Parks & Recreation Staff Pride Themselves on Being Public Servants

It’s Public Service Week and there is nothing we love more than providing fun, healthy, and beautiful spaces and programs for our residents and guests to take part in. To culminate the week, we asked some of our team members for their thoughts on the best parts of their jobs and what public service means to them.

 

Jamilia Godfrey (Fitness and Wellness)

What do you love most about your job and how do you see it as a public service?

Honestly, the best part of my job is being able to give back fitness and wellness opportunities to the community. In today’s climate, wellness is so important! We’ve been stressed with COVID and people being stuck inside, and just to be able to offer opportunities to the community that are spirit, mind, as well as body – it just feels wonderful!

What type of feedback do you get from the community about the services you provide?

We get wonderful feedback from the community. We offer a variety of programs that span from our seniors to our young adult populations and there are very few barriers to entry for our programs.

What would you say to someone who was considering joining our team?

If you’re looking for a job where you can really fulfill your passion and feel like you’re giving back to your community and know that you’re appreciated, this is definitely the place to be.

What types of things could someone working in Fitness and Wellness expect?

In Fitness and Wellness here in Virginia Beach, we offer personal training, group fitness classes, and regular weight room orientations to the community. So, you can really do anything from teaching someone how to do a curl with a dumbbell to signing them up for personal training to introducing them to a whole new community through group fitness classes.

What is the impact that you see on the people who take part in Fitness and Wellness programs?

The impact is tremendous on the people that come through and it’s not all fitness – it is about wellness and the relationships that are established, the friendships that are made, the community of people that is built through people coming and working out together.

Brittany Waltz (Aquatics Unit) 

What do you enjoy most about your job with Parks & Recreation?

Specifically within the Aquatics Unit, you have a dealing with the patrons every single day and their goals. Whether it’s an adult who wants to learn to swim more competitively, or a young child who’s doing swim lessons for the first time, or down to our Tiny Bobbers classes (our parent child classes) where it’s just a good bonding experience; we really get to experience everybody through their swim stages of life. It’s fun to be a part of it!

How do you see what you do as a public service?

I didn’t see what we do as a public service really until COVID happened. People started coming to the pool and being able to swim and exercise was such physical and emotional therapy for them. It wasn’t just about recreation, it really was a service we were providing to them.

What would you want people to know about Parks & Recreation as a public service?

Traditionally when you think of public service, Aquatics probably doesn’t come to mind. But, when someone chooses to become a lifeguard or a water safety instructor, they get an introduction to public service. As a lifeguard, you’re starting to learn first responder skills that can carry over later in life. As water safety instructors, you’re literally teaching people lifesaving skills. Those certifications and skills really are servicing your community!

 

Ethan Cason (Park and Landscape Services)

How has your career progressed within the department?

I started with Parks & Recreation eight years ago as a groundskeeper at the athletic complex taking care of fields, then progressed my way to working on schools landscaping, and progressed my way over to working in our special events and outdoor programs unit. Then I became an inspector, and now I manage all the natural areas, trails, and waterways.

Anybody who is interested in working with Parks & Recreation, there are so many different people you can meet and so many roles to explore. Whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert, like the outdoors or not, there is somewhere for everybody to work in Park and Landscape Services!

What do you find rewarding about your work and how do you see it as serving the public?

What I find rewarding about our job is being able to give our citizens and park patrons free access to safe and enjoyable trails so they can seek nature or solitude so they can really enjoy their time outdoors.

What would you say to someone considering a job in Park and Landscape Services?

I would tell them there are so many different opportunities – everything from athletic fields to being inspectors out in the field, overseeing contracted work to actually working on a crew doing landscape maintenance and planting. There are so many different things to explore in PLS, from the oceanfront, to the back of the woods, creeks, and even taking care of schools.

 

Tyler Stefkovich (Sports Management)

Tell us about how your career has unfolded with Parks & Recreation.

I started my career with Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation as a part-time Activity Center Leader in Out-of-School Time Programs and from there continued to progress my career within that unit using opportunities within the city for trainings and professional development. I became a full-time employee and was actually overseeing and supervising those same before and after school programs. I had the opportunity to be an acting supervisor in our special events group and I’m currently in a Recreation Specialist II role in our Sports Management group, promoting our athletic leagues and large-scale sporting events.

What do you find rewarding about what you do and how do you see that as a public service?

So, what I find rewarding is seeing the smiling faces of the kids and families and teams that we have competing in sporting events at our facility. The way I see that as a public service is that we’re really offering the opportunity to continue with our sports in a fun and safe, competitive environment.

What would you say to someone thinking about a career in public service?

I think it’s really making a connection with the community and where you live. It’s rewarding for me to see a final product and making an impact on my neighbors and other community members while also having the opportunity to grow myself.

If these sound like people you’d like to work with and public service is your passion, consider joining us…visit www.vbgov.com/parksrecjobs for all the latest openings and information on how to apply!

Watch all of their interviews in the video below: