Four City of Charleston Recreation Employees Receive Awards from The South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association
October 26, 2011
CHARLESTON, SC – October 26, 2011 – The South Carolina Recreation and Parks Association (SCRPA) presents several awards each year to recognize agencies, organizations, and individuals for outstanding contributions to the park and recreation profession in South Carolina. This year, four City of Charleston Recreation Department employees received awards. Will Rishovd was named the Young Professional of the Year, Thomas Spigner won the Ethnic Minority Branch Award, Jennifer Molizon was named the Therapeutic Professional of the Year, and Robin Cooper won the District Merit Award.
Will Rishovd, Facility Manager for the Bees Landing Recreation Center, was named the Young Professional of the Year. Since joining the City in 2004, Will has doubled the programs offered by the City of Charleston, adding Ultimate Frisbee, Kid’s Triathlon, Lacrosse and the Daniel Island Get Fit Challenge to the already busy youth sports roster. Will is driven by the value of providing exceptional customer service. He is a visionary leader who can motivate employees, participants and volunteers in order to achieve organizational objectives.
Thomas Spignor, Youth Sports Coordinator with the City of Charleston Department of Recreation, won the Ethnic Minority Branch Award. Since Thomas joined the City in 2007, he has increased the number of soccer, football, cheerleading, baseball and basketball participants in the peninsula area of the city of Charleston from less than 100 participants to over 700 participants per season. This significant growth is due to Thomas’ hard work, great organizational skills, and his love for the inner-city youth. Thomas goes door to door and works very closely with the various housing communities to get the youth more involved in recreation activities. He also takes it upon himself drive a bus to pick up the participants in the community and bring them to the games and practices.
Jennifer Molizon, Therapeutic Recreation (TR) Coordinator with the City of Charleston Department of Recreation, was named the Therapeutic Professional of the Year. Since joining the City of Charleston Recreation staff in 2010, Jennifer has doubled the programs offered by the City of Charleston, adding Bowling, Unified Players Theater Camp, Rhythmic Gymnastics, Unified Zumba, Yoga and more to the already busy TR sports roster. Jennifer works hard to form partnerships with other agencies. She maintains a strong partnership with Special Olympics working as a volunteer, coach, and serving on games committees.
Robin Cooper, Facility Manager for the James Island Recreation Center and sports and program coordinator for the residents of James Island, won the District Merit Award for having made significant contributions and showing outstanding performance in leadership and job performance. Robin has worked for the City for 19 years and has consistently proven that she is a leader in the recreation field. Robin was nominated for SCRPA District Merit of the year for her endless display of energy, enthusiasm, ambition and love for her job and participants.
FOR MORE INFO:
Barbara W. Vaughn, Director
Media Relations/Public Information
Phone: (843) 724-3746
Fax: (843) 724-3734
Email: [email protected]
