The DJJ Rundown, a Quick and Informative Way for Our Agency, Providers and Community Partners to Stay Connected

Welcome to The Rundown! January 29, 2021 Welcome to The DJJ Rundown, a quick and informative way for our agency, providers and community partners to stay connected. We look forward to bringing you important news and updates on what’s happening with Team DJJ as well as sharing some fun topics and ideas. Thank you for taking a moment out of your day with us and as always, thank you for supporting our agency’s work in helping Florida’s youth and families. The Florida Department of Juvenile Justice Honors Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year This week, the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) awarded Jesus Gonzalez with the 2020 Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year Award. The Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year Award is presented to an outstanding educator who uses innovative and creative teaching methods and who also promotes a positive school environment. Mr. Jesus Gonzalez is a 20-year veteran educator who currently teaches language arts, reading and social studies at Miami Youth Academy. Mr. Gonzalez creates a classroom environment that includes varied instructional strategies to engage with students to help them make a successful transition into and out of the program. Mr. Gonzalez cites technology as an essential instrument in his teaching, utilizing a smart board, laptops and a virtual classroom tool to allow teachers, staff and students to collaborate in the same interconnected learning environment. His embrace of technology allowed for a seamless transition when the program temporarily moved from in-class instruction to distance learning. This use of technology also allows program youth to collaborate with students from the University of Miami participating in the Exchange for Change program which offers writing courses and letter exchanges between incarcerated students and writers studying on the outside. DJJ also honored two other outstanding teachers as finalists for the Juvenile Justice Teacher of the Year Award. Among the finalists were Darin Oden, a business education teacher at the Miami Girls Academy and Melissa Dunham, a social science and earth science teacher at the Brevard Group Treatment Home in Cocoa, FL. The finalists were honored by Secretary Simone Marstiller during DJJ’s Restoring Hope Community Network Virtual Ceremony. Finalists also received a monetary award from the Florida Juvenile Justice Association. DJJ Participates in Human Trafficking Awareness and Prevention Events January is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month, and this month the Department of Juvenile Justice participated in several events and trainings to increase education about this important issue. At the invitation of Candice Aubin of the DJJ Office of Health Services, Human Trafficking Intervention Director Katherine Gomez presented an introduction to human trafficking at the quarterly meeting of the Capital City Women’s Club. This event commemorated annual Human Trafficking Awareness Day, celebrated on January 11th each year. The Office of the Attorney General then lit the Historic Capitol blue in honor of Human Trafficking Awareness Day. DJJ and St. Petersburg College also hosted Salon Talk: A Community Conversation on Human Trafficking. This educational event was held to raise awareness on the labor trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children in the Tampa Bay area, an important conversation as Tampa is hosting the upcoming 2021 Super Bowl. Special thanks to Delinquency Prevention Specialist Audrey “Pat” McGhee and recently retired Reform Specialist Adrienne Conwell for organizing the event and arranging a distinguished slate of guest speakers including DJJ Deputy Secretary Tim Niermann and St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman. DJJ Secretary Marstiller also served as moderator for a panel discussion on human trafficking and the impacts of trauma on survivors. The event was hosted by Voices for Florida’s Open Doors Outreach Network, a Florida provider of services for juveniles and young adults who have experienced sex trafficking. Additionally, Director Gomez and Human Trafficking Intervention Coordinator Jasmine Armstrong provided human trafficking prevention training at the Circuit 5 Advisory Board meeting and the Let’s Talk About Human Trafficking event hosted by the Pinellas County Urban League Young Professionals in partnership with the St. Petersburg Police Department, Pinellas County Urban League, and the Center for Wellness and Clinical Development. Agency Highlights For The Week Alachua Academy, a non-secure program for girls operated by Sequel, celebrated their first high school graduate of the year. Youth A came to Alachua Academy having been in the foster care system for most of her life and had been a habitual runaway. She arrived significantly behind academically. With the support and dedication of her team including her case manager, therapist, program staff, administration and academic staff, youth A persevered and passed her GED test to receive her high school diploma before her discharge from the program. Center for Success and Independence – Ocala, a non-secure program for boys operated by Youth Opportunity Investments, encourages the youth to strive for success through hard work and dedication in all areas of the program, including education. Earlier this month, a celebration was held for 17 youth for outstanding work in the education department. These youths received certificates and were awarded with a delicious steak dinner. Special thanks to CSI-Ocala’s administration staff who helped make this possible! Youth at AMIkids Manatee recently volunteered for the United Way of the Suncoast Campaign for Grade Level Reading. The youth prepped hundreds of books for donation to be given out to youth across Manatee County. The Good News Report Prosthetic Right Leg Doesn’t Keep Umpire From Calling In 2002, Pembroke Pines Resident and long-time umpire Gary Mogan was involved in a car accident in which he lost his right leg and found himself fighting for his life. Managing to pull through the crisis, he pondered his future during rehabilitation. “After the accident, I missed four years because I never thought I could recover, but I was fitted with a prosthetic leg and was walking my dog when we came across a baseball game at a park near my house and I struck up a conversation with the umpires,” Mogan said. “I spoke to the assignor of games and he wanted to see me umpire a game behind the plate not knowing I only had one leg.” “One of the biggest highlights after my accident was my first game back umpiring a high school game,” he said. “It was a St. Thomas Aquinas game and that was really special because my wife and daughter were in the stands supporting me” said Mogan. Mogan works full-time for the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice and has also begun writing since his accident. “At the time, I was feeling everything was over, and you can get depressed,” he said. “The writing gave me something to focus on. My two callings are writing and umpiring. I’m already working on another manuscript.” “Players” Announced For Puppy Bowl XVI This year, 12 puppies from the Richmond, Virginia area will be competing in the Puppy Bowl. Comet, a terrier mix, Tina, a chihuahua mix, Bananaberry, a cattle dog mix, Michael, a lab mix, Mary Anne, a boxer mix, Milky Way, a terrier mix, and Dwight, a lab mix, all from Operation Paws will be participating. Chunky Monkey, a chow mix, Marshall, a Boston terrier, Fletcher, a terrier mix, Hank, a Dalmatian mix, and Theodore, a Great Pyrenees mix, from Green Dogs Unleashed will also be taking the field. Modeled on football’s Super Bowl, the Puppy Bowl brings together 70 puppies from 22 shelters across the country to compete as Team Fluff and Team Ruff in a mini-plastic-glass stadium. The point: to showcase rescue dogs and help them get adopted. Operation Paws for Homes is devoted to the rescue, rehabilitation, and placement of dogs and cats who have overcome great odds. The animals are rescued from overcrowded high kill shelters in South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. instagram.com/fladjj twitter.com/fladjj facebook.com/FlaDJJ Have a story or suggestion you’d like to see featured in The DJJ Rundown? Send us an email at [email protected] and we just might include it in an upcoming edition! .

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