Virtual Core Conditioning class
King County employees are invited to join Balanced You and Vivecorp for virtual Core Conditioning on Mondays and Wednesdays from 5 to 6 p.m. During the class, you will work the entire body using power, strength, and stabilization exercises like woodchops, planks, and glute bridges. This class is perfect for combatting the effects of sitting at a desk or doing repetitive motions all day.
Heavy floor work with minimal jumping is involved. Exercises in these classes are taught at an intermediate level with variations suitable for all fitness levels available. To register for Core Conditioning or see a list of other classes, visit https://www.vivecorp.com/balancedyou.
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Big Backyard 5K is Sunday, June 5
Founded in 2010, the Big Backyard 5K (also known as the BBY5K), is a community run/walk showcasing and benefitting King County Parks.
Proceeds from the BBY5K benefit King County Parks, supporting maintenance and operations of facilities and recreational resources. Thoughout 12 years, more than 12,000 runners and walkers have gathered to raise more than $75,000 for King County Parks.
This year’s event is on Sunday, June 5, and celebrates our ability to gather again with a simple approach to fun and fitness. Click here to find out more and register.
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Jail Health Services extends vaccine benefit program
Employees at Jail Health Services, Public Health — Seattle & King County, are poised to continue a successful incentive program that encourages people in custody to get vaccinated.
The relaunched vaccine benefit program is set to go live Thursday, May 19. It is happening thanks to a new $30,000 grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The money will provide a $50 commissary credit to patients at the jail whenever they are eligible and elect to receive a vaccination, whether it is for their primary vaccination series or a booster dose.
“The COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Team has done fantastic work to research patient hesitancy and launch a vaccine incentive program that is achieving successful results,” Jail Health Deputy Director Angie Hosking said. “The pilot of this program finished in March and resulted in 246 additional patients receiving their first or second dose. This team helped us experience a 153% increase in vaccinations administered compared to the prior month! We’re very proud to serve with these staff and are inspired by their efforts to improve patient outcomes.”
As soon as they obtained supplies last year, medical staff at the King County Correctional Facility and the Maleng Regional Justice Center have regularly offered vaccine doses to people in custody, starting during the intake process. However, many declined to get vaccinated. Jail Health leadership commended the Vaccine Incentive Team for collecting feedback to design the new incentive program in a way that meets real needs of the jail population. During the pilot program, 70% of participants said they were motivated by the incentives.
The Project Team: Becca Cole, Tess Koslosky, Nancy Carpio, and Chris Rampaul. The Vaccine Administration Team (most pictured below): CNAs Catherine Wamai and Syreeta Miller; and RNs Ceciliah Wanjiru, Rebecca Heaton, Kelsey Tran, Beatrice Igeria, and Tami Nesler. Additional Supporters: Nurse Supervisors Susie Densmore, Lio Saephanh, and Christopher Salatka. Click the images below for a larger view.
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Native American Career Day with Sheriff’s Office
On May 11, the King County Sheriff’s Office was privileged to stand by their partners at the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe which hosted Native American Career Day.
This event was attended by 200 area students and offered them an opportunity to talk to people from various industries and colleges about job opportunities and to support their career path.
Sheriff’s Office members talked to the students and answered questions about public safety and a possible career with the department. For more information about this event and other upcoming community events, visit the KCSO Facebook page.
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Innovation Award for People
Part of the Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards, the Innovation Award for People goes to the Department of Executive Services/Fleet Services – Apprenticeship Program.
Fleet Services was having trouble finding candidates with sufficient skills for heavy-duty technician positions, leading to staff shortages and delays in maintaining King County roads. The division created an apprenticeship program that allowed the county to grow a skilled workforce from within, and gave apprentices the opportunity to become career-service employees. Click here to learn more about this award and watch the video.
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Watch the 2022 State of the County address Tuesday, May 24 at 1 p.m.
King County Executive Dow Constantine will deliver his 2022 State of the County address at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, May 24, and employees are invited to watch the address live from their workstations.
You can watch Executive Constantine’s address streaming live on this webpage and on KCTV Channels 22 and 322 (HD). The Executive’s remarks will begin a little after 1 p.m.
Every year, during the State of the County address, Executive Constantine discusses the condition of our County and outlines his legislative agenda and priorities to the people of King County.
Video and the text of the Executive’s address will be available soon after the event.
The State of the County address is a County-sponsored event and King County directors, managers, and supervisors are encouraged to permit employees to join, if possible. Employees should speak with their manager about HR policies regarding employee attendance at County-sponsored events.
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Coffee with a Cop in Burien
On Monday, May 9, the King County Sheriff’s Office, in partnership with Starbucks and the Burien Police Department, hosted Coffee with a Cop. The event was a success and well-received by the community.
Sheriff Patti Cole-Tindall and Undersheriff Jesse Anderson joined other command staff, along with deputies and 911 dispatchers, to talk and meet with community members. Customers were pleasantly surprised to receive their drive-up order from uniformed King County and Burien deputies donning the signature Starbucks green apron.
For more information about this event and other upcoming community events, visit the KCSO Facebook page.
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KCTV celebrates Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander month
There’s a saying in Vietnamese, “Uống nước nhớ nguồn” that translates to “when you drink from a river, remember its origins.” Throughout the month of May, KCTV will feature local AANHPI leaders each week to see how their past is connected to the present.
Week two features Shawn Wong, a Chinese-American University of Washington professor and author. When Wong was coming up as a young writer in the 1970s, he wanted to know: Where are all the Asian American authors? Fifty years later, through publishing, writing and teaching, Shawn has worked to make Asian American literature an essential part of the English literary canon. You can see the Facebook video here and YouTube video here.
Watch for upcoming features including artist Erin Shigaki, and UW Professor Raissa DeSmet and students from the Southeast Asian Pasts and Futures (SEAPF) program. There will be a live online viewing event May 27 of all the features, details coming soon.
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Congratulations to the 2021 Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards honorees
Several King County leaders today announced the honorees for the 2021 Executive’s Performance Excellence Awards in a series of videos, recognizing employees and teams for their exceptional contributions to performance, leadership, service, and innovation to better serve our residents.
“I established these awards back in 2018 to honor employees and workgroups for their exceptional contributions to performance, leadership, and innovation,” Executive Constantine said in his introduction to the awards. “Recognizing great work is important; and celebrating the people behind the great work is even more important; and that’s exactly what’s behind the Performance Excellence Awards.” See the announcement and watch the videos here.
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Leave the car, hit the trail: Trailhead Direct returns May 28
King County’s Trailhead Direct transit service will return for the season beginning on Saturday, May 28. This summer, King County Metro and King County Parks are focusing the transit-to-trails service on its most popular route with stops at trailheads near Mount Si, Mount Teneriffe, and Little Si.
Riders can take the bus, Sound Transit Link light rail, or bike to easily get to the Sound Transit Capitol Hill Link station, where Trailhead Direct coaches will depart every 30 minutes. The 2022 season will include service on Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Labor Day. See the full announcement here.
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