On February 11, 2014, PBS NewsHour visited Juvenile Detention to film a story about Pongo Teen Writing – a volunteer, nonprofit organization – and the therapeutic impact of poetry on at-risk youth.

Richard Gould, the founder and Executive Director of Pongo Publishing Teen Writing Project, has been helping troubled teens express themselves through poetry and has published their work in anthologies since mid-1970. He has volunteered his services at Juvenile Detention since 1998. Detained youth have responded to Mr. Gould’s encouragement and help by writing about traumatic events in their lives, such as, losses, death, abandonment, abuse, and parental addiction. Several anthologies have been published over the years highlighting poems written by detained youth (who are not identified in the book by their full name).

PBS featured this innovative program in its ongoing series “Where Poetry Lives,” during its March 17 NewsHour program. Reporter Jeffrey Brown and U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey learned more about the program and how it empowers young people in crisis to express themselves. Watch the nine-minute video here.

For hours on end, bus drivers manage to keep a schedule, check fares, give directions, remember stop requests and more, all while safely maneuvering an extra-large vehicle through unpredictable traffic, adverse weather conditions and some really tight spaces! The fact is, bus drivers don’t have an easy job; they just make it look that way.

On Tuesday, March 18, join us in celebrating the contributions of our hard-working bus drivers, Access drivers and rail operators. It can be as simple as a smile when you board the bus, and a “thank you” when you leave. And, don’t forget you can submit an official commendation for a job well done, so your drivers can be formally recognized for their efforts. (You can do that any time of year!)

While you are riding, you can tag your tweets #MetroSmiles with kudos or thanks for your driver. Whether tweeting or using our online comment form, be sure to note the four-digit bus number, route, time and direction so we can make sure your commendation reaches your driver.

Print out and personalize a thank you card – Want to deliver a more tangible token of your appreciation? Choose from four “thank you” card designs. Just download and print out the PDF and cut out the card(s) you want. Learn more about International Bus Driver Appreciation Day.

The Department of Executive Services (DES) held its first-ever All-Hands Meeting on February 26 with more than 500 employees in the 832-person department taking part in one of the two sessions.

The All-Hands Meeting, which brought employees from DES’ 10 divisions, agencies and offices together as one department, featured a short video highlighting a dozen DES employees talking about how they “Deliver Excellent Service” every day; an overview of DES’ “clarity map” that will guide the department over the next 10 years; the results of a recent survey of DES employees focusing on the four elements of a high-performing organization; and a live panel discussion about employee engagement.

Attendees also had the chance to take part in an interactive instant poll, focused on DES’ core value of respect. Attendees texted, tweeted or went online to answer the question, In one word, what does RESPECT in the workplace mean to you? and watched as the results appeared live in a Word Cloud. Some of the words that appeared most frequently were Trust, Honesty, Value, Recognition, Listen and Courtesy. See the full Word Cloud below.

Over the past few years, the Department of Judicial Administration’s (DJA) management team has held an employee contest to design a logo to go along with the departmental theme for the year.

The 2014 theme is “Better Together.” This theme reflects how successful we are when we all work together, across divisions, up and down the chain of command.

DJA employees are truly skilled and talented, and the logo submissions just keep getting better and better, making the decision more difficult each year.

Congratulations to the winner of DJA’s contest for her design, Eva Rogero, Legal Administrative Specialist II with DJA’s Caseflow and Court Clerk Division (CCCD).

(Excerpted from the Superior Court / DJA Newsletter)