News Release: Garden City Career Specialist Wins State Staff Award
TOPEKA – Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas (JAG-K) announced Wednesday that Lynzee Beery was named the organization’s “Ideal Team Player” for the first quarter of FY 21.
The organization announced Beery’s receipt of the award at its annual Leadership Development Conference – a gathering of students and staff from across the state – held Wednesday at the University of Kansas. This was the first time JAG-K has presented a quarterly Ideal Team Player award.
Beery is the Career Specialist at Garden City High School. She was nominated by one of the new Career Specialists in the organization for exemplifying the traits outlined in Patrick Lencioni’s book, “The Ideal Team Player.” Specifically, Beery was lauded for proactively assisting new specialists, going “above and beyond” for her students, and never seeking praise or recognition for the work she does.
”Lynzee is the epitome of the culture we are trying to establish at JAG-K,” said Chuck Knapp, President and CEO of JAG-K. “She has a passion for our mission and does what she does because it helps students succeed. Awards and bonuses are not Lynzee’s motivation – she receives recognition because she is motivated by her desire to serve others.”
The Ideal Team Player award was created to recognize employees who have made significant contributions to the mission, vision, culture and goals of JAG-K by exemplifying the organization’s desired attributes of “humble, hungry and smart” as detailed in Lencioni’s book. There will be four quarterly winners each year and the annual winner will be announced at the State Training Conference in July. The Kansas affiliate of the national JAG organization currently employs 106 people across the state.
”Organizational health and culture are critical to the success of any organization,” said Knapp. “We are striving to be better at both, and believe one way to do that is by recognizing members of our JAG-K family who set the standard to which we all should aspire. The good news is we have so many people from whom to choose.”
JAG-K is a multi-year, in-school program for students in grades 7-12 that offers tools to successfully transition students into post-secondary school, the military, or directly into the workforce with marketable skills. Participants in the program face multiple barriers to success that their JAG-K Career Specialist helps them overcome through a nationally-accredited, evidence-based model.
The 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization is a state affiliate of the national JAG program network which operates in 40 different states and territories. It is primarily funded through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grant to the State of Kansas administered by the Kansas Department for Children and Families (DCF). In addition to school districts and DCF, JAG-K partners with the Kansas Department of Education. Other JAG-K funding sources include ADM, AT&T, John Deere, Kansas Health Foundation, Synchrony Financial, the Taco Bell Foundation and Walmart.
To learn more about JAG-K, visit www.jagkansas.org, ‘Jobs for America’s Graduates-Kansas’ on Facebook, and on Twitter at @JAG_Kansas.