UNMC faculty and staff who use the People Are Everything system to share thanks and take notice of exceptional effort have two new options for e-cards as of March.
A student in the Munroe-Meyer Institute’s Trailblazer Program, part of its efforts to work with students transitioning out of high school, had two of his art pieces selected to be featured as “Thank You” and “Great Job” cards in the UNMC staff recognition program.
The student is in MMI’s “Advocacy in the Arts” career program. The Trailblazer program is a collaboration with the transition programs in Millard, Westside, Omaha Public and Papillion school districts. The artist, who asked to remain anonymous, was formerly a Westside student.
“We have youth coming into Trailblazers who want art as a potential career pathway,” said Rachel Ray, Trailblazer program director and a member of MMI’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. “Art does so many things for our students of all ages. It helps with mental health, it helps increase self-advocacy.”
MMI’s Advocacy in the Arts program is one of many under the Trailblazer’s umbrella. The program includes curricula in business and marketing; construction and trades; processing and production; computer technology; and consumer services, which includes an array of job training areas, such as food service and environmental service.
The artwork was submitted to People Are Everything by Jackie Hankins and Melonie Welsh of MMI’s Community Engagement Office.
“We want to ramp up the use of People Are Everything at MMI,” Hankins said. “It’s nice for the MMI professional community to know that one of our own students did the artwork for these cards. We are excited and proud.”
Welsh and Hankins worked with the UNMC Department of Human Resources’ Evelyn Grixby to get the cards placed on the People Are Everything platform.
“This is a great way to show support to staff and faculty and our Trailblazers Program as well,” Ray said.
The Advocacy in the Arts program is taught by professional artists, Ray said. Pieces from clients in the program have been used in the past on MMI’s holiday cards.
The exposure, Ray said, is a boon for the young adult clients.
“Being recognized in a professional sense is super important,” she said. “Also, a success like this is something they can add to their portfolio, they can add to their resumes. It’s hard to find meaningful professional art opportunities for any artist, and so this is special. And it would be special for any artist.”
Members of the UNMC community can find the cards in the “Thank You” and “Great Job” sections of People Are Everything. (Another MMI-themed card, featuring art by professional artist Lisa Worrall, can be found in the “UNMC custom cards” section.)