Unifying Principles in Action at the 2012 Staff Retreat

The Arc of Delaware County (Delarc) held its Staff Retreat on July 20th at Scott’s Family Resort located on beautiful Oquaga Lake in Deposit, NY. The Staff Retreat is eagerly looked forward to each year by Delarc’s employees as a chance to interact together as well as have fun, relax, and take part in a variety of learning activities.

The morning program included a presentation by guest speakers, Polly and Dylan Emmons who gave their personal story about living with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of Autism. This mother and son team spoke about how they discovered Dylan had Autism and how they navigated the obstacles and solutions presented to them as Dylan grew up to the amazing young man he is today. Dylan graduated from Ithaca College this Spring and will continue pursuing his interest in writing while working on his Master’s Degree at Sarah Lawrence College this Fall.

After their presentation, a variety of interactive activities were centered around the 6 Unifying Principles of The Arc of Delaware County. Employees were broken into teams as they took up the challenge of each activity that represented a Unifying Principle –Those We Serve Come First, Commit to Excellence, Be Dedicated, Employee Satisfaction, Communicate Effectively, and Be Innovative.

After a delicious luncheon Delarc staff had an opportunity to get to know each other better while participating in a variety of afternoon activities including golf, boat rides, yoga, massage, horseshoes, volleyball, and classes in art (Zentangles), mind exploration,volleyball, fly casting, bicycling, and just plain relaxing around Scott’s Resort.

Several Departments had created gift baskets around the Unifying Principle theme and these were raffled off at the end of the day.

What a great place to work! To find out more about how you can become part of the Delarc Team visit our Career Page at www.delarc.org.

The Arc of Delaware County Awards Scholarships

The Arc of Delaware County (Delarc) is one of the country’s most progressive and unique organizations serving children and adults with developmental disabilities. Each year, Delarc awards scholarships to high school students that will be attending college to further their studies in the field of Human Services.  The recipients selected by their schools should not only have demonstrated scholastic ability but also been active providing service to their communities and/or school. The scholarships were sent to each school for presentation at commencement or awards ceremonies.

The 2012 recipients of The Arc Delaware County Scholarship are:

• Jasmine Jester of Charlotte Valley Central School, attending the College of St. Rose majoring in Clinical Psychology
• Katherine Bracci of Delaware Academy, attending Mohawk Valley Community College, majoring in Health
• Jennifer Newman of Deposit Central School, attending Elmira College, majoring in Nursing.
• Harley Rae Frey of Downsville Central School, attending SUNY Cobleskill, majoring in Early Childhood Education.
• Sarah Gladding of Franklin Central School, SUNY Delhi, majoring in Nursing.
• Tabitha Althiser of Hancock Central School, attending Onondaga Community College, majoring in Human Services/Special Education
• Daphne Ancona of Margaretville Central School, attending Kutztown University, majoring in Psychology
• Sydney Peters of Roxbury Central School, majoring in Human Social Services.
• Alaina Wagner of Sidney Central School, attending SUNY Oneonta, majoring in Psychology
• Rebecca Johnson-Quigley of South Kortright Central School, attending SUNY Delhi, majoring in Nursing
• Nicole Burgher of Stamford Central School, attending SUNY Oneonta, majoring in Early Childhood Education.
• Elizabeth Patterson of Walton Central School, attending St. Rose, majoring in Speech Pathology.

In a thank you letter to the agency, scholarship recipient Tabitha Althiser wrote, “It means everything that you gave me this scholarship. This scholarship is helping me out paying for college. It has also been a pleasure working for the summer at the Walton location (Delarc’s Community Living Skills- Walton facility)”. Tabitha indicated that she applied for a summer job at CLS-W to obtain insight and experience in the field of Human Services.

For more information about The Arc of Delaware County, including career opportunities, visit www.delarc.org or call (607) 865-7126.

Blesher visits Marian Ewain, A Positive Person Who Always Finds a Way!

Marian Ewain, a Life Coach at Community Living Skills-Walton was nominated by Heather McAdams for a Blesher award.  Marian is well known for her willingness to jump in and help whenever and wherever she can.  Heather shared that Marian found a way to support not only the people at CLS-W but also those at RFI who thoroughly enjoy attending “Creating Art Together” (CAT) classes. Congratulations to Marian who received her Blesher award June 28^th!

Heather wrote the following examples demonstrating how Marian exemplifies the 6 Unifying Principles of The Arc of Delaware County: 

1. Those We Serve Come First
   “Marian was very flexible and was able to help support three folks from RFI, so they could attend classes.”
2. Commit To Excellence
   “Marian is willing to jump in whenever she is asked.”

3.       Be Dedicated
“When Marian was approached to help RFI she jumped on it and gave me an answer the next day.”

4.       Employee Satisfaction
“Marian has an awesome “can do” attitude.”

5.       Communicate Effectively
“Marian kept me updated on how the folks at RFI were doing at CAT class.”

6.       Be Innovative
“Marian found a way to support her folks at CLS-Walton and the folks at RFI at the same times.”