Arizona Judicial Branch

By identifying and nominating outstanding instructors and/or training programs, you are providing critical support to judicial branch education in Arizona. High-performing trainers and programs in Arizona can :

• Improve communication in the workplace and raise organization morale
• Increase efficiency and job performance
• Increase ethical decision-making during difficult situations

Who Sponsors this Award?

The Committe on Judicial Education and Training (COJET) annually recognizes the efforts of outstanding faculty and curriculum developers who represent the various divisions within the court system: Judicial Officers, Probation/Detention, Judicial Court Staff, Managers and Executives.

The awards are presented to recipients by the four COJET standing committees:

• Judicial College of Arizona (JCA)
• Court Leadership Institute of Arizona (CLIA)
• Committee on Probation Education (COPE)
• Judicial Staff Education Committee (JSEC)

Who is Eligible? 

Any judicial branch employee or committee member can nominate an individual or team demonstrating excellence in the development of curriculum and/or the delivery of training, during the course of a calendar year.  COJET Excellence in Education Awards are given to recognize activities in the preceding year.

Submit Your Nomination Today!

From Left to Right:  Hon. Roxanne Song Ong – recognized for her dedication and service as COJET Chair since 2002, Cheryn Brewer, Linda Yarbrough and Hon. Rick Williams (not in photo) - Mohave County, Justice Ann Scott Timmer - COJET Chair, Kip Anderson - JSEC Chair, Jeff Schrade - AOC Education Services Division Director

 

2013 COJET Excellence in Education Award Winners (for calendar year 2012)

In an effort to recognize outstanding trainers and curriculum developers for Arizona's judicial employees, the Committee on Judicial education and Training (COJET) sponsors the "COJET Excellence in Education program” to honor faculty and curriculum developers who have demonstrated dedication and commitment to excellence in promoting judicial staff continuing education in Arizona.

Court Staff Training:
Congratulations to the three Mohave County COJET Excellence in Education award winners – Linda Yarbrough, Cheryn Brewer and Hon. Rick Williams who were chosen by the Committee on Judicial Education and Training (COJET), and the Judicial Staff Education Committee (JSEC) for their exceptional delivery of training during calendar year 2012. 

Awards were presented by Justice Ann Scott Timmer, COJET Chair and Kip Anderson JSEC Chair at an awards luncheon held at the recent 2013 Training Coordinator Conference.  On behalf of the members of COJET, the JSEC and judicial employees statewide, we congratulate these individuals on their commitment to supporting continuing education within the Arizona Court System.

Linda Yarbrough and Cheryn Brewer were nominated for teaching “Strategies for Improving Employee Engagement”.  Their dedication to employee well-being goes well beyond their positions in the Mohave County Superior Court, Human Resources Department.  It is evidenced through this class, which truly gave employees a voice.  Linda and Cheryn utilized handouts, a powerpoint presentation, and actively involved the entire class in discussion and participation by use of "voting buttons".  In the words of the esteemed Presiding Judge, the Honorable Charles W. Gurtler, Jr., "This has been the single best COJET class I have attended over the life of my attendance at our annual Probation/COJET Conference."  You can't get a better endorsement than that!

Honorable Rick Williams, was nominated for teaching “Essential Workplace Practices”.  Judge Williams went above and beyond in his class preparation by creating a 15 minute video on his own time and including many topics essential to good workplace practices, such as managing stress, dealing with difficult people, conflict, problem solving, job burnout, team building, communication and leadership.  In the video, probation staff showed how wrong things can go when people are not practicing habits that are essential to the workplace. Then he asked questions of the audience to engage them further in discussion about the subjects that followed and how to better handle such situations.   Judge Williams is well respected by those who know him because of his integrity, humor and approachability. He considers himself "one of us", a regular guy, and he truly cares about people.

Probation 

• Gary Nakamoto, Defensive Tactics, Adult Probation, Pima County - Mr. Nakamoto has been with the Pima County Probation Department since November, 1992. During most of that tenure he has been an officer safety instructor. His nomination indicated that he has trained almost every officer that has been hired at their department and has done so with enthusiasm and genuine concern for the safety of all his participants. 
• Katie Howard, Firearms, Adult Probation, Coconino County - Ms. Howard was nominated for this award because she is patient, encouraging and has a positive manner. She provides feedback that is constructive and uses real-life experiences to train her participants. She went above and beyond by finding a vacant home to utilize in real-life training exercises and promotes practice and retention of critical skills. Her imagination knows no bounds when it comes to training and scenarios. 
• Vanessa Barajas, Detention, Juvenile Detention, Gila County - A need for new programming was identified within the detention facility in Gila County. Ms. Barajas stepped up to the plate to develop this curriculum. It went over so well that the probation department is also looking at the training she developed for utilization within their office. Her supervisor feels that she puts all others before herself in order to help out and this makes her very special. 
• Kirsten Lewis, Probation, Adult Probation, Maricopa County - Ms. Lewis used evidence based practices to develop curriculum for a stress management program that she utilizes to assist probation staff in dealing with their secondary trauma issues. Her education background enable her to guide training in a meaningful way in order to meet all of her goals and objectives. Ms. Lewis identified a critical need in the probation field and stepped up to meet that need. She is innovative, revolutionary and a truly ground-breaking practitioner who blends education and science into the probation field. 

Court Staff 

• Heidi Lofgren, Flagstaff Municipal Court County Training Coordinator, took an innovative approach to teaching ethics to general and limited jurisdiction court employees in her county, by using the popular game show model, "Wheel of Fortune". Heidi developed thought-provoking curriculum applied to her County’s rules on harassment, the Code of Conduct for Judicial Employees, and different approaches to making ethical decisions. She presented this information using various tools to stimulate learning, including the use of a combination of video, PowerPoint, handouts, activities and real-life scenarios/questions that posed ethical dilemmas, and discussion. The training was well organized, very interactive and fun. Heidi took great care in accommodating diverse learning styles (kinesthetic, auditory and visual). The game format created a safe environment in which to share one’s views and encouraged dialogue on confronting ethical decisions.
• Gabe Goltz, Administrative Office of the Courts, Judicial College of Arizona, Manager with the Supreme Court, Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), has been recognized by his peers for his excellence in teaching the following courses: "Ethics in Film", "The Arizona Court System", and "Get it Write!" Participants commented that he is passionate about training and effectively communicates his knowledge about the subject. Gabe creates an enjoyable and engaging learning experience for all attendees, posing thought-provoking questions and using a variety of innovative tools to provide a great learning experience that is not only of value but also one that is memorable. This combination of abilities is rarely found in trainers. Gabe has demonstrated the talent to hold the interest of all participants from both a "want to know" as well as "need to know" perspective. Among many positive comments participants stated in their evaluations, "This class was awesome-Thanks!", and "thought-provoking!"

Judges

• Judge Douglas Rayes, Superior Court in Maricopa County 
• Judge Karen Adam, Superior Court in Pima Counnty 

Leadership

• Judge Louraine Arkfeld was appointed to the Court Leadership Institute of Arizona as its first chair in 2006. It was with her leadership that curriculum development for these programs began. Before she retired from the committee in 2010, the Arizona Court Manager program had been implemented with newly developed Arizona specific content in addition to the ICM classes and curriculum for the Arizona Court Executive program was being developed and piloted. She served on curriculum review work groups and became certified to teach the ICM Case flow Management, Purposes and Responsibilities of Courts and Visioning and Strategic Planning classes in addition to serving as faculty for Arizona Court Manager – Specialty Courts and Foundational Concepts: An Independent Judiciary Issues for Arizona Courts, Judicial Selection classes. It should be noted that much of Judge Arkfeld's  contributions continued well after her retirement including all of her outstanding work in 2011. She is currently involved in developing curriculum for our upcoming Presiding Judges Leadership Academy and is one of our highest evaluated leadership instructors. 
• Kent Batty was also one of the original appointees to CLIA and served initially as its Vice Chair and is currently CLIA’s chair. In addition, Kent was one of the original program developers contributing as part of the Arizona Leadership ad hoc committee before CLIA. Beginning in 2011 and through this past year, Kent has forwarded the goal of CLIA to design and develop ongoing training for both our line supervisors and for our presiding judges. Curriculum development and the implementation of the Arizona Court Supervisor program rounded out our tiered leadership model by providing over 70 hours of program content for line supervisors with a significant portion available to supervisors without having to leave the court – using various facilitated and independent distance learning options. Kent also ensured that CLIA and its work groups began development of our premier Presiding Judges Leadership Academy scheduled to be piloted in 2013. In addition to his contributions as CLIA chair and in curriculum development, Kent serves as certified ICM faculty for Caseflow Management, Purposes and Responsibilities of Courts and Leadership; and is also faculty for the ACM capstone sessions covering Inherent Powers and Court Management Functions – Performance Improvement. Kent is also one of our highest evaluated leadership instructors.
• Don Jacobson is currently CLIA’s Vice Chair and served with Kent on the original ad hoc committee. Not only is he instrumental in meeting the goals previously described, Don teaches more ICM classes for Arizona than any other instructor. He is currently certified to teach ICM Court Performance Standards, Financial Management, Visioning and Strategic Planning and the High Performance Courts Concluding Seminar for the Certified Court Executive certificate. As some of the comments from his class last week indicate, Don is one of our most-valued instructors. “Don is a dynamic educator. Very impressive that one facilitator could handle 2 and ½ days …not an easy task but very well done. Great presentation of this program by Don. He challenges us to become better court people! Don Jacobson is the best!! Don’s passion for the court and the law is amazing and makes him an engaging presenter. Best class of the CCE program.” Don’s contributions to curriculum development also include development of content for the Presiding Judge’s Leadership Academy and Arizona specific content within the court manager programs.