Program News 2009
Bringing our Staff Together
Good Shepherd has always placed a heavy emphasis on staff training, striving to keep up with best practices in youth development and social services work, as well as offering our staff the chance to engage in group activities outside of the normal working environment.
Group trainings of staff from separate but similar programs provide especially exciting opportunities to share experiences and advice as well as ensuring more consistency among Good Shepherd's growing network of programs. We recently conducted large-scale trainings for our Multiple Pathways and Bronx After-School staff.
The first-ever Good Shepherd Multiple Pathways Summit took place in July at the Edith Macy Conference Center. Over 100 staff members from our GED, YABC, LTW and Transfer School programs attended to network and learn from each other. Staff co-facilitated workshops on topics such as using data to improve our practice, group work, attendance outreach and internships as transformational experiences. Opening remarks were made by NYC Department of Education's Director of LTW Initiatives, Tom Pendleton, who is a former Director of Development for Good Shepherd. "It was a wonderful chance to honor the work that our staff do all year in service to our students," said Director of Transfer Schools Rachel Forsyth, who organized the Summit along with Division Directors Fernando Tinio and Joy Goldsmith and Assistant Director of Program Evaluation and Planning Amy Frumolt.
In early fall, 118 staffers from our Bronx After-School programs gathered on a Saturday for the Professional Development Institute. The Institute offered attending staff the opportunity to take four different required trainings - Mission Effectiveness, Youth Development/Circle of Courage, How Children Learn and Child and Youth Developmental Stages - while also getting to know their peers from other Good Shepherd Bronx After-School programs. As an icebreaker, staff created chants and cheers for their specific school program and performed them for the larger group. Executive Director Sr. Paulette LoMonaco was on hand for the Mission Effectiveness training, which is taken by all Good Shepherd staff soon after joining the agency. Mission Effectiveness provides a detailed overview of the agency's history, philosophy, vision, mission and values.
October 13, 2009
