And the Student of the Year Winners are...

The PennACE Joanne Day Student of the Year (SOTY) selection committee is pleased to announce the recipients of the 2020-21 awards:

Liberal Arts: Christopher Anderson, Criminal Justice Administration Major, Central Penn College, for his work with the Cumberland County District Attorney’s Office in the Criminal Investigation Division (CID) as a criminal analyst.

“Chris’ internship was that of an analyst who reviewed investigative material and assisted detectives within the unit. It would consist of case reviews, data entry, filing, interview observations and other routine tasks. In Chris’ case it evolved into a larger role because of the maturity and work ethic that he brought. Chris took on the usual tasks, rapidly completed them to the desired standard, and asked for more. In some instances he suggested different approaches, offered insights, and expressed his desire to learn so that he could find future employment in public service. Since Chris demonstrated the capacity for more we gave it to him. Chris was challenged during the course of his work with us. He had to cope with the long hours that accompanies the initial days of a homicide investigation. He worked with little sleep, meals on the run, and the sacrifice of his weekends. He did this without complaint and he made real contributions to a very grateful investigative team. One thing I can be sure of is that he raised the bar for those seeking an educational experience in our unit. – Jonathan Mays, Chief County Detective, Cumberland county District Attorney’s Office

Business: Madison Shilk, Human Resource Management, Management, and Finance Major, Clarion University, as a human resource intern at Contact Technologies Inc. in St. Mary’s, PA.

“Maddie was responsible for the methodology development and format to plug and play as we implement cells across the plant. She did a wonderful job grasping this concept. This project required working hands on with the operators to determine all the specific duties in each cell. Once the criteria was established, Maddie conducted meetings with management to define a skills matrix for each operator in that cell. This project drives incentive for employees to want to work and perform in a cell. Maddie created this project from scratch and soared with it. Maddie was challenged to present the project to all employees during our monthly communication meeting, in addition to CTI’s CFO. Maddie has an extremely outgoing personality and is a go-getter. But while these experiences pushed her out of her comfort zone a bit, she took on the challenge with ease.” - Jackie Lenze, Human Resource Generalist, Contact Technologies, Inc.

STEM: Cailyn Hall, Chemical Engineering Major, University of Pittsburgh, for her work with The Sherwin-Williams Company as a co-op engineer.

“Cailyn is a dedicated worker and strives for expanding knowledge in the engineering field. Cailyn was involved in daily communication meetings with site management where she relayed project information and addressed timelines/concerns in regards to in process items. She was also engaged in the site safety program and completed several audits and made recommendations upon findings. Cailyn was responsible for several corporate capital expenditure projects. Some of the projects Cailyn worked directly with vendors in order to scope work out properly and she also oversaw contractors on site performed the capital work. During the end of the rotation, we were impacted by COVID-19 pandemic and unfortunately Cailyn had to work from home. Even though it was remote, she was able to accomplish a lot of detailed worked surrounding our preventative maintenance program which was implemented to the site later this year. I'd like to thank Cailyn for all her support and efforts to making this co-op rotation a success.” – Steve Kauffman, Engineering Manager, Sherwin Williams Company – Lebanon, PA.

Associates: Minnie Jones, Civil Engineering Technology, Community College of Allegheny County (CCAC) for her as an engineering intern with The Partner 4 Work’s Learn and Earn Corporate Internship Program.

“Minnie participated in the Learn & Earn Corporate Internship Program 2020 and was placed with the PJ Dick-Trumbull-Lindy Paving construction company where she worked with the project management team and helped work on two of their downtown Pittsburgh building construction projects. She conducted measurements, reviewed floor plans and provided pertinent specs that assisted in keeping the projects on target. Minnie has engaged in an academic level of engineering and this work experience put those theory's and knowledge to practice Minnie's work was very valuable and instrumental in helping to push the projects along. Minnie was also celebrated for an awesome hosting work that she did for the program as a whole during our live Facebook social media event, this caused her to be invited to serve as representative of our program ending celebration Facebook live that included the Allegheny County Executive and the Mayor of the City of Pittsburgh. – Dr. Crystaline Barger, Manager of Youth Work Experience, Learn & Earn Corporate Internship Program.

Each recipient will receive a $500 check and presented with a recognition plaque. Additional photos and more detailed articles about each student will appear in the June issue of The Messenger and during a presentation at the PennACE annual conference in May.

A special thanks to the 2020-21 PennACE SOTY selection committee members:

Heather Balas, Mercyhurst University

Diana Brush, Clarion University

Meaghan Clister, California University

Josh Domitrovich, Clarion University

Krissie Doppelheuer, California University

Kristen Fike, Central Penn College

Cara Fulton, Community College of Allegheny County

Patty Gochenauer, Penn State Mont Alto

Emma Kovaks, Mercyhurst University

Anne Landon, Lycoming College

Laura Riazzi, Gannon University

Tammy Stubert, Juniata College

Kolleen Sullivan, Mercyhurst University

Kimberly Woodley, St. Vincent College

JoAnne Day, longtime colleague and friend to many involved in Cooperative Education, Academic Internships and Career Services, died in March 2005 after a two year battle with cancer. She was the first President of PennACE in 2002 and an active career services professional. Read more about Joanne Day here.