WWU

Community Service at a Day Care, Wilder Style

September 14, 2009 was a special day for a number of students and staff of Wilder Youth Center as this was a day set aside to provide a community service. As an activity of service, honor students were selected to offer and provide a day of service to a local daycare center during which they provided carpet cleaning and painting.

Before the work began students and staff took part in a segment of the A.R.T. program to familiarize the owners and operators present with the purpose and goals of the A.R.T. program and how the day’s community service being provided was an important step in achieving positive character traits highlighted in the program.

The students worked with enthusiasm to complete the tasks at hand and enjoyed having the opportunity to “give back” to the community. The owner and operators of the day care were very pleased to have been the recipients of the efforts of the students who left the daycare clean and sparkling. The students were rewarded for their hard work with a buffet lunch at a local restaurant.

The Taft Chess Project

" . . . As a result of the Taft Chess Project, Case Mangers report greatly increased chess playing activity on the dormitories during students’ free time, and on weekends.  Several CSOs were also surprised at the increased activity, preferring chess activity to the usual card playing, and added that chess playing is usually more civilized and quiet, enhancing the dorm environment for all.  (This writer has witnessed this, and also noted that whenever a board is brought out on the dorm, it always gathers spectators who are most often very respectful of the contest in progress, content to watch quietly. ) . . "

Curious about Roy Barger's chess experiment at Taft?

Download Chess at Taft

New Leadership at Taft and Wilder

Following the retirements of Bruce Bayless as superintendent of Wilder Youth Development Center and Larry Lively as superintendent of Taft Youth Development Center, the Division of Juvenile Justice has been actively pursuing applicants who will continue the successful pursuit of excellence for these two very important programs. Today I am pleased to announce that Jane Hayes and Bob Bowen have been named superintendent at Wilder and Taft, respectively. Together they bring both experience and fresh insight to our JJ leadership team.

Jane Hayes, formerly Jane Shaw, has been with the Department for 15 years, progressing up through the ranks and serving as treatment manager for 7 years. Jane has served as interim superintendent since Mr. Bayless’s retirement and has demonstrated excellent leadership skills. She has a deep commitment to providing quality services and environment for the young men at Wilder to become successful and positive members of their community. In accepting this appointment, Jane expressed her desire to create a restorative community at Wilder that promotes internal personal transformation as an evidence-based process for effective rehabilitation. As Jane is embarking on this new path in her professional life, she has also chosen to create a new path in her personal life by getting married. Please join me in a double dose of congratulations for Jane Hayes.

Bob Bowen comes to Tennessee from the state of Illinois. Bob also worked his way up through the ranks in the corrections field from the front-line into senior management and eventually to the position of warden. He has 10 years experience in senior correctional management which will further enhance our level of professionalism within our Division. Although his experience has been primarily with adults, his original desire as a young college student and correctional employee was to work in juvenile justice. In accepting his appointment, he expressed his excitement to finally get the opportunity to fulfill that dream. Bob is an avid outdoorsman and is looking forward to the natural beauty and quality of life on the Plateau. Please join me in welcoming Bob to Tennessee and our DCS juvenile justice team.

Thanks to everyone at Wilder, Taft and throughout the Division of Juvenile Justice who have helped make this a successful transition and who will continue to help insure the success of Jane and Bob as well as DJJ. I am in constant amazement at the teamwork, positive energy and dedication of the wonderful individuals who perform the day to day work of juvenile justice and make this a place of inspiration, hopes and dreams. My deepest heartfelt thanks to all of you.

Steven C. Hornsby
Deputy Commissioner For Juvenile Justice

Mountain View Graduates 13 More

 

Deputy Commissioner Steve Hornsby addresses the Mountain View graduates

DANDRIDGE -- On Friday, July 17, 2009, Mountain View Youth Development Center held its yearly student graduation ceremony.  This year, four students received their High School Diplomas, and nine students received their GED Certificates.  Many family members and friends of the graduates were in attendance and able to share in this great accomplishment.  Our guest speaker was Deputy Commissioner Steve Hornsby, who provided an entertaining and inspiring message.  A special thanks to all Mountain View staff that have helped these students    

Code Blue Drill at New Visions

On August 11, 2009 a Code Blue Simulation was held at New Visions Youth Development Center thanks to the generous community outreach of Austin Peay State University.  The trainers were Grace Moodt, MSRN and Debbie Ellison, MSRN, both Assistant Professors at APSU.  The purpose of the simulation was to facilitate teamwork during an emergency and to train all departments in the Code Blue procedures.

Our nurses at New Visions deal with a wide range of medical problems including diabetes, asthma, pregnancy, high blood pressure and the like.  We conduct, by policy; Code Red drills a minimum of once a quarter.  Since our nurses are only present for first and part of second shift, the need for our CSO’s and other staff to be prepared for a real code red is imperative.

The four-hour course was well designed and inclusive.  It offered a nice balance of didactic lessons and practice.  The scenarios were adapted to meet real life situations that could occur at New Visions.  They included heart attack, hypo/hyperglycemia, dehydration and possible drug overdose. The simulations gave us an opportunity to practice and re-practice our skills in dealing with these life threatening situations. The simulations required active participation and practical application of skills. This process was well received by all departmental participants: treatment, education, security, clinical and administration, as well as the outside guests. 

New Visions thanks ASPU School of Nursing and especially,  Grace and Debbie for donating their time and materials.  The training was very educational.  We hope to have an ongoing relationship with APSU to future enhance our code blue skills.

New Visions would also like to thank Dr. Lois Wagner, a member of our community board who made the introduction to APSU.

Molly Snell, RN and Barbara Lonardi

'Friends of Mountain View' Golf Tournament Nets $3,600

The sixth annual Mountain View Youth Development Center Golf Tournament was held on Saturday, May 9, 2009 at Dandridge Golf and Country Club in Dandridge.  The tournament is the primary fundraiser for the “Friends of Mountain View”, our Volunteer Services Community Involvement Council (CIC).  All proceeds from the tournament are governed by elected board members and are used to supplement numerous volunteer-based services and activities for the students at Mountain View. 

This year’s tournament raised $3,600, bringing the six year total to over $14,900.  Area businesses and organizations were again extremely generous.  This coupled with a lot of hard work made this year’s tournament another success for the “Friends of Mountain View”.       

A huge thanks to Volunteer Services Supervisor Roxanne Bowen, Volunteer Coordinator David Bugg, Case Manager 3 Don Burnette and many others for their help with this year’s tournament. 

Steve Collier

WBIR-TV: At The Bar in Jefferson County

Working with Jefferson County Juvenile Court Judge Ben Strand Jr., Mountain View students competed in a mock trial event (after filling out confidentiality release forms with their parents).

Read it here.

Social Calls and Hand Crafted Wreaths

On Tuesday, December 23, 2008, four students from Wilder Youth Development Center presented a hand crafted Christmas wreath to the residents of NHC Healthcare in Somerville, Tennessee. 

Coach Layne Burrow and case manager Sharon Ragland assisted the students with this project. 

The residents were very pleased to receive the wreath and enjoyed visiting with the WYDC students.  It went so well that the NHC activity director called a few days later on December 29th for assistance from a couple of the WYDC young men in distributing blankets and candy to the residents who did not receive Christmas gifts from their family.  This was also a very successful visit and was enjoyed by all!
 
Jane Shaw,
Treatment Manager
Wilder Youth Development Center

Delta Sigma Theta Comes Calling at New Visions

On Wednesday, April 16, 2008, Senator Thelma Harper and some members of her sorority Delta Sigma Theta, Incorporated, came to visit the young ladies of New Visions Youth Development Center.  During her visit, she had each of the young ladies to introduce themselves and discuss what they wanted to do for a living.  The responses ranged from pediatricians and nurses, to social workers and police officers.  Senator Harper and other members of her sorority also discussed their careers and how the girls can achieve anything as long as they stay focused on their goals.  Many of the young ladies asked several questions about career options and what it takes to accomplish particular goals.  Once this discussion was completed, the girls received a book, a gift bag with snacks and other reading materials from Senator Harper and her sorority sisters.  The young ladies and staff member were very appreciative of the time Senator Harper took to spend at New Visions Youth Development Center.

Carlton S. Burton
CSC ACA Manager
New Visions YDC

Mountain View Students Participate in Mock Court Competition

On February 18, 2008, eight students at Mountain View Youth Development Center participated in the statewide high school “Mock Court” competition at the Jefferson County Justice Center.  This is the second year that Mountain View has participated in the competition.  The Mountain View team was again sponsored, coached and mentored by Jefferson County Juvenile Judge Ben Strand. 

In the month leading up to the competition, the Mountain View team spent many hours preparing their presentation of this year’s civil court case.  Case Managers Dwane Powers and Heather Sartain also served as coaches and were instrumental in scheduling practices into a very busy daily schedule.

Although our Mountain View team did not advance beyond the regional level of the competition, several of our students were recognized and received honors as “Best Witness” and “Best Attorney.” 

A special thanks goes to Kathy Ridenour for all her work in preparing our team for the competition and to Food Service Robert Adams and his staff for providing a lunch of homemade pizza to all competition teams and coaches.

Steve Collier
Program Coordinator