Congratulations to Nathan Jones, the September Employee of the Month!
The employee of the month for September is Nathan Jones. Nathan has been with the organization since 2008 and is currently a member of the LES team. Nathan is very respectful, patient, and kind to all of the clients with whom he works. He has a consistent and welcoming attitude even in the most difficult situations.
Nathan goes the extra mile for the people that he works with and challenges them to be as independent as possible. He helps to facilitate learning opportunities and gives people every possible chance to take part in the things that they enjoy. He is creative in his approach when working with individuals with communication challenges and ensures that they have the opportunity to express themselves.
Nathan is a valuable member of the LES team and is always polite and helpful to staff, families, and visitors. He is flexible and is always willing to step up when he is needed. Nathan also is willing to learn new things in order to provide people with more opportunities. Whether it be a computer program, communication device, or visual aid he takes the time to understand how it works and how it can be used to support people. He is cheerful and relaxed and his positive approach to his job helps to create a wonderful working environment.
Brown Bag Lunch Series
The Brown Bag Lunch Series for September will take place on Friday, September 17th at CPD. The topic is herbal remedies and will be lead by Pete Thorson. Pete will cover a variety of topics including:
Pete has a great deal of knowledge about herbalism and will be a fantastic resource for anyone interested or anyone with questions.
This will also be your opportunity to let us know what topics you would like to see covered in the next few months. Don’t forget that anyone can volunteer to lead a session so if you have any special knowledge or skills that you would like to share please let Joelle know.
If you have any questions or would like to volunteer to lead a session please contact Joelle Ashley.
To celebrate its 40th Anniversary, ANCOR, a national advocate association, will be presenting an exhibit of self-portraits by individuals served by their member providers at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, National Portrait Gallery in Washington, DC. on September13, 2010.
The Cooper Center visual artists were invited to submit one self-portrait to hang in the exhibit. Heather Story, portrait artist-in-residence, worked with the artists to create self-portraits that are, insightful and colorful. A committee of local artists selected Kathy Cruth’s self-portrait to be framed and sent to represent the J. Darryl & Terry I. Cooper Center for Creative Arts at the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery. After the exhibit, her painting will be shown as part of the permanent collection at ANCOR National Headquarters in Alexandria, Virginia.
Congratulations, Kathy!.
In August we implemented Therap, an internet based communication and documentation software system, in our day and administrative programs. The purpose of this software, which we hope to have fully implemented in all service areas by March, 2011, is multifold.
The most important component is communication. All staff at Ark, including all direct support staff, will have access to interoffice email, which will allow health services, case management, direct support staff, and other departments to communicate directly with one another. Incident reports will be completed online, allowing supervisors and the Human Rights Committee to be aware of an incident immediately. Another component, called a T-Log, will give staff who work with a particular client an avenue to share important information and successes with other staff who work with that person. This sharing of information will give everyone a better understanding of the person, and promote relationship building and teamwork.
We will have all schedule and goals documentation online by March 2011 as well. Not only will this provide immediate access to goal and schedule information, but it will save our organizational and natural resources as we decrease the amount of paper we use.
The feedback we’ve received from day and administrative staff has been positive. We hope to have all residential staff training on our interoffice email (SComm), incident reporting (GER’s) and T-Logs by late November, with full implementation (all service areas using online documentation of schedules and goals) by March 2011. We will continue to update you as we move toward full implementation of this exciting and innovative program. If you have any questions regarding Therap, please direct them to Tim Pratt, Shirley Pratt or LeRoy Martin.
There are now two digital cameras that are available for staff to check out so they can take photos at parties, on trips, or any other special, fun occasion that people take part in. By utilizing the Ark cameras you will be able to document all of those events while following our policy on photography. The photos will be saved by the Marketing and Public Relations department, but copies are available if you need them.
The process is as follows:
Please DO NOT download the photos onto your personal computer or on a cd for personal use. If you have any questions about camera usage please contact Joelle Ashley