THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, May 19, 1995 TAG: 9505180355
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JO-ANN CLEGG, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
It came as no surprise to her fellow employees at the Virginia Beach Comprehensive Substance Abuse Program when Joann Ackerman, supervisor of the agency's prevention unit, was named Outstanding City Employee of the Year by the Virginia Beach Rotary Club.
``All the staff love her because she's just wonderful,'' said Donna Morris, secretary to Ackerman's boss, program director Kathryn B. Hall.
And it came as no surprise to Morris that her comment elicited a pained grimace from Ackerman who vehemently denied that the award was hers alone.
``It really was accepted by me on behalf of all of the people I work with,'' she said.
Despite her protestations, Ackerman has racked up an impressive work record since she joined the agency staff in 1987.
When she was hired as an educator back then her supervisory duties were limited to managing the agency's volunteer program. These days she supervises a staff of seven (soon to be eight) full-time paid employees and an additional seven part-timers.
During those intervening eight years she has been actively involved in just about every major drug prevention program in which the city took part.
For five years she coordinated the annual Drug Free Parade and Festival.
She also was one of the leaders of the annual First Night New Year's Eve Family Celebration and a post-graduation event called Celebrate Life-Citywide Virginia Beach.
She lent her expertise to the Community Alliance for Drug Rehabilitation and Education (CADRE), a private not-for-profit organization which promotes education of youth and parents about the danger of drugs and alternatives to their use; the Public Schools Drug Education Advisory Council; and more than half a dozen other community programs which emphasize prevention of drug problems.
Prevention is all important to Ackerman. ``It's generic,'' she said. ``The same things which prevent substance abuse in teens, prevent a lot of other problems, too.''
Helping youngsters with such things as self-esteem and decision making can be as effective at preventing school drop-outs, gang involvement and teen-age pregnancy as they are at preventing drug and alcohol abuse, she said.
One of those high energy people who freely admits to enjoying administrative tasks, she has also been involved in advocating a certification process for prevention professionals, served on the long-range planning committee of the Virginia Association of Community Services Board and been a leader in the area of services to pregnant women or women of child-bearing age who have substance abuse problems.
During the past year she has participated in a Readers Digest-sponsored offering called the Virginia Collaborative Leaders program.
``I considered that a real privilege,'' Ackerman said of the opportunity she had to hone her leadership skills.
Part of her leadership style is the personal touch which Morris and her other co-workers so appreciate.
``She is a caring employee,'' Hall, her boss, wrote in the nomination for the Rotary Club award. ``(Her caring) is often expressed through the cards she sends, the flowers she gives, or the phone calls she makes, depending on the situation.''
The daughter of a Navy doctor, Ackerman grew up in Navy towns around the country, attended Marquette University and received her bachelor's degree from Emerson College in Boston.
She has been married for 26 years to Dennis Ackerman, director of Old Dominion University College of Business's Entrepreneurial Center. They have a daughter, Jennifer, 24, and a son, Daniel, 21. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by JO-ANN CLEGG
Prevention is all important to Joann Ackerman. Helping youngsters
with such things as self-esteem and decision making can be as
effective at preventing school drop-outs, gang involvement and
teenage pregnancy as they are at preventing drug and alcohol abuse,
she says.
by CNB