topside Volume 119 , Issue 1
AUXILIARY LEADERSHIP LINK
From : L2 Auxiliary Leadership Link
The digest of US Coast Guard Auxiliary Activity
Distribution : All Auxiliarists 03 DEC 2021
2020 Commodore Daniel Maxim Award for Excellence in Education
The Public Education Directorate is pleased to announce the selection of Auxiliarist Cono “ Buddy ” Casale of Seventh District ( D7 ), Flotilla 11-10 in Dunedin , Florida as the 2020 Commodore Daniel Maxim Award for Excellence in Education awardee .
Auxiliarist Dennis Kellner of Ninth District-Western Region , Flotilla 47-2 in Green Bay , Wisconsin and Auxiliarist Douglas MacPherson of Eleventh District Northern Region , Flotilla 35 in Gold Country , California are also congratulated for being selected as the regional winners from Atlantic West and Pacific Regions , respectively . They demonstrate exemplary instructor performance and an outstanding spirit of service to members of the public and to Coast Guard Auxiliary members .
The Commodore Daniel Maxim Award for Excellence in Education was established to motivate and inspire the entire Instructor cadre to reach beyond the comfortable or ordinary to achieve the extraordinary . Some of the goals of the Award are to increase the diversity of courses offered by flotillas and additional numbers of classes offered ; to improve Public Education and Member Training Instructor effectiveness and performance ; to improve mentorship of newer or lesser experienced Instructors ; to develop new and innovative teaching methods and techniques ; and to develop new and innovative teaching aids .
Auxiliarist Casale enrolled in the Auxiliary in February 2002 and has consistently volunteered between 75 and 100 hours a year in Public Education and Member Training on top of thousands of additional hours in multiple mission areas . His uniforms are impeccable , and his appearance is always professional . He is a masterful instructor who skillfully runs his classes with respect , tact , and humor . Auxiliarist Casale brings to his classes a wealth of experience and in-depth knowledge of boating skills and safety .
While Auxiliarist Casale readily uses the resources provided by the Coast Guard Auxiliary , he is also exceptionally talented in identifying when there is a need to explain or add to the information to suit the audience and / or boating area . He regularly incorporates information relevant to the local area in addition to the materials either in the textbooks or the PowerPoint slides .
Auxiliarist Casale identified a need to develop a less lengthy course that did not require the purchase of a book . In collaboration with fellow Auxiliarists from the Dunedin Flotilla , he designed and created an Introduction to Basic Coastal Navigation Seminar and presented it to several High School and middle school Algebra Students within the Clearwater and Dunedin , Florida Area . Because of COVID-19 , the 2020 course was conducted via Zoom to the high school classrooms . Over 300 students have experienced this course since its inception in 2017 .
Once the virtual mode of instruction was introduced , Buddy quickly acquired the skills to teach using Zoom . In addition , he encouraged his instructors to join him in the learning journey and most classes in 2020 took place virtually and continue to this day .
From : L2 Auxiliary Leadership Link
The digest of US Coast Guard Auxiliary Activity
All Auxiliarists 04 Jan 2022
The National Training Event scheduled for the third week of January , 2022 is postponed to mid to late March 2022 , subject to confirmation with the hotel . As soon as we confirm hotel availability , we will send out a notice immediately .
Balancing the risk of COVID-19 infection and the scarcity of critical care hospital beds , against protecting the health and safety of our members ,