COJET Excellence In Education Awards


  COJET AWARDS Flyer

Submit Your Nomination Today!

Why should I consider nominating a training/trainer?

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

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.

Submit Your Nomination Today!


Committee On Probation Education (COPE)

COPE recognizes individuals, two-person teams, and groups of trainers and curriculum developers who provide excellent training to detention, probation, and surveillance officers.  Categories for which instructors may be nominated are detention, defensive tactics, firearms, and probation.  These instructors and curriculum developers will be recognized at the Arizona Chief Probation Officer Association's recognition luncheon held each September.

Nomination and Voting Process:

Anyone can submit a nomination; however nominees must be court employees.  Even though nominations can be submitted at anytime during the year, the deadline for the previous calendar year's nominations is March 31st.  Once the nominations are collected and sorted by category, all identifying information is redacted prior to the Committee's review and vote.  The winning nominations are then presented for approval during the following COJET meeting. 

2020 Excellence in Education Award Winners:

Congratulations to the following officers, who were selected by the Committee on Probation Education (COPE) and the Committee on Judicial Education and Training (COJET), for their dedication, exceptional delivery, and practice of continued education. 

Recipients were honored for the 2020 Awards in Excellence.  Due to the Statewide Probation Conference being cancelled, Awards were presented by the recipient's Chief/Director on behalf of the Supreme Court of Arizona and the Arizona Chief Probation Officer’s Association.

On behalf of the Committee on Probation Education, we thank you for your commitment to training probation and detention personnel in Arizona! 

Charles Little
Maricopa Juvenile Probation
Excellence in Education Category:
Detention 		Michael Geraci
Mohave Adult Probation
Excellence in Education Category:
Defensive Tactics 		Team: Jess Beckenhauer,
Michele Butcher,
Cathy Johnson
Kevin Kittle, Kyle Miller,
and Kate Skelton
Maricopa Adult and Juvenile Probation
Excellence in Education Category:
Firearms 		Edwin J. Prell, Jr.
Mohave Adult Probation
Excellence in Education Category:
Probation


Court Leadership Institute of Arizona (CLIA)

The membership of the Leadership Institute committee believes that great education helps develop great leaders.  With this philosophy at the forefront, the Leadership Institute annually recognizes those educators who make significant contributions to the advancement of leadership education in the Arizona courts.  Faculty teams, faculty individuals, and those subject matter experts who develop curriculum have all been recipients of the Excellence in Education award from the Leadership Institute.

Nomination and Voting Process:

Any participant who attends a Leadership Institute program may nominate a faculty team or individual or a subject matter expert for the award.  The entire Leadership Institute committee reviews the Excellence in Education Award nominations at the June meeting.  The committee studies evaluations of the classes for which the faculty was nominated, discusses the attributes of the nominees and votes to determine the award recipients. The Leadership Institute committee sends the nominations for the Excellence in Education Award to the COJET committee for its approval.  The Leadership Institute committee chair presents the Excellence in Education Award to the winners at the annual Court Leadership Conference.


Judicial Staff Education Committee (JSEC)

Judicial Staff Education Committee (JSEC) recognizes outstanding trainers and curriculum developers for Arizona's judicial employees by honoring those who have demonstrated dedication and commitment to excellence in promoting judicial continuing education across the state.  These individuals are recognized at the annual Training Coordinator Conference.

Nomination and Voting Process:

Nominations can be submitted at any time during the year. The submission deadline is December 31. The calendar year's nominations are considered in January of the following year.  Once the nominations are collected, all identifying nominees’ information is redacted. The edited submissions are presented to a sub-committee of JSEC for review and voting. The selected nominations are submitted to Committee on Judicial Education and Training (COJET) for approval.


(Judge Andrew Gould, Scott Krishner, Jeff Schrade, Steve Weston (not pictured))

Court Staff Training:

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the COJET Excellence in Education Award: Scott Kirshner from the Phoenix Municipal Court, and Steve Weston (retired), from the Clerk of Court in Maricopa County 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 2014.

Awards were presented by Judge Andrew Gould, COJET Chair and Jeff Schrade, Director-Education Services at an awards luncheon held at the recent 2015 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.

(Judge Andrew Gould, Scott Krishner, Jeff Schrade, Steve Weston (not pictured))

Court Staff Training:

Congratulations to this year’s winners of the COJET Excellence in Education Award: Scott Kirshner from the Phoenix Municipal Court, and Steve Weston (retired), from the Clerk of Court in Maricopa County 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 2014.

Awards were presented by Judge Andrew Gould, COJET Chair and Jeff Schrade, Director-Education Services at an awards luncheon held at the recent 2015 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.


Nomination and Voting Process:


2014 Excellence in Education Award Winners:


Nomination and Voting Process:


2014 Excellence in Education Award Winners:







Excellence in Education Category:
Excellence in Education Category: