Hannah Peterson awarded Student Employee of the Year

UPDATE 05/08/2020: Hannah Peterson has been chosen as the 2020 State of Iowa Student Employee of the Year by the Midwest Association of Student Employment Administrators. She graduated Iowa State University with a bachelor's degree in Early Childhood Education, and has a job lined up as a teacher for the Des Moines School District.

Hannah Peterson has been named Iowa State University’s 2019-2020 Student Employee of the Year. She was nominated by her supervisors, Jo Ann Lee and Rhonda Evans. Hannah worked for Parenting: It’s a Life (PIAL) as a Youth Prevention Program Facilitator for three years. She is graduating in Spring 2020 with an Early Childhood Education degree.

From the beginning of her time as a youth prevention program facilitator, Hannah rose to the challenge of learning ten modules of PIAL curriculum and became a skilled presenter who can adapt to challenges in the classroom. By the end of her time with PIAL, Hannah was actively collaborating with PIAL leadership to create improvements and updates to the curriculum and research and add citations to each module to raise PIAL's credibility. She has been forward-thinking and left a legacy of excellence for the PIAL team.

Hannah embodied what a model employee and team player could be in the workplace, and she chose to carry a heavy workload. Her self-initiative and work ethic stood out to her supervisors and teammates. When presenting the PIAL curriculum to students in the classroom, she easily engaged with students, listened carefully, and sought opportunities to grow in empathy. Hannah took an interest in, as well as put into practice, what she learned about adverse childhood experiences and reaching students in a trauma-responsive way.

Digital marketing was a major point of improvement during Hannah’s time with PIAL. She acted as chief editor of the program’s e-newsletter and created videos, flyers, infographics, posters, and participant materials, which have received excellent reviews from program participants.

Hannah’s problem-solving skills were especially valuable to PIAL. For example, she analyzed a situation and discovered a need to be able to rapidly onboard new team members each semester. Hannah took on the enormous task of creating an onboarding manual for both undergraduate and graduate students. She took the time to research, ask questions, revise after feedback and learn InDesign before presenting the final product. Hannah’s work was always completed with excellence, thoroughness and care.

In May of 2019, Hannah was asked to write a short essay on why she chose to be a student worker for the Parenting: It's a Life program. Her essay says so much about how she has intentionally and thoughtfully integrated her work experience with her teaching philosophy to prepare her to be a successful future teacher.

"When I started working for PIAL, I had no idea how much of an impact it would make on me as a future educator. After I graduate, I hope to teach Kindergarten or 1st grade. When I chose to work with PIAL, I thought I would strengthen my teaching and facilitating skills, but I strengthened so much more.

PIAL has introduced me to the topic of Adverse Childhood Experiences. As a future elementary teacher, I will be working with children who go home to experience ACEs. My experience with PIAL has trained me to be confident in being a supportive adult in a child's life.

The Vision of PIAL is "to empower Iowa youth to be good stewards of their decision-making responsibilities across their lifespan." As I start my third and final year of working for PIAL, I feel I have not only taught students how to be positive decision makers, I have also strengthened my ability to make positive decisions. It's difficult to put into words how much PIAL has impacted me as a person and an educator."

Thank you for your hard work, dedication, and positive attitude, Hannah!