An important part of Summer Summit, our professional development conference, is the awards ceremony. This gives us the opportunity to celebrate outstanding specialists and program accomplishments from around the state. Youth Solutions Board Chair, Barb Anderson, was joined by board member Jeff Swears along with Youth Solutions staff, Mollie Waller and Sonya Blanzy, to announce the award winners and provide them the recognition they deserve.
JAG “5 of 5” Award Winners
The Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG), our national affiliate, ‘5-of-5’ Award is the most prestigious programming award given to JAG affiliate programs to include state, regional, and program level recognition. Recipients of the JAG ‘5-of-5’ award have met or surpassed all of JAG’s five rigorous performance metrics dedicated to ensuring young people succeed in education and employment.
Regional ‘5 of 5’ Winners - all programs in the following regions met '5 of 5' criteria:
Capital Area Michigan Works!, Alternative Program
Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation, Multi-Year and Out of School programs
Michigan Works! Southeast, Alternative Program
Networks Northwest, Alternative Program
Program ‘5 of 5’ Specialist winners:
Alternative Programs:
Amanda Althouse
Lisa Baldyga
Kim Benz
Jocelynne Braddock
Claire Bogrow
LeAnne Bush
Vincent D’Ettore
Mike Vandermus, two alternative programs
Multi-Year Programs:
Tiffany Banks
Jocelynne Braddock
Anita Graham, 2 multi-year programs
Jeff Olson
Carolyn Miller
LaChelle Williams
Out of School Programs:
Lupe Salazar Hamden
Sheena Saffold
Reggie Williams
JAG High Performers ‘5 of 5’ PLUS
Annually, JAG recognizes a group of specialists and managers who are high performers in all aspects of JAG Model programming. This year’s award winners were selected because of their dedication to exceptional JAG programming and consistency in delivering on our mission: to equip youth with the skills to overcome barriers and succeed in education, employment, and life. This year’s High Performer Award winners were recognized at the recent JAG Virtual National Training Seminar. In addition, we recognized these Specialists as our 5 of 5 PLUS winners. These individuals not only achieved 5 of 5, they also completed and met all expectations for model service tracking, contact hours and first month follow up with a Graduation Rate exceeding 90% and an Unable To Contact rate of less than 5%.
Alternative Programs:
Kim Benz
Jocelynne Braddock
Lisa Baldyga
Claire Bogrow
LeAnne Bush
Mike Vandermus, 2 alternative programs
Multi-Year Programs:
Jocelynne Braddock
Anita Graham, 2 multi-year programs
LaChelle Williams
COVID 19 Above and Beyond
This award was given to recognize the dedication, persistence and care given to their young people throughout this difficult year of additional COVID related challenges:
Ashley Fanson, Out-of-School Specialist from Family Literacy Center in Lapeer
Amanda Althouse, Alternative Specialist from Orchard Center in Monroe
JAG Outstanding Specialist Awards
Each year, JAG National invites state affiliates to nominate up to three Outstanding Specialist award winners. These award winners are all-around outstanding, consistently delivering on the mission and offering best-in-class programs. Yearly, specialists from across the state are nominated by their managers and peers, and three awardees are selected. Congratulations to our three JAG Outstanding Specialists:
Charron Basey, Out of School Specialist from Lansing School District and Capital Area Michigan Works!
Lupe Salazar Hamden, Out of School Specialist from Michigan Works! Southeast
Carolyn Miller, Multi-Year Specialist at Pershing High School
Outstanding Manager of the Year
A new award this year, Outstanding Manager of the Year, was created because we received nominations without prompting. This manager goes above and beyond to help her team with whatever their needs are. During the pandemic, she held numerous virtual group and individual meetings to check in and hosted trivia game nights where her team could socialize and interact virtually. “She is truly everything you dream of in a manager,” says one of her Specialists. Our first ever Outstanding Manager of the Year was awarded to:
Susan Ward, Manager of Networks Northwest JMG Programs
Living Our Values Awards
Each year we recognize members of our JMG network who embody each of our organizational values in their everyday lives: collaboration, leadership, excellence, and remaining solutions-focused.
Collaboration
Whether it’s finding resources to help young people, spending additional time with a youth to help them through a unique problem or working to connect many different employers to their youth, our Specialists and Managers know the value of collaborating and how the power of partnerships help more young people succeed. We were pleased to recognize three members of our JMG network for their outstanding collaborative efforts:
Dominque Clay- Out of School Specialist at Michigan Works! GST Service Center
Pranvera Myftiu - Out of School Specialist with ACCESS, a partner of SEMCA
Drew Klopcic - Dean of Students with Northview Next
Leadership
With leadership, we inspire those around us to influence critical outcomes on behalf of Michigan’s young people. Each of these individuals wear many hats including teacher, parent, coach, mentor, advocate and trusted role model. We were pleased to recognize the following three leaders:
Corey Sterling, Multi Year Specialist at Benton Harbor High School
Stacey-Brown Smith, Alternative Specialist at River Rouge High School
Cheryl Irvin, Manager at Michigan Works! Great Lakes Bay
Excellence
With excellence, we recognize that good is never good enough when young people’s lives are on the line. These winners consistently strive for more, working to ensure our youth have the resources they need and support to succeed. Congratulations to our excellence winners:
Debra James, Out of School Specialist, Michigan Works! Southwest
Terri Karavas, Alternative Specialist, Odyssey Alternative High School/MW! Great Lakes Bay
Sheena Saffold, Out of School Specialist at Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation
Solutions-Focused
With our solutions-focused approach, we search for new opportunities that will lead to more young people graduating, gaining employment, and beginning down the path towards a career. When someone says it isn’t possible, we pride ourselves on being the team that figures it out. Congratulations to our solutions focused winners:
Lisa Byars, Out of School Specialist at Employment and Training Designs, Inc. Highland Park/SEMCA
Caitlin Drinkard, Multi-Year Specialist at Hamtramck HS/SEMCA
William Braylock, Assistant Manager at West Michigan Works!
Comments