Jackson, Miss.

On Dec. 17, Consumer Safety Inspectors (CSI) Jacquelyn Moore and Felecia Jones gave a career day presentation at the Della J. Caugills Early Head Start Center.

Moore enlightened the attending families on the importance of the CSI job and the many roles CSIs play in food safety. She explained what CSIs do and the types of establishments where they work to help protect consumers. She also gave a brief overview of how to get hired as an FSIS inspector and the many benefits and employee programs available to FSIS employees.

Jones gave a presentation explaining ways to keep food safe at home, stressing that the four steps of food safety handling—clean, separate, cook and chill—play an important role in preventing foodborne illnesses.

Together, Moore and Jones presented attendees with goodie bags of candy, key chains, “Is it Done Yet?” magnets, food safety activity books with crayons and “Let’s Talk Turkey” and other consumer food safety brochures.

Pictured, from left: Moore and Jones address the families in attendance.

Photos courtesy of Moore.

Vernon, Calif.

On Dec. 20, the Los Angeles Circuit donated new unwrapped toys to Fire Station #13. The circuit participates in toy drives every year to ensure kids that are less fortunate have toys to make their holidays just a little happier.

Pictured, standing, from left: Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Rickey Cox; Firefighter Sam Saldibar; Fire Captain Steve Miller; CSIs Carlos Pulido, Dalinda Maddux, Alejandro Rivera, Dadne Garcia Lopez and Martha Clark; Firefighter Mark Casey; Fire Engineer Greg Marchi.

Kneeling: CSI Oscar Blanquet.

Photo by another firefighter at the station.

Jamaica. N.Y.

On Dec. 10, then-Acting Office of Field Operations Assistant Administrator Melissa Moore met with inspection personnel in New York City. She engaged with the group, and they shared their individual career stories and reasons they love to work for FSIS.

Pictured, from left: FLSs Dr. Jaspreet Gill and Dr. Lauren Entes; District Veterinary Medical Specialist District Veterinary Medical Specialist Dr. Kevin Greene; Moore; FLSs Salah Ibrahim and Marilu Simeone; SPHV Dr. Jonas Alsenas; District Manager (DM) George Slobodjian; Deputy DM Dr. Chelsea Buckley.

Photo by CSI Harish Kannikkanari.

Pictured, front row, from left: Supervisory Veterinary Medical Officer Dr. Keith Wills; Consumer Safety Inspectors (CSIs) Jennifer Guthrie, Xaimara Roman Torres, Pingping Lin, Robert Calaf, Bok Lau, Gabrielle Gordon, Elizmarie Santiago Rodriguez and Angel Gallegos; Moore; CSIs Loriann Sapinsky, Farrah Lee and Herold Pierre; Frontline Supervisors (FLSs) Marilu Simeone, Salah Ibrahim, and Dr. Lauren Entes; Deputy District Manager Dr. Chelsea Buckley; CSIs Bessie Bouras, Marianna Dergalo, Patricia Soares, and Harish Kannikkanari.

Back row, from left: CSIs Penghui Zhen, Ben Xu, Roland Ebegbe, Carlos Luz, Crystal Chan, Aung Soe, Luis Velez, Nicholas Sgobba, Eric Sasu, Mobeen Sohail, John Parisi, Merwyn Wang, James Franzakis, Jessica Lewis, Aida Custodio and Keith Stahl; Slobodjian; CSIs Jared Halman, Danilo Go-Pinas, Daniel Strauss, Patrick Newton, Manases Suazo, Aleksandr Lyba, Sean Santini and Jun Xia; Dr. Gill; CSIs Vladimir Lyba, Vincent Ting, Imtiaz Ali, Wai Or, Michael Carni, Gavin Liu and Gabriel Schenk; Dr. Greene.

Photo courtesy of FLS Marilu Simeone. 

Arlington, Va.

On Dec. 2-6, FSIS new supervisors took part in an in-person section of the Hybrid New Supervisor Training Program (H-NSTP). The goal of the training is to prepare new supervisors for the challenges of their leadership roles and to emphasize supervisory behaviors that encompass the knowledge, skills and other attributes required to build high-performance teams.

Pictured, back row, from left: Chief Operating Officer Todd Reed; Office of Management Assistant Administrator (AA) Frank Mays; Frontline Supervisor Bulent Barut; Supervisory Public Health Veterinarian (SPHV) Dr. Eli Blay; Office of Investigation Enforcement and Audit AA Paul Kiecker; OEED Executive Associate of Employee Experience Pete Bridgeman (retired); Office of Public Health Science AA Dr. Kis Robertson-Hale; SPHV Dr. Chandler Drumgoole; Supervisory Consumer Safety Inspectors (SCSIs) Marlyn Boyles and Shaun Woerner; Executive Associate for Regulatory Operations (EARO) William Griffin; SCSIs Frank Estrada and Cedric Strong; SPHV Dr. Heather Ostrander; Supervisory IT Program Manager Troy Wright; SCSI Paul Brown.

Third Row: SPHV Dr. Julia Parker; SCSIs Dominick Telesco and Melissa King; Budget Officer Michael Toner; Supervisory Human Resources Specialist Melissa Merzlak; SCSI Mary Ann Kauffman; SPHV Dr. Maggie Smith; SCSI Brian Duering; Office of Field Operations Deputy AA Melissa Moore; SPHV Dr. Sally Howard; Office of International Coordination (OIC) Region 2 Branch Chief Heather Selig; SPHV Dr. Jason Ray, Supervisory Chemist Stephan Kubota.

Second Row: SCSI Jessica Mullen; SPHV Dr. Michala Brown; SCSI Monica Li; OIC AA Margaret Burns-Rath; SCSIs Elisa Shepperson and Kim Johnson; SPHV Dr. Allie Hoerth; Data Analytics and Innovation Staff Data Analytics Branch Chief Kayla Jennings; Resource Managers Heather Brown and Evette Manrique; SCSI Angela Jones, Supervisory Financial Systems Analyst Tami Russell.

Seated: SPHV Dr. Brianna Essien; Office of Investigation, Enforcement and Audit Deputy AA Robert Witte; Risk Management and Innovations Staff Deputy Director Dr. Selena Kremer-Caldwell; SPHV Dr. Ella Cowan de Wolf; Deputy Administrator Terri Nintemann; Supervisory Compliance Investigator Kassie Romero; SCSI Lawrence Woods; Office of Policy and Program Development AA Rachel Edelstein, OPACE Deputy AA Dexter Johnson; OPACE AA Carol Blake; Office of Planning, Analysis and Risk Management Deputy AA Damon Ranftle; SPHVs Dr. Sarah Dunham and Dr. Satarah Jackson; SCSI Tim Cline.

Photo by H-NSTP Manager Tina Blain.

Las Vegas, Nev.

On Dec. 11, Office of Field Operations Deputy Assistant Administrator Dr. Hany Sidrak spoke at the Intertribal Agricultural Council’s Annual Convention. 

Pictured above: Dr. Sidrak addressed an audience of about 65 tribal citizens, producers, ranchers and farmers.

Photo by Office of the Administrator Staff Officer Alexandra Tarrant.

Pictured above: Dr. Sidrak spoke about the FSIS mission and federal meat and poultry inspection processes. 

Photo by Office of the Administrator Staff Officer Alexandra Tarrant.

Philadelphia, Pa.

The Philadelphia Circuit team held a hygiene item collection drive in support of victims of domestic violence. On Nov. 20, they gave 559 hygiene items to two local women’s shelters. 

Pictured, back row, from left: Consumer Safety Inspector (CSI) Stephen Josephson, Frontline Supervisor Mario Smith and CSI Michael Piotrowski.

Front row, from left: CSIs Muhammad Mahmood, Elisa Lopez and George Lightcap.

Not pictured: CSI William Smith. 

Photo by an establishment employee.