Fairfax, VA…………Executive coach and president of Quality Process Consultants, Inc. Kristin Arnold, CMC, CPF, CSP named the Henrico Educational Alternative Review Team (“H.E.A.R.T”) winners of this year’s Extraordinary Team Day. In an informal presentation ceremony at the Virginia Randolph High School in Glen Allen, VA, Arnold congratulated the team with a commemorative plaque and a $200.00 gift certificate.

The H.E.A.R.Team is comprised of teachers, principals and coordinators of alternative educational programs in Henrico County, Virginia. The team provides a review process for alternative education applications submitted by counselors and students. The team recognized that a number of their staff had valuable experience that could be put to work county-wide. In fact, many of the coordinators noticed that they were spending valuable time on the phone with each other discussing applications from the same students. So, without a mandate from management or a budget, a team atmosphere evolved with a core group meeting once a week.

“We quickly learned that if we were going to accomplish what we wanted to do, we needed buy-in from management and students. So, once a month we conduct educational outreach sessions. We work hard to reach a consensus, and when we can’t agree, we compromise,” says Sylvio Lynch, Youth Coordinator and the team’s scribe. “The result is that our students benefit from understanding all the options available to them, and that the school system isn’t trying to jam a specific recommendation down their throats.”

In the four short years H.E.A.R.T has been meeting to share resources, they have also tried to take a step back to evaluate trends related to their work. The team pulls from their diverse professional backgrounds to provide a unique perspective on a challenging issue. And the leadership role is shared, depending on what that issue is.
“Many students in our programs face hardships, but the H.E.A.R.T team works to give these students a sense of pride about themselves and their school. It’s a process that seems to be working for them – and is therapeutic for us, says Lynch. We have learned that together, we achieve more.”

At the presentation ceremony, Superintendent Fred S. Morton IV echoed his support for HEART. “Our students need to learn how to work together; it’s what their employers expect. And to see these important team skills modeled by the H.E.A.R.Team has won my heart!” Congratulations to the Henrico Educational Alternative Review Team.