The 107 Graduation and Staff Reward and Recognition Ceremony

The 107th Vermont Correctional Academy has added 19 new correctional officers to our Department. The graduation ceremony was at the Vermont State House in Montpelier. In addition the Vermont Department of Corrections held their Reward and Recognition Ceremony during the graduation.

The 107th VCA

Row One Starting on the Right: Andrew Pallito, Ricky O'Rouke, Chau Nguyen, Lori Farley, Susan Andrews, Melissa Gamble, Kelly St. Gelais, Keith Coburn, Jerri Watters
Row Two Starting on the Right: Keith Vakauza, Brian Bennett, James Clowney, Daryl Gebo, Scott Crowley, Bradley Vanasse, Ismina Jones, William Cathcart
Row Three Starting on the Right: Zachari Miles, Matthew Spille, Devin Kingsbury, Nicholas Debarge

The Opening Ceremony was conducted by the Vermont Department of Corrections Honor Guard. Mark Shelton, a Training Coordinator at the Training Center, sang the national anthem. Opening remarks were made by William Cathcart the Academy Administrator.

You may view the opening ceremony here.

Here is a photo of Mark Shelton singing the national anthem.

Agency of Human Services Secretary, Robert Hofmann spoke to the class and then introduced our Governor, the Honorable James Douglas.  Governor Douglas spoke to the class about the challenges they will face in their careers and the rewards they may achieve. 

The Secretary's Address

Our Keynote Speaker, the Honorable James Douglas, Governor of the State of Vermont

We conducted our Rewards and Recognition Ceremony.  Starting with our Preservation of Life Awards.

The Award Winners:

WALTER BAILEY

While on duty as a Community Correctional Officer in the town of St. Albans, Walt responded to an offender's residence as he had been informed the offender was potentially in crisis. Within minutes of his arrival at the residence Walt witnessed the young man swallow a handful of pills in an apparent attempt to cause himself harm. Walt's assessment of the scene, prior knowledge of the individual and years of experience allowed him to respond quickly and effectively resulting in the offender's life being saved.

JOHN CANNON, EDWARD MORELY, and BRANDON BUSHEY

Temporary correctional officer (TCO) Bushey was a new employee having graduated from the academy and finished his shadow week only a few weeks prior to this date.  During his rounds TCO Bushey discovered an inmate hanging from a shoelace in his cell. TCO Bushey called an emergency and then held up the inmate’s body while responding staff, Corrections Facility  Shift Supervisor (CFSS)  Cannon and Correctional Officer (CO) Morely, cut the inmate down. The inmate was unresponsive and was placed on life support at the hospital but later made a full recovery.

JONATHON TUREK and DAVID BAILEY

CFSS Turek was escorting an inmate into segregation who had swallowed what was thought to be some type of contraband.  As they enetered the unit CFSS Turek again asked the inmate if she was willing to give the contraband to him.  At this time he noticed that she could not speak and that her skin color was changing.  CFSS turek immediately recognized that she was choking and started life saving procedures using the Heimlich manuever.  Rendering assistance, COI Bailey took over administering the Heimlich successfully dislodging the object, which was later identified as a cigarette lighter. These officer’s immediate intervention and awareness were instrumental in saving this womens life.

ANDREW THIBAULT

CO Andrew Thibault responded to an incident at the Southern State Correctional Facility.  In which an inmate was in a highly aggitated state.   The inmate ran up the stairs to the upper tier and began to climb over the railing.  COI Thibault responded quickly, sprinting up the stairs to the inmate.  The inmate by this time had both legs over the railing and was leaning as if to jump.  COI Thibault secured the inmates right arm and shoulder preventing the inmate from jumping and/or falling.

STEPHEN BROOKS, JANSEN SATTERLEE, ROBERT SHEEHAN, and MATTHEW ENGALS

An inmate at Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility tied a blanket around his neck and attempted to take his own life. These officers rendered assistance by first attempting to untie the blanket and when that failed the inmate was lifted and held so that other staff could cut the blanket away.

Our next order of business was awards for Outstanding Individuals and Outstanding Team.  This had to be broken into two parts.

FACILITY ADMINSTRATIVE SUPPORT PERSON OF THE YEAR: Tracy Honsinger - Northwest State Correctional Facility


As personnel administrat or at NWSCF, Tracy maintains the base payroll spreadsheet, an essential tool for budget projections.  As site Legal Administrator, Tracy does all the facility's sentence computations and performs top quality work.  With the population changeover to females in January, this number increased and became more complicated, due to women having more charges and violations of probation. Tracy brought NWSCF’s record retention up-to-date this year, reviewing records from 1977, she condensed, logged, and had 300 boxes shred.  She had 31 boxes delivered to the Public Records Center. As senior administrative member, Tracy demonstrates proficiency and teamwork daily, setting the standard, exemplifying a persevering state employee.
FIELD ADMINSTRATIVE SUPPORT PERSON OF THE YEAR: Shirley Chaffee - Burlington Probation and Parole

Shirley has a strong personal dedication to her job, exemplified by her hard work, integrity and individual commitment on a day in and day out basis. She interacts regularly with the public, often including individuals under supervision, where she always displays the traits of a true professional, treating everyone with respect and patience.  Shirley truly is a top quality employee who adheres to and demonstrates the key practices of the Agency of Human Services.  Her supervisor and peers consider her an extremely valuable member of the Burlington Probation and Parole.

CORRECTIONAL OFFICER OF THE YEAR: Andrew Thibault - Southern State Correctional Facility

On January 5th, 2010, COI Thibault responded to an emergency situation at the SSCF.  Upon his arrival the inmate proceeded to the top tier and climbed over the railing stating he was going to jump.  COI Thibault's quick response to this inmates actions prevented the very real risk of tragedy.  His professionalism and skills are a great asset to the facility.  COI Thibault prides himself on professionalism and it shows in his day to day performance. He is always willing to work where needed.  He is a current Local Emergency Response team member. He is well respected by his fellow officers as well as supervisors.

COMMUNITY SERVICE TEAM LEADER OF THE YEAR: Alexander Bartlett - Brattleboro Probation and Parole 

Alex runs the Windham County Community Service Program by himself at times logging more service days than larger programs. His responsibilities include establishing connections within the community to obtain, negotiate and coordinate work contracts.  He completes intake and scheduling of work-crew offenders, supervises the workcrew and self-report sites, all while maintaining a positive image of the Department.  He maintains billing and documents attendance and non-compliance of offenders.  He has the ability to motivate the offenders, models a good work-ethic, is compassionate and shows commitment to both offenders and the community beyoned expectation.  He has worked with local businesses to help offenders with disabilities or addictions get employment at work sites after completion of their crew and goes the extra step to create a positive change in their lives.  He has won over skeptical local non-profits by delivering dependable high quality work that allows offenders to return value to their community.

SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR: CFSS Jonathon Turek - Northwest State Correctional Facility

Jon Turek is deserving of recognition for this year due to his diligence and determination working with the staff and inmates on second shift at the NWSCF.  With the transition to a women’s facility came a significant difference in the way inmates interact with each other.  Jon as the Prison Rape Elimination Act coordinator was charged with updating our local procedure and coming up with a training plan to bring staff up to speed.  Jon’s implementation of his plan has a major impact on PREA related incidents and saved the facility countless hours of investigatory time.  Jon has been the head of our local investigation intelligence team.  Through his leadership and shift command, Jon has been able to uncover many of the major drug trafficking schemes that the inmates have developed and he has helped slow down the drug smuggling that would undoubtedly lead to continued inmate addiction.  Jon’s efforts are appreciated by the Facility Management Team and by the staff that he supervises.

CORRECTIONAL SERVICE SPECIALIST OF THE YEAR: Dennis Brancaccio - Morrisville Probation and Parole

Dennis Brancaccio is serving as the Response Supervision Probation & Parole Officer at the Morrisville Agency of Human Services District.  In addition to the day-to-day tasks of supervising nearly 150 offenders, Dennis administers the DWI Victim Impact Panel (VIP) program which is a quarterly experience. Moreover, Dennis has put forth considerable efforts to support the appropriate supervision and response to non-compliance of over 100 additional offenders assigned to the Telephone Reporting Supervision Program for non-violent offenders.  As a corrections professional, Dennis is a role model for treating new offenders with a positive and helpful demeanor, while also holding them accountable, as warranted.  Dennis' work contributes to public safety.

CASEWORK SUPERVISOR OF THE YEAR: David Woods - North East Regional Correctional Facility

Dave started his career in corrections back in 1994 where he began as a Correctional Officer I.  From there he has held a number of positions to include; Correctional Officer II, Caseworker, Interim Casework Supervisor and finally Casework Supervisor. He has taken on additional roles of DUI Impact Trainer, Grievance Coordinator, and managed Bravo Unit when it was designed to house substance abusers and those with substance related crimes.  He leads by example and believes that through compassion, dignity and respect most things can be overcome and at the very least worked through. Some of Dave's biggest assets are his enthusiasm, humor, and compassion.   He approaches things openly, honestly and with a great sense of humor.  He inspires the staff at NERCF to excel in corrections and consistently displays a deep desire to make a positive change in people’s lives.







VOLUNTEER SUPPORT SERVICE’S PERSON OF THE YEAR: Don Lewis
Don Lewis is 80 years old and has been a volunteer with the Vermont Department of Corrections since 1963 (47 years).  When he heard about a request from the legendary Sister Beatrice Woods, that families in the Burlington area without transportation wanted to be able to visit their husbands, fathers, sons or brothers who were serving time in the then Windsor Prison.  Don provided such transportation for many years. He was one of the first Reparative Probation Board members and is one of the very few left who have served continuously for the ensuing fourteen or so years.  Don taught the Decisions course to offenders to assist them in making better decisions for about 25 years.  He continues to speak several times a month on the DWI Victim Impact Panel to groups of offenders, and has been doing so since the program started in 1998. Suffice to say that Don’s dedication to the men and women in and around community corrections has displayed a lifetime of commitment and compassion, providing an incalculable amount of inspiration to all those around him.

MANAGER OF THE YEAR: Rick Bates – Brattleboro & Springfield Probation and Parole

Rick Bates has been very dedicated to the Department and to the employees that work under him.  For many years Rick has been involved with all aspects of the Intensive Domestic Abuse Program.  He currently sits on the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Board for the State.  He continues to actively work in collaboration with the Women Crisis Center & States Attorney’s office in reference to Domestic Violence Cases. Recently, Rick stepped up and filled in as the District Manger for the Springfield office. However, while in that role he has continued to be a support to staff in the Brattleboro Office as needed.  He is always willing to help and even performed extra work to help assign the unassigned cases statewide. Rick has compassion, integrity, honesty, understanding, respect and patience.  These qualities make him an effective leader, a respected public servant, and a great tribute to the staff of the Vermont Department of Corrections.

TEAM OF THE YEAR: Victim Services Team

Ellen Sklar (Burlington), Anne Cosgrove (St. Johnsbury), Kit Andrews (Barre), Ashley Fisk (Central Office)  

The Victim Services Team provides support throughout the state for victims of offenders under supervision, or are in the custody of the Department of Corrections.  They act as the "public relations" face of the Department when victims or members of the community are upset with a decision that the Department has made in relation to an offender providing information and support to individuals who have been directly impacted by crime.  Victim Services Specialists make up the Victim Services Team who work with DOC staff to ensure that the release process runs smoothly for everyone involved and offer services to victims of crime.  They have also been instrumental in helping the Department transition to a new auotmated victim notification system which has relieved casework staff of the responsibility of providing this required service themselves.  They have accomplished these difficult duties with compassion, diligence, and excellence.

Next we celebrated the many years of service of some of our staff members.

25 Years of Service

In the picture starting on the Right: Edward Shanks, Stuart Gladding, Marsha Rowell, and Cheryl Gates.


Not in the picture: Nelson Charron and Sherry Tenney

30 Years of Service

In picture starting on right: Vickie Garfield, Penny Carpenter, David Turner, Scott Shafer, Joseph Hammond, and William Soule.

Not in picture: Michael Cusumano, Thomas Braginetz, Thomas Terenzini, Kevin Peck, Lynne Klamm, James Honsinger Sr., Charles Cross, Michael Smith, Hans Johnson, Gunther Hetzel, Stephen Brooks, and Susan Shontelle-Smith.

35 Years of Service

In picture: Herb Sinkinson.

Not in picture: Joanna Pereira, Steven Andrews, and Luci Stephens.

It was time for the Academy Achievement Awards.  These were presented by Ross Farnsworth, a Training Coordinator at the Training Center.  Awards were given for class Valedictorian and for Outstanding Leadership.

CLASS VALEDICTORIAN

KEITH M. COBURN

OUTSTANDING LEADERSHIP AWARD

JAMES E. CLOWNEY

Devin Kingsbury was the class speaker.  He received this honor by being the person that the class felt exemplified what a corrections professional should be.

Class Speaker

Devin Kingsbury

It was then time for the Department's Commissioner, Andrew Pallito, to address the class.

The Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Corrections

Andrew Pallito

The class then received their certificates and took the professional oath.  The oath was administered by Robert Kupec, the Facilities Executive.

Here is the Officer's Oath

I, (state your name)/, acknowledge this oath and the badge of my profession/ as symbols of the public trust in my ability and commitment/ to provide for the public safety as a professional correctional officer./ I agree to maintain the highest ethical standards/ and serve the Vermont Department of Corrections to the best of my ability./ I freely accept this responsibility/ and swear to uphold the humanitarian and legal principles/ of the corrections profession throughout my career.

We then took time to honor our staff that are currently deployed overseas with our country's armed forces.

The following is a list of our currently deployed staff:

Stephanie Allen, Robert Arnell III, Anthony Barry, Justin Bell, Christopher Boutin, Jonathan Bruce, David Buley, Robert Bunch, Roy Catella, Nelson Charron, Paul Cross, Patrick Dixon, Nicholas Fortier, Albert Frye, John Hernandez, Kevin Jewer, Robert Kenney, Tyrel Kerr, Caleb Lefebvre, Sarah Pahlete, Wayne Pittman, Michael Prue, Barbara Quilliam, William Singleton, Jason Smith, Robert Soucy, Stanley Wood, and Robert Wright.

May they return to us safely...

The 107th then had to pass the Guidon back to the Vermont Correctional Academy.  The class earns the Guidon when it demonstrates it's ability to work as a team and has achieved a level of professionalism they will strive to maintain.  This professionalism is represented by the Guidon and is returned to the Academy to be passed on to the next class.

Passing of the Guidon being conducted by William Cathcart - Academy Administrator and Nicholas DeBarge - Officer Candidate

Following this was the Class Recessional lead by the Vermont Department of Corrections Honor Guard.

The Vermont Department of Corrections' Training Center would like to thank the following instructors and training assistants for their hours of hard work.  With out them and the support of their local work-sites we would not be able to conduct the 200 hours of training that each of our officer candidates needs to succeed on the job.

Instructors
Edward Adams
Kyle Beckwith

Richard Brosseau

John Buck

William Cathcart

Ross Farnsworth

Michaela Hammond

Kurt Kuehl

Robert Kupec

William Lawhorn

Meredith Larson, PhD

Rob Lowell

Rebecca Provost

Karen Rhodes

Jason Sanders

Mark Shelton

Nancy Simoes

Jennifer Sprafke

Tpr. Michael Studin

Curtis Taft

Wendy Yoder

Gregory Young

Training Assistants

Daniel Cushing

Gregory Young

Ruth Goodrich

Jason Sanders

Rob Lowell

If you wish to see more picture of the 107th VCA Graduation Ceremony and of their time training at the Vermont Correctional Academy.  Click on this slide show and go to an on-line photo album of the class.

The Vermont Department of Corrections' Training Center thanks  you for visiting our blog and we hope that you and your families always stay safe...