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When it comes to child safety, professionals in the industry work together in a common goal to prevent child abuse by educating adults on how to recognize, prevent and react appropriately if they see or suspect it. That’s one of the reasons why RIT’s director for the Office of Youth Protection and Compliance actively works with her counterparts from across the country using resources, such as the Higher Education Protection Network, or HEPNet, to bring best practices to the university.

No sooner than when Cara Mulvaney was hired as Rochester Institute of Technology’s first director of the Office of Youth Protection and Compliance, the COVID-19 pandemic forced school closures, and the cancelation of all campus activities and events. She was offered the job the week before, and used time afterward to tirelessly research, and write policy and guidance for RIT through her office that is integral in creating awareness and promoting youth safety on campus and in the community.

During a four-day national event in April that featured some of the country’s brightest young STEM scholars, the Army Educational Outreach Program Apprenticeships and Fellowships team from RIT’s K-12 University Center had the chance to be featured as an exhibitor and provide various volunteer services at the JSHS National Symposium in Virginia Beach.

Liberty Partnerships Program, housed at RIT’s K-12 University Center, is known among its community as a global family. After all, it serves students from across Monroe County who are local to the area and some who have settled in the region from countries around the world. It’s a message the program adopted about eight years ago when a former student put into perspective the diversity of those involved in LPP, which includes students of various academic and personal challenges and successes; and from different communities, educational backgrounds, financial statuses, identities, races, religions and more.

Bridgette Jones-Waters has a laugh and smile that’s contagious. Even among the most stressful times, the longtime director of the Liberty Partnerships Program finds the positive in it. That’s one of the reasons why she’s among 50 women from the Rochester area nominated for a Women of Excellence award through the Rochester Business Journal, in addition to spending her life serving others with a passion for her work, serving the community and spreading positivity to those around her.

Donna Burnette, executive director of the K-12 University Center at Rochester Institute of Technology, was honored during a ceremony on March 22 at Ingle Auditorium with the Dancy Duffus Award for Outstanding Citizenship. Burnette is also director of Army Educational Outreach Program Apprenticeships and Fellowships that is administered by the K-12 center on behalf of the U.S. Army.

RIT honored the service and dedication of its employees with the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff ceremony March 22. The annual awards are presented to staff members who exemplify outstanding service and dedication to the university and who exhibit a high degree of personal ethics and integrity while consistently demonstrating a strong commitment to student success.

Upward of 20 RIT student workers are hired each year to support the K-12 University Center at Rochester Institute of Technology. It’s a way to utilize student talents in a variety of roles to help meet the mission of the K-12 center, while giving them the professional experience needed to be successful in the real world.

While Imagine RIT aims to promote student work from those attending the university, middle school students had the opportunity in the past to also highlight science displays and other projects they have worked on through the Science and Technology Entry Program administered by the K-12 University Center at Rochester Institute of Technology. The K-12 center works to promote youth experiences at the annual festival that attracts about 30,000 guests a year to learn more – and interact with – students on campus who are highlighting the work they’ve done throughout the school year in a variety of studies.

Rochester Prep High School students have been participating in the spring capstone program throughout March. It’s an annual opportunity – facilitated by RIT’s K-12 University Center – meant to help foster a relationship among the Rochester-based charter school and the university, in a partnership that began about a decade ago. It allows students to work alongside RIT faculty on various research projects, which also exposes them to other campus experiences.

Robotics teams will take on the challenges of bringing energy to their communities in the upcoming FIRST Robotics Finger Lakes Regional competition. The annual student robotics competition opens at the Gordon Field House at RIT on March 17.

The Army Educational Outreach Program Apprenticeships and Fellowships team was nominated for a 2022 Presidential Award for Outstanding Staff at Rochester Institute of Technology. Awards will be announced at a ceremony on March 22. Its director, who is also the executive director of RIT's K-12 University Center, was nominated for an individual award.