Spring Edition March 2014

Dale Rogers Training Centerquarterly

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* Six Governor’S AwArdS * McGoodwin MoSt AdMired ceo * nw chAMber noMinAteS drtc for buSineSS of the YeAr * 30 under 30 AwArd

* MY heArtS AppeAl AwArd *

All StAr edition!

Chris gives Serge Ibaka a few pointers during a Special Olympics event!

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Dale rogers training Center

Becky Cook, DRTC Board President

Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M. Ed, Executive Director

Deborah Copeland, M. Ed, Director of Communication

& Training

Lisa Riley, PR Coordinator, Staff Writer

Gayle L. Curry, Graphic & Media

Coordinator, Publisher

Brian Landreth PR Assistant/Graphic Designer

Lisa Riley 30 Under 30 Award

Lisa Riley, PR Coordinator at DRTC was recently honored as an OK 30 Under 30 Next Gen OKLAHOMA award recipient.

30/30 Next Gen recognizes the next generation of innovative, creative and inspiring individ-uals who push the boundaries beyond their years in all areas. Riley is the main writer of the agency’s publications and the voice behind the DRTC social media accounts. In the past year she grew the Facebook fan base from 250 likes to 2700. She also coordinates events and manages the market-ing and outreach for the DRTC Papa Murphy’s on NW 23rd & Penn.

Congratulations to Connie Thrash McGoodwin, M. Ed., Executive Director of DRTC, for being recog-nized as one of Oklahoma’s Most Admired CEOs from The Journal Record. These awards recognize Oklahoma’s business and non-profit leaders for their leadership and dedication to the community.

“Connie’s leadership is demonstrated by consistent, systems-driven management paired with a strong code of fairness and ethics,” said Deborah Cope-

land, Director of Communications and Training for DRTC. “Without a doubt, Connie’s leadership has blazed trails and cultivated awareness about people with disabilities and what they are capable of accomplishing given training and support.”

For more than three decades, Connie has been the driving force behind the growth and accomplish-ments of Dale Rogers Training Center (DRTC). DRTC employed more than 1200 people with disabilities, who earned more than $5.5 million in wages last year.

“I like thinking outside the box and watching the folks we serve earning wages and doing things no one ever thought they could, “ said McGoodwin. “I like being the good guy and love seeing how good management, controlled growth and the ability to take a calculated risk helps us to be successful in win/win business endeavors.”

Connie Thrash McGoodwinMost Admired CEO Award

Connie receives her award from The Journal Record

Lisa Riley

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“Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show

you someone who has overcome adversity.” - Lou Holtz

Part of DRTC’s mission is to mentor other entities providing services to people with disabilities, My Heart’s Appeal is one of those organizations. Based in Oklahoma City, Lovetie Major, Executive Director is trying to raise money to purchase land for much needed services for people with disabilities in Liberia, South Africa. Megan Allison, Executive Assistant to the DRTC Director, was honored with a Shepherd Award for serving as a liaison to My Heart’s Appeal. Dale Rogers Training Center has provided evaluation, curriculum, policies, procedures and other resources to Lovetie and My Heart’s Appeal.

Megan Allison My Heart’s Appeal

Business of the Year Nomination from the NW OKC Chamber Dale Rogers Training Center was one of three nominees for 2013 Business of the Year from the Northwest Chamber of Oklahoma City at their 75th anniversary celebration. “As an entrepreneurial non-profit, DRTC’s record of training and employing people with disabilities is constantly setting new standards for operational creativity. They are a shining example of the kind of holistic business environment that inspires the future,” said Jill McCartney, President/CEO of the Northwest OKC Chamber

Lovetie Major presents Megan Allison with her award made by Prism Place.

Coach Lou Holtz & Connie McGoodwin

Note from the Publisher:Imagine my surprise when Connie saw my quote from the renowned football coach, Lou Holtz and said “By the way, I have an old picture with Lou Holtz in my office”, to which I replied “Really, THE Lou Holtz?!”

It seems in the 80s Connie was a Regional Governor of Civitan International, a major sponsor of Special Olympics. Coach Holtz took individual pictures with the Regional Governors at a conference in Alabama. WHO KNEW!!! - Gayle Curry

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4 Prism Place A w A r d s f o r A C A u s e

As Prism Place Manager, Kelly Jepson, who has owned her own sign and trophy company in Norman, recently joined DRTC because she wanted to work with people with disabilities. Jepson’s favorite part about managing Prism Place is being able to train and expand the skill set of the employees and coming up with new product designs for the employees to make or package.

“I learn something new every day and I hope to share my knowledge in a positive way. I grew up in small business, with hard work and effort you can make dreams come true,” said Jepson.

Prism Place: 405-946-1079

One-Stop Shopping

for your Trophies

and Acrylic Awards

Kelly Jepson shows Lisa how to paint acrylic hearts for the gift shop.

Working hard on trophies.

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What’s New?! The DRTC Gift Shop features new holiday themed

products throughout the year.

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Wyman Framef r A m i n g w i t h A C A u s e

Cody is one of two employees who have been trained to cut and mould frames.

The Wyman Frame Manager, Carla Folks, is one of the few Certified Picture Framers in Oklahoma with over 25 years of experience. “I enjoy everything about the framing process, especially the interaction with customers. The story behind why they are framing something is always interesting,” said Folks. Fun Fact: Carla lived in San Francisco when the 1989 earth-quake hit and worked on hundreds of broken frames brought in for repair.

Wyman Frame: 405-437-5659

Affordable. Fast. Framing in 5 days.

Custom Framing offers more than 500 moulding,

130 designer moulding and 1500 mat boards.

*

Carla helps a customer pick out mats and frames.

Brittany Hall, Purchasing/Order Desk, shows off one of the frames.

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All of DRTC’s nominees from the DRTC Employment Services program were award winners for employee outstanding achievements and employer support of hiring people with disabilities.

Ryan JonesRyan Jones has been employed by Petra Industries since 2012. With this job opportunity, he has been able to take on more responsibilities, increase his job duties and moved into his own apartment. His supervisor says, “Ryan has been one of the greatest assets to our distribution center team. He is a very committed and mature young man, who continues to grow each and every day.”

Stephanie NewmanStephanie Newman has been employed as a Personal Care Assistant since 2004 and works at Margie Baker and Country Style Health Care. Stephanie is described by her DRTC job coach as having a compassionate heart, always being positive and having a passion for working with the elderly. Consistent and steady employment has allowed Stephanie to pay for a car, open up a savings account and contribute to household bills. Country Style has recognized Stephanie for outstanding attendance and thorough record keeping. The patients and families consistently give her high marks and praise in the satisfac-tion surveys they complete.

Marilyn Pinson Marilyn Pinson has been employed by the Shawnee YMCA as a custodian since 2009. According to her job coach, she is a hard-working, dedicated employee who takes great pride in her work and loves to show off the clean facilities to potential YMCA members. It has also been reported that her self-esteem and confidence has grown exponentially and she openly shares her opinions and thoughts.

Robbie Yarbrough Robbie Yarbrough has worked as an Ad-ministrative Assistant at ABLE Community Based Services since 2011. His supervisor says, “He is always willing to learn new tasks and has never refused to accept a job duty. Robbie doesn’t have a name tag with a job title on it because he wears too many hats to give him just one title.” He has tackled the following assignments: Special Olympics coordinator, online incident reporting, program billing reports and checking financial records for group home managers. He also enjoys creating fliers and pamphlets for fundraising events and assisting the ABLE Board Members in coordinating the annual dinner and auction.

The Grand Casino Hotel and Resort The Grand Casino Hotel and Resort received the Employer Award as well. The hiring managers have created jobs for peo-ple based on their skills, abilities and work availability. Clemmie Gundrum, Slot/Keno manager was especially accommodating by requesting the wardrobe department remove the buttons from a work vest and replace with Velcro because of one employee’s difficulty in buttoning the vest. One young woman with cerebral palsy was being interviewed for a position and was asked, “What is the hardest part of your disability?” The young woman replied, “Sometimes I fall down.” The Human Resources Director asked, “What do you do when that hap-pens?” “I get up,” replied the young woman. “You are hired,” replied the HR director.

Governor,s AwardsC o n g r A t u l A t i o n s !

Governor’s Disability Employment Awards of Excellence

Stephanie Newman - Country Style Health Care

Marilyn Pinson - Shawnee YMCA

Robbie Yarbrough - Able Community Based Services

Theresa Roper, Clemmie Gundrum, Lorna Perez & Linda Evans - Grand Casino Hotel and Resort

Congratulations to all Governor’s Award Winners.

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dence by continuously adding responsibilities a little at a time that are out of your comfort zone. Just ask Kim!

Kim has a hearing impairment and while a little wary, she quickly bloomed with the store manager, Jim Childer’s encour-agement.

“Kim was promoted to a prep supervisor after only 2 months on the job” said Childers proudly.

Kim loves her job and is saving to repair her cochlear implant with the assistance of the Department of Rehabilitation Services. She is grateful that DRTC gave her the chance to prove her abilities.

Papa Murphy,ss u C C e s s i s . . .

Did you know: The DRTC Papa Murphy’s provides incentives to businesses, childcare centers and schools? Call Jim for more details.

Papa Murphy’s Kim - 23rd & Penn

Oklahoma City2220 NW 23rd St405-601-6869(NW 23rd & Penn Ave.)

When you buy products from any DRTC-owned business, you are support-ing a local non-profit that employs people with disabil-ities in your community.

Tish Zitzow & Laura Harris - Petra Industries

Petra IndustriesPetra Industries, a wholesale distributor of consumer electronics, wireless acces-sories, mobile audio-video accessories and appliance connection supplies received the Employer Award. Petra provides a team oriented environment for all employees. Employees who have disabilities receive extra training and assistance in order to learn the duties of their job if needed. Tish Zitzow, Executive Vice President of Petra In-dustries, said, “our team works closely with Dale Rogers Training Center to find positions within our facilities that match a candidate’s qualifications and capabilities to make sure the hire is a win-win for not only the business, but especially for the Petra team member.”

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Find Us! Like Us! Follow Us!

oklahoma non-profit sinCe 1953

Dale Rogers Training Center2501 N. Utah AvenueOklahoma City OK 73107405.946.4489 – TTY 405.947.3872 - Video www.DRTC.org

Blazing TrailsPromoting Abilities

Thank you for buying your holiday gifts through the DRTC Gift Shop, resulting in breaking sales records on #GivingTuesday.

www.drtc.org/commerce/

Our MissionTo provide training and

employment opportunities for people with disabilities.