07-27-20 Regular Meeting of the La Porte City Council

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Ɠķ 9ƒƦƌƚǤĻĻ ƚŅ ƷŷĻ Ћ vǒğƩƷĻƩ ŅƚƩ ЋЉЋЉ YğǤƌğ .ğĻǩ wĻĭƩĻğƷźƚƓ {ƦĻĭźğƌźƭƷ In the summer of 2018, Kayla Baez worked with our Parks and Rec team as a part time Senior Recreation Leader. We were very fortunate to add her to the team full time in October of that year, and we are very pleased to honor her this evening as our Employee of the Quarter. In her role as a Recreation Specialist, Kayla wears many hats. Her main responsibility is planning and delivering camp and other programming over the summer and holiday seasons. This includes program development, marketing, registration administration, staff oversight, and all of the other countless details that go into providing camps and programs to the community. nd Typically Kayla spends the bulk of the 2 quarter preparing for and running two Summer camps (Breeze and Voyage). This task was uniquely complicated this year due to COVID-19. Some of the specific innovations and extra steps Kayla took this year include: Created 10 weeks of LP Rec At Home activities that were shared via social media. These activities were well received by the community, looking for ways to stay engaged and active during the pandemic. COVID-19 meant no field trips for the camps. Kayla had to adjust schedules on the fly and maintain communication with campers and parents. She reallocated field trip funds towards other resources and equipment like individualized camper art supplies to keep the kids entertained and safe. Kayla created a safe and secure non-entry check-in/check-out process called KidCheck. This process allowed parents to remain in their vehicles for drop off and pick up which reduced groups gathering in the building. She also implemented new training and sanitization process for all summer camp staff. Even with the unexpected and complex challenges of leading summer camps this year, Kayla maintained her typical positive attitude. Her camp staff love working with her and campers experience. Described by her supervisor as driven, extremely creative, and unsatisfied with the status quo, Kayla is a fantastic asset to the Parks and Rec department and the La Porte community. Please join me in congratulating her as our Employee of the Quarter.