This week I have been thinking about the vegetable seeds that will soon be planted in my backyard. Much like the tomato, bean, and squash seeds that will go into the ground, we at SETA are also planting seeds into the lives of the people we serve and work with. Our HR site visits this week demonstrated this.
I went to Nedra Court and Hopkins Park this week. Ellen Fransz visited Kennedy Estates and Illa Park.
At Nedra Court I had a chance to meet the staff and sit down with Shoua and Claudia. Shoua is a new supervisor and is very proud of her team. She couldn’t pick just one person to highlight. The team has embraced her and is really helping her as she settles into her new role. Belva is her right hand. Claudia has programs for the parents upstairs and as a FSW she is building relationships and tools for families. During the site tour Claudia showed me the computers they have setup with Rosetta Stone to help the parents learn English. Thank you for being a great team: Lisa, Belva, Yvonne, Claudia, Mela, and Shoua!
Hopkins Park was a terrific visit. The staff were engaged with the students and I even got a little play time in. Pam praised her staff’s abilities. They are competent and they love their center. They have a busy center with lot’s of happy children running around. Thank you for your dedication to the children: Ed, Melinda, Nam, Amanda, May, Mary, Chris, Tamara, Pam, and Cindy!
Ellen Fransz visited two Head Start traditional sites on Friday, January 23. At Kennedy Estates, she was greeted by Linda Oliver, Family Service Worker who introduced her to Site Supervisor, Beda Her and Associate Teacher, Sarah Brock. Beda shared her site was close to full enrollment and she was proud of not only her staff and their self-initiation in “getting the little things done” but also the families and the close relationships they have developed. Both Beda and Sarah praised the prompt services they received from both Facilities and Program Support Staff.
The other site Ellen visited was Ila Collins where she met with Site Supervisor, Connie Myers, Family Service Worker, Angie Perez Montoya, Head Teacher, Jarnell Harper, and Associate Teacher, Jennifer Malveaux. Connie has a very close bond with her staff of 3 and she was proud of their ability and willingness to just “pitch in” to get the job done. They serve a parent population that is a bit “transient” so Angie has been working hard to network and to develop other partnerships in the community to recruit more parents to Head Start sites.
At both these sites, Ellen was impressed with the staffs’ commitment to be advocates for their parents, their continuous efforts to provide quality services, their ability to work with diverse families, their teamwork, and their time management skills. She was grateful to meet such passionate and committed staff and looks forward to visiting more sites.
All these site visits return me to the concept of planting seeds. Shoua was promoted from a teacher. Claudia started as a Cook/Driver and is now (according to Reta Keirsey Program Officer for FSWs) one of the top 10 FSWs. Pam mentored Mary and Chris when they are students and is proud of the teachers they have become today. At Hillsdale WorkCenter they have a wall Celebrating the clients they have helped get jobs.
All of these actions that we invest into the lives of the children, families, clients, and co-workers are seeds that we are planting into their lives. Sometimes we are lucky enough to see the seeds mature, other times we have faith that they will bloom in the future.
Because we at HR are committed to helping you grow, if you want to make an appointment to discuss you career growth I would be happy to make an appointment with you to discuss next steps for you and career road mapping.
Ellen, I and the rest of the HR team look forward to continuing to meet you, support you, and plant seeds in the lives of others.
Respectfully,
John Allen
HR Department Chief
SETA Personnel Department
