Award - My Southlake News

Southlake Fire crews recently attended Baylor Grapevine’s quarterly/Annual EMS Awards luncheon, in which two Southlake Fire Department crews were recognized.

Baylor Grapevine awarded the “STEMI of the Year Award” to Field Training Officer JP Adams and Firefighter/EMT Landon Beck. This amazing award recognizes the incredible work and coordination between our EMS providers and the hospital staff during a crucial time-sensitive heart attack on July 20^th of this year.

Because of the rapid pre-hospital care and early notification to the hospital, the patient received definitive cardiac treatment 28 minutes after our crew first contacted him, and was discharged home the next day. Firefighter/EMTs Spencer Johnson and Brady Tackett, and Lieutenant Ryan Sessums were also recognized, but unable to be present for the award.

Another Southlake crew was awarded Baylor Grapevine’s CPR of the Quarter Award from a September 20th cardiac arrest call. That patient went into cardiac arrest at a public recreational facility and was resuscitated in place until he regained a pulse. The patient was transported to the hospital, where he recovered for about two weeks, before being discharged home.

The award celebrated Firefighter/Paramedic Chase Villarreal, Firefighter/EMT Colby McSpedden, FTO Nic Miles, and Lieutenant Frank Molinets for their efforts during the call.

Southlake’s newest recreational facility has quickly made a name for itself among pickleball enthusiasts, earning recognition for its world-class design. Since opening in February, the Southlake Pickleball Complex has been buzzing with activity, and now it has another reason to celebrate! The facility has been awarded the prestigious TRAPS North Recreation Facility Design Excellence Award.

The Texas Recreation and Parks Society (TRAPS) North Region is a nonprofit organization that has supported the advancement of parks, recreation, and leisure services in Texas for over 75 years. When the Southlake Pickleball Complex opened its doors, we knew it had to be a contender for this award. The Design Excellence Award highlights projects with outstanding professional design, encourages high levels of recreational use, and fosters collaboration between design and parks professionals. The Southlake Pickleball Complex is a testament to Southlake’s commitment to meeting community needs, achieving excellence, and encouraging teamwork.

This state-of-the-art, championship-level facility welcomes players of all skill levels, offering eight shaded courts, a Championship Court with stadium seating, a Pro Shop, and plenty of seating areas. Since opening, the staff has introduced innovative programming, such as Intro to Pickleball, custom drills, and community league opportunities, enriching the experience for members and guests.

Congratulations to everyone involved in this achievement! City staff will officially accept the award at the TRAPS North Region Conference in Denton on November 4, 2024.

Officer Jason Keller was awarded the Texas Crime Prevention Association Presidential Award for his distinguished service as an Executive Board member last month.

Officer Keller was instrumental in disseminating timely conference updates via zoom, emails, social media and website posts to the association before, during, and after Hurricane Beryl. He performed multiple executive board duties because of the storm and successfully helped with refunds and rescheduling/relocating the conference from Corpus Christi to College Station in less than 30 days.

Because of his efforts, members were able to attend the conference for the first time virtually. At the conference, Officer Keller was elected to serve as the 2nd Vice President (Training Coordinator) for the Texas Crime Prevention Association.

Officer Keller has worked with Training Sergeant Diehl to bring mandated TCOLE courses to the North station that our officers have taken advantage of to stay compliant. Some of those courses have included Basic Crime Prevention, Security Assessments of Schools and Churches, and more.

Officer Keller has been a member of TCPA for about 25 years.

In this episode of Southlake City Spotlight, Mayor Pro Tem Randy Williamson and Police Chief Ashleigh Casey talk about Southlake’s SRO division recent achievement of being awarded Role Model Agency Award by the National Association of School Resource Officers.

Southlake’s SRO officers receive a high level of police training to protect and serve Southlake students and the school community. Public Safety education, mentorship roles, and building positive relationships with the students and staff are all a large part of how School Resource Officers invest in the safety of Southlake’s students.

Click the video below to watch this week’s Southlake City Spotlight featuring Mayor Pro Tem Randy Williamson, Police Chief Ashleigh Casey, and Captain Blas Hernandez.

The Southlake DPS social media pages won the “Best Long Form Video” Golden Post Award at the national Government Social Media Awards in Palm Springs, California earlier this month. The winning video “The Real Cops of Southlake” was a safety-laden parody of Bravo’s “The Real Housewives” series.

The video featured the trademark opening of the show, along with four vignettes, each covering topics such as drunk driving, speed enforcement, and theft prevention tips. It did extremely well on every social platform scoring about 108,000 views, 1,900 likes, and over 600 shares.

Southlake DPS has won this award back to back, as they also won last year’s “Best Long Form Video” Golden Post Award for their recruiting video, “Southlake Police Are Hiring,” which featured a George Strait look-a-like singing to “Amarillo By Morning.”

“I wrote the ‘Real Cops’ script in 2019, but just didn’t have the know-how, time, or expertise to make it then,” Southlake Public Information Officer Brad Uptmore said. “One of my New Year’s resolutions was to get it filmed, edited, and finished in 2023.”

From the opening Andy Cohen sound-a-like (Southlake’s own Ryan Davis) to the police-themed Bravo show ads in the bottom right corner of the screen, Uptmore made sure the flair, graphics, and attitude could be mistaken for a real Bravo TV show.

“I watched hundreds of hours of ‘The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills’ for this project and not for my own amusement,” Uptmore said. “I promise. I only watched hours and hours of the show just for RESEARCH, and not to see the drama-filled, luxurious, and sometimes scandalous adventures of Kyle Richards and the other housewives for many, many seasons. My incessant watching was just for this police project.”

Judge feedback included, "Southlake DPS always brings it to the Golden Post Awards! Great visuals, content that informs and engages - you're the social gov team everyone else wants to be." Another judge complimented, "This is AMAZING! I think my favorite part was seeing the popup ads for other shows on the PoePoe network LOL. Your attention to detail, scripting, and play on pop culture were top tier. Fabulous entry!"

The Southlake DPS social accounts were also a finalist for “Best Facebook Presence” and “Best Use of Social Media in an Emergency.”

The Southlake Police School Resource Officer Program continues to shine as a world-class SRO Program, locally and nationally. On March 20, 2023, Sgt. Blas Hernandez was recognized as the 2023 L.E.A.D. Instructor of the Year Award. Law Enforcement Against Drugs (L.E.A.D.) is a non-profit organization, supported by dedicated police officers, committed to protecting youth and communities from the proliferation of drugs, drug-related crimes, peer-to-peer/cyber bullying and violence.

In 2020, Sgt. Hernandez and Matt Petrie, a retired SRO and former DARE Officer, began the quest for educational programs that specifically target drug safety in schools. While steeped in research, Sgt. Hernandez discovered the L.E.A.D. program while completing his master’s degree in Criminology.

When asked why a program like L.E.A.D. is important to have in our schools, Sgt. Hernandez said, “The first 5-weeks of the curriculum focus on character building and I chose L.E.A.D. because it focuses more on developing confident and resilient kids as well as equipping them with the tools needed for drug resistance. After reviewing several drug safety programs, L.E.A.D. was my top choice.”

In 2022, with overwhelming support from the City of Southlake Crime Control Prevention District board members, SPD purchased its first L.E.A.D drug resistance education curriculum which is currently offered as an elective course available to 4^th, 6^th and 8^th grade students in Carroll ISD.

Just weeks before graduation, City Manager’s Office (CMO) Intern Bora Sulollari was named this year’s Outstanding Master of Public Administration (MPA) Student for the University of North Texas (UNT).

The Student of the Year award is given annually by the Department of Public Administration to the outstanding MPA student. The Outstanding Student Award includes a plaque recognizing the student's achievements. In addition, the recipient of the Outstanding Master of Public Administration Student award receives the E. Ray Griffin Scholarship including a $1,500 award.
“Bora was an excellent student in the MPA program,” said Dr. Hee Soun Jang, associate professor and MPA program Coordinator of UNT adding that Sulollari had an “exceptional academic performance.”

“She managed exceptionally high grade-point average (GPA) during the course work in the rigorous MPA program and her performance was a direct result of her hard work and strong focus,” said Dr. Jang. “She has consistently demonstrated an ability to rise to any challenge that she must face. Her leadership and outstanding performance were evidence by the Outstanding MPA Student Award of 2021.”

Serving as an intern for the City since September 2020, Sulollari has played an integral part in the success of many projects during her time with Southlake.

“We are especially proud of Bora for receiving this award,” said Assistant City Manager Alison Ortowski, who is a former recipient of UNT’s Outstanding MPA Student Award. “She exemplifies excellence in all she does here for the City of Southlake, and there is no doubt that she displayed that same excellence during her academic career.”

The City of Southlake has a long-standing relationship with UNT’s MPA program, often selecting student interns from the school.

“We are fortunate to have student interns like Bora join our staff. It’s a great opportunity for them to get some experience working in a City Manager’s Office and we also benefit from their knowledge and skills to assist our team in accomplishing our City’s goals,” Ortowski said. “With her determination and tenacity, Bora has shown her ample abilities as part of our team. There is no doubt that she has a bright future ahead in public administration.”

Sulollari completed her MPA degree earlier this month with a 3.94 GPA. During her time at UNT, she served as president of the Public Administration Students Association.
Dr. Jang said Sulollari was “such a dedicated leader in Public Administration Student Association (PASA) during the testing time of the pandemic. She had shown a strong commitment to public service and outstanding organizational skills in leading student organization activities.”

In addition, Sulollari served as chair of Pi Alpha Alpha (PAA), the national honor society for public affairs and administration, in 2020-2021; and as a member of PAA, UMANT, ICMA and TCMA. Sulollari earned her bachelor's degree from UNT in 2019.

The Southlake Community Services Department is a Texas Recreation and Park Society (TRAPS) 2020 Promotions and Marketing Award winner.

The team won for their efforts in promoting the 2019 opening and membership drive for Champions Club at The Marq Southlake.

Community Services Director Chris Tribble is excited The Marq Southlake team is being recognized for its efforts.

“Opening the doors to a new building is always a big job, and I am so proud to be a part of a team that was able to welcome all of our new Champions Club members with open arms,” Tribble stated. “We love seeing people learn about and enjoy the new facility.”

Jennifer Oaks, with the TRAPS awards committee, noted that “Your nomination stood out above the rest to exemplify commitment and dedication in the field of recreation. We are honored to present this award to you.”

Are you interested in learning more about Champions Club at The Marq? Visit us at www.ChampionsClubSouthlake.com for more information.