz
Ruth offered crucial support to our team’s technology needs throughout the pandemic. We recently transitioned to laptops and Ruth helped ensure all of us were able to get up and running. Ruth always supports us and goes above and beyond to help!

 

Stephen Taylor, Maintenance Mechanic • Maintenance, Campus Services
Brad Schmit, Maintenance Mechanic • Maintenance, Campus Services – Nominated by Brett Edwards
Stephen and Brad were first on the scene for the CLB Fire Sprinkler flood on October 27th from Maintenance.  Their quick thinking and response were key to preventing more damage to the building.  They stayed with the problem making sure everyone was aware, how and what happened as well as assisting after the problem was isolated in helping the water extraction team get setup.

 

Star Triscornia, Counselor, Counseling Center – Nominated by Angie Claussen
Star has done an outstanding job of completely revamping our schedule to include virtual and face to face services. There are many layers and complications to making sure we are meeting students where they are and with what they need. Star has succeeded with excellence!

 

During the Fall 2021 semester, the virtual Extra Effort Awards will be announced monthly.  The virtual Extra Effort Award nomination form can be found at https://blogs.jccc.edu/staffdev/awards/extra-effort/