Life as a Cleveland: Work

Showing posts with label Work. Show all posts

Promotion

I am very excited to announce my promotion at work.
My official new title will be
Undergraduate Coordinator-Advisory

So what does that mean?
I will be managing several staff (3 to be exact)
I will be teaching less classes
I will continue to be the medication coordinator
I will continue to have advisees
I will still be managing one of the student apartments
I will be helping to create guidelines and expectations of advisory's to ensure quality services as well as training any new staff that would be advising students.
I will also be coordinating the summer program from start to finish.
Oh yeah and I got a raise

I have been working on a lot of things these last couple months at work to prepare for the end of the school year as well as preparing for the summer program. It has been a lot of prep work, but it is all starting to pay off as the summer program is in full effect.

April Spotlight

On March 27th I got this e-mail from our Executive Director.

Chrissy,

I behalf of the Leadership team I want to congratulate you for being selected as our April Employee Spotlight.

We selected you for your amazing work as an instructor and advisor to the undergraduate program, but mostly because we have really seen you step up and take on more responsibility this program year, with a smile and a willingness to try. You have supported the organization by taking on the medication management, which now has you as our staff lead for the medication audit. You have contributed so much to the ongoing development of the CLP program; you have been Jan’s lead when she is on vacation. And with all that going on, you still committed yourself to the gala committee. WOW! And thank you, for going above and beyond for MLC especially with such a positive attitude. We truly appreciate your work.

Erin Boe will be following up with you to set up a breakfast with the Board, and Jessica will follow up with you to have your highlighted on Facebook. The parking spot out front is yours starting April 1^st.

Warm Regards,

Amy

I was so surprised, I got a little teary when I read it. I also started to think about all of the other staff members that work hard everyday too. It is a honor to go to work everyday and work with our students and my co-workers. Later that week this was posted to Facebook, and sometime this month there will be a write up on our web page.

We're thrilled to announce that Chrissy Cleveland is our Employee Spotlight for April. Not only is her work as an instructor and advisor for the undergraduate program invaluable, but so have been her additional contributions to the development of the CLP program, the Gala committee and other projects, always with such a positive attitude.

Congratulations, Chrissy!

My favorite part is the Employee of the month park spot.

Employee Spotlight: Chrissy Cleveland

Chrissy Cleveland, who was recently named the Employee of the Month for April, was praised for taking on more responsibility this program year. Those responsibilities include medication management, contributing to the growth of the Community Living Program (formerly the Graduate Living Community), and commitment to the Gala committee. I spoke with her to learn more about her background, her role at Minnesota Life College, and how MLC inspires her.

A part-time job out of college in a classroom full of students with autism led Chrissy to a lifetime career schooling people with learning differences. She visited the Minnesota Life College campus during a transition class in 2005 and fell in love with the school’s vision. The very next year, she seized an opportunity when she spotted a job opening for an autism specialist, and she’s been at MLC ever since. In those eight years, Chrissy says that Minnesota Life College has become more centered on its students’ personal needs while maintaining the focus of what MLC’s mission vision and values to help them build independent lives.

Medication management is one of Chrissy’s primary responsibilities and requires strong attention to detail. She tracks each individual undergraduate students’ medications, coordinates changes with the students, their parents, and staff, keeps the system up-to-date, while training staff to keep everything running smoothly. Any time there is a medication change, Chrissy must coordinate the transition and ensure that everything is documented correctly.

Chrissy also teaches classes and advises students, who she says are a constant source of inspiration for her. Watching them have a “lightbulb” moment when everything comes together is a particular highlight for Chrissy. One of her favorite moments will always be when she went on a summer trip with the students and all of them climbed to the top of a mountain, despite the hurdles they faced. It was a great to see them be successful at something they didn’t think they could do. We hope she has many similar experiences at Minnesota Life College in the years to come.

Chrissy is also in charge of the decorations at the annual Gala, and anyone who has attended one of MLC’s famous parties can attest that she does a wonderful job making creative and beautiful scenery on a budget. This year, Gala goers even asked to take home the large wildlife silhouettes which stood near the stage. There is an almost-life-size moose in someone’s home now thanks to Chrissy.

Gala Flowers

MLC is proud to have such a multi-talented staff member in Chrissy!

by Matt O'Keefe, Multimedia Writer

Where have we been?

Doing this...

The design

the material

The Labor

Stage one

Stage 2

Stage 3

Stage 4

Center Piece 1

Center Piece 2

Moose

Moose together

Moose at the event

Welcome to Minnesota

My Partner Gretchen

ANOTHER GALA down, already thinking about next years decorations.

High Ho High Ho it's Back to Work I Go

September 30th was my first full day back to work. Also our first day of our nanny/great friend's day of work.

I will miss hanging out with these two for most of my day.

But I love that they will be in the arms of this loving woman. (Sorry for the bad picture Laurie its the only one I had)

I am really glad I love my job because going back to work full time was a lot harder then I thought it would be. However, I'm going to love coming home for lunch every Thursday, and get to spend midday cuddle time with these cuties.

Back to work

Literally they day after our family got back from our family vacation I went back to work. I love my job which made going back so much easier. I also felt a lot better about leaving Pyper home with daddy alone then I did with Bo (new mom control freak and all.) Although I am back to work with Pyper being just over 6 weeks old, I am only going back part time until a week shy of her being three months old. It has been really nice getting up with the girls when ever they decide to roll out of bed, and to just hanging out with them. We really have had the best of both worlds, quality time with my girls and adult time at work.

Below is an example of how I spend my mornings.

keeping an eye on Pistol

checking out what Pistols looking at

showing Pyper all of her baby toys

Just hanging in the living room

We have been lucky enough to have all of our daycare plans fall into place for us too. We have had a part-time nanny for the 3 hour difference between me going to work and Josh coming home. We are so happy that our girls love, Julia and she loves the girls too, and I love when Bo asks when is Julia coming again. Makes me going back so much easier. However, because Julia is my co-worker and great at that job too, she has been asked to take over for Ashley when she goes on maternity leave. Which leaves us in a pinch for a week or two depending on when Ash goes into labor. Which means my mom will be filling in until our full-time nanny can start when I go back full-time. Our dear friend, and old roommate Laurie has accepted our offer to becoming our nanny, and we couldn't have asked for anyone better. The girls know and love her, and she is willing to work around my work schedule and times off.

I look forward to what the next chapter will look like for our girls.

GALA 2013

It's hard to believe that I have been a part of 7 of the GALA's .

2007-Livin' Learning' and all that Jazz (Marti Gras)

2008- M.L.C. Goes to Hollywood (Hollywood)

2009 Blazin' Trails to Independence (Western)

2010 Currents of Confidence M.L.C. Breezin' in the Keys (Jimmy Buffet)

2011 Be in the Game Achieve Independence (Sports)

2012 Independence (Independence Day)

2013 M.L.C Rocks- (Rock-N-Roll)

Making the First Ave wall

Josh, me (baby Cleveland), Tricia, & Ryan setting up for the event

In perfect M.L.C. fashion I have truly grow in my independence of designing and implementing the decorations and helping to run the event. This year my GALA "boss" really let me step up to the plate and trusted that I would hit the home-run. With that additional confidence I felt I could not only hit the home-run, but maybe even a grand slam. It was such an amazing event, and I am always so excited to be a part of it. However, being pregnant this year and loosing my aunt three days before the gala brought it to a whole new level of strength and perseverance. It brought me to a whole new level of confidence and desire to fight harder to make sure it was flawless. (Note to self: Running around for 14hours is not good for the feet or back of a pregnant lady. Hopefully I will never be pregnant during a GALA again).

Punch a Prize

Games room

Ash and I

Rockin' Hollywoods 650 + guests

Kelly (my Gala boss) and I at the end of the night

A successful night was had and it's time to celebrate our achievement and start planning for next year

Thanks Angela for taking Bo for the weekend, know that she was with you guys made being at the GALA so much less stressful.

Weekend Report

It was family weekend for work so we had lots to do this weekend.

Kickball on Friday afternoon

Ready for some Staff & Parent vs Students kickball

5K and Chili Cook-Off Saturday

Bo and one of my students hedgehogs Beau

We even fit in some quality family time of our own.

Some Minnesota Theis' one side of the table

Same group other side of the table

Then Sunday morning I had a little snuggler Wrigley has been very cuddly lately, and I am really enjoying it.

My new favorite snugger

Bo as also very full of energy this weekend, and it was adorable.

Back to Work...

The last two weeks I have been at work getting ready for the students to arrive. Josh has been so amazing with telling me to just take a nap, and he would watch Bo. Thanks Baby!

We did get a little family time in for some Sea Salt, and a nice walk in the park

Water!

Calamari, Yummy!

Walks with Daddy

We also finally bite the bullet and got ride of the "clown car" I mean our old van, and bought a new one. It's a '99 Mercury Villager. We love it. Iowa here we come!