Newest EOM “rolls up her sleeves by writing away”

It is summer time, school is out, and the entire BLS/LearnKey family is totally focused on a successful second half of the year. One of our big productions at LearnKey this summer is a feature course on Internet and Computer Core Certification (IC3) GS5 that is an anchor learning program throughout our vocational and K-12 customers.

Because teamwork is the only way for us to achieve success in such a production it gives me great pleasure to recognize someone who has truly displayed TEAMWORK the entire way: Ms. Brittni Traynor from our Cedar City office!

This is what her nominating peer had to say about her “can do” attitude when it comes to her contributions: “Brittni Traynor exemplifies BLS/LearnKey’s core values of Ease, Value, and Trust. LearnKey’s production team has been feverishly working as we prepare our upcoming IC3 GS5 training and Brittni’s role as the lead writer has given her ample opportunity to demonstrate her dedication to the project and her team.

You can trust Brittni—during a recent conversation with a co-worker who expressed concern about making sure we were going to meet our writing deadline, she simply responded to him by saying ‘Of course we will, we’ll find a way and make it happen.’ And she did.”

We wanted to share not only Brittni’s success but also some recent Q&A with her about life outside of work:

Where were you born? I was born in Rexburg, Idaho. We didn’t live there very long, I claim Portland, Oregon as my home base, it is where I grew up and where my family still is.
What is your favorite type of Friday night? If I am not working, I usually spend my Friday nights with my two of my close friends. We usually go to the movies, or dinner, or sometimes go see bands play. It is really nice to kick back with some good friends and just spend some time detoxing from the busy week.
How did you find your way to BLS/LearnKey? I had a friend who had recently started as a Technical Writer; when there was an opening in the Quality Control department, I applied and got the job.
What is it that you like most about your job and why? The people hands down. We have such an amazing and talented group of people here in the Cedar office. I wish I possessed half the talent of the Designers, Writers, and Quality Control teams. We had an office lunch the other day and we were all chatting about some random things, and at one point I thought about what a diverse and amazing group of people we have working in this company. Everyone is seriously so very talented. It’s awesome.
Who at LearnKey taught you something, where after learning it you went “they are smart”? I really believe that I learn something from someone every day in this company. But, the person who I am constantly learning from is Wyett. From day one, he has pushed me to think differently and to look for the details other people may not notice.
Give us a dream vacation spot you want to visit one day? I would really love to go to Nepal with my BFF Jill. She went there a few years ago to volunteer with the Butterfly Home Project. I love hearing all of her stories and would absolutely love the opportunity to go and volunteer there.
What is your ideal dream job? Well, I am not totally sure what my ideal dream job would be. One of my biggest passions is helping other people find their potential and helping them to grow and become the best, most authentic version of themselves. Ideally, my dream job would allow me to incorporate that passion with whatever it is I am doing.
The boss is coming for dinner and wants you to cook the meal. What will you cook? I absolutely love to cook. My dad is a chef, so I was constantly interested in it as a child. If it were only Jeff coming for dinner, I would probably make some sort of pizza, because I know it is one of his favorite things to eat when he is traveling without Lori. If it were Jeff and Lori though, I would probably make Pollo en Mole. Because it is one of my favorite things to make.
If you could gift someone $100,000 who would it be and why? This is hard for me, because there are many charities that I adore. I would probably choose to donate some to the Trevor Project, which focuses on suicide prevention efforts among LGBTQ youth: https://www.thetrevorproject.org/, as well as to the Butterfly Home Project. The Butterfly Home is a center in Nepal dedicated to the children of imprisoned women. In Nepal, if a mother goes to prison, and no one can take her children, the child is also imprisoned and the conditions are terrible. I have been able to learn about it through my dearest friend Jill, who volunteered there a few years ago. It is such an amazing organization: https://ecdcnepal.org/newportal/about-us/

We really enjoy sharing these wonderful employees we have at Better Learning Systems and hope you will continue to check back and learn about other successes team members are having as we take our BLS Journey.

Kind Regards,
Jeff Coruccini, CEO

Welcome to the LearnKey Team: Beth Ciaramello

Please join me in welcoming Beth Ciaramello to LearnKey, supporting our Veteran Services team as our Job Ready Manager. Beth will be leading a new initiative finding employment for the students who complete our Blue Ocean program. Beth is a former military veteran who joins the team with five years of experience as a Career Adviser and possesses the tools and skills necessary to successfully place students in careers related to their field of study.

We are thrilled to have her join our team and take a minute to learn more about Beth and her new role.

What is your professional background prior to being employed at LearnKey? I was with Everest College for six years. I started as the receptionist and quickly moved to Career Services. I was a Career Counselor for five years and successfully assisted over 500 graduates in meeting their professional goals.
What is your military background? I was in the U.S. Army and served as a Military Police for one year. I was injured and received an honorable medical discharge. I am honored and lucky to be able to serve veterans and students in my new role with LearnKey.
As the new LearnKey Veteran Services Job Ready Manager, how will your previous professional and military experience help you prepare veterans to find a job? As a Career Advisor for the last four years, I have a considerable amount of experience assisting graduates in finding careers in various fields. As a veteran, I also was the unofficial veteran liaison in the department, specifically writing resumes and preparing veterans for interviews.
As a veteran, in 50 words or fewer, describe how your skills and experiences will be a benefit to the LKVS team. The United States Military trains individuals to be disciplined, motivated, and have strong teamwork and camaraderie. I am diligent and motivated to ensure all our graduates receive the assistance they need to meet their goals. I also bring with me my loyalty and initiative to assist my coworkers with any challenge they may face.
What are the top three tips you would give to students who are just starting the job search?
1. Be Prepared – Graduates/students starting a job search should have all the tools to search for positions. For example, resumes geared toward the position, interview questions and practice, and research, research, research—know the companies they are applying to.
2. Stay Organized – Document the positions that they applied to and the results. This makes it easier to follow up with each company and know what to research when the interview is scheduled.
3. Stay Positive – The job-searching process can be overwhelming. It is essential to stay positive and focused on the goal no matter how long it may take to find the ideal career. If a student or graduate loses sight of their goals they can reach out to LearnKey or friends and family to help motivate them and stay on track. In addition, networking can be the best way to finiding the perfect professional position.
What five words would you use to describe yourself? Passionate, empathetic, energetic, adventurous, and strong.
What do you do in your free time? I love to travel, be outdoors, go hiking, camping, and swimming. I would rather listen to hours of music than turn on the TV. I enjoy spending quality time with my friends, family, and my dogs. I am addicted to new experiences and I see every day as an adventure and enjoy finding something new to learn.

With the overwhelming success of our Blue Ocean program, we are really excited to offer this new service to those who have completed the Blue Ocean program.

Welcome to the LearnKey Team: Jason Manibog

Today we are thrilled to announce that Jason Manibog will join LearnKey as our resident expert IT Instructor. Jason is a seasoned Microsoft Certified Trainer with over a decade of award-winning classroom experience and another seven years of experience building, authoring, and delivering on-camera and live demos in a large variety of e-learning courses. Adding Jason, who has the perfect blend of experience and training skills, enables LearnKey to continue to deliver the best possible learning experience through our IT & Career Ready Certification courseware.

Some of you may recognize Jason. While it is possible you might have seen him sinking some putts at a local golf course, you probably have seen him in some of our previous IT courses, such as SharePoint 2013, Windows Server 2012 Server Infrastructure Design and Implementation, and Windows Server 2012 Advanced Server Infrastructure Implemention.

He is a great guy and I recently had a chance to interview him, as this was a pretty exciting hire for LearnKey! He has worked with several of our production and writing staff members previously, therefore, we know he’s all about our core values: ease, value, and trust. He’s always been professional and easy to work with, has great value in the accuracy of his work, and our team members went out of their way to tell me how much they trust his delivery of our content on camera. Day one and he already has raving fans in the company!

Please take a minute to learn more about Jason through a fun Q&A:

What is your educational background? I majored in Communications and minored in Speech at Cal State University Dominguez Hills. Growing up, I was always told I talked too much, so I figured that is what I should do. More recently, I have been a Microsoft Certified Trainer (MCT) for six years now. I have multiple Microsoft, CompTIA, Adobe, and other industry-recognized certifications.
What is your professional background prior to being employed at LearnKey? For most of the past 15 years, I have been a computer trainer in the classroom and have done the occasional business consulting (and even built courses for LearnKey!). I have also authored several computer training books specifically for the computer training center market.
Describe effective learning techniques or ideas you hope to bring to LearnKey courseware. I always try to use a good mixture of the three main methods of learning: auditory, visual, and kinesthetic (using humor works, too). Plus, I try to make the material relate to real-life situations as much as possible. My goal is to help people reach both their certification and career goals.
What five words would you use to describe yourself? Energetic, driven, humorous, kind, and caring.
What are three tips every student learning online could benefit from?
1. If you feel like studying, study. If you don’t, don’t. The worst time to try to take a course is when you don’t feel like doing it.
2. Take breaks from watching and practice. The courses we build will have plenty of chances for practice.
3. Try to relate any learning to a real-life situation. For example, if you are trying to learn Excel, build some Excel files for items such as a home budget or expenses. In other words, don’t just take the course, DO the course.
In 50 words or fewer, describe what skills and knowledge you will bring to the LearnKey team. I have always tried to be as versatile of an instructor as possible, both in being able to write and deliver courses and explain things in many different ways. My goal is to bring that forward with the outstanding team I am privileged to join.
If you could be a super hero, what would you want your superpowers to be?
1. Cure multiple sclerosis.
2. Reverse this trend of more and more empty hair follicles on my head.
3. Get better at golf.
What do you do in your free time? Spend time with my beautiful wife Joan and our two adorable cats, Ivey and Luske. And, continue the never-ending quest of trying to be halfway decent at golf. I also watch a ton of baseball and hockey.

We are glad to have you on our team, Jason, and are looking forward to your positive impact on our courses!

Newest Employee of the Month Helps out wherever she can!

After just over six (6) months on the job our newest employee of the month has taken a “can do” attitude along with a great “team first” mentality.

That is why it gives me great pleasure to introduce Jenna Welch as this month’s Better Learning Systems/LearnKey employee of the month! Not only has she learned various roles on the LearnKey Veteran Services team she is also cross-trained in areas of our client services and accounting support groups as well. This just further demonstrates her ability to be flexible and take on projects that are not only in her area of expertise but outside her responsibility. A true utility player on our team!

Check out what her nominating manager had to say about Jenna’s performance to date “Jenna Welch has shown us that she can adapt and change to what is needed to complete a project or task. She is extremely easy to work with and has already achieved Word & Excel 2013 Microsoft Certification. I trust that when I ask her to take on a task or project that she will complete it on time if not sooner. Jenna has proven to be a valued team player and we look forward to what we can accomplish with her as a part of the LearnKey family”.

Take a minute to get to know Jenna on the personal side with this fun Q & A:

How many siblings do you have? 11 altogether (2 brothers, 2 sisters, 2 sisters-in-law, and 5 brothers-in-law)
What is your favorite movie? Star Wars!
What is your favorite band? No longer together would have to be Johnny Cash and the Tennessee Three, or the original E Street Band (RIP, Clarence Clemons). Currently together…it’s a toss-up between Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls, The Gaslight Anthem, The Menzingers, Against Me!, and Alkaline Trio. Please don’t make me pick just one!
What is your favorite vacation spot? I love the mountains, but my most memorable vacation was in Tokyo
What was your high school’s mascot? Panthers
What is the weirdest combination of foods you have eaten? Brownies and garlic cheese spread (delicious, by the way)
What is/was the name of your favorite pet? My family had two tomcats named Thomas and O’Malley
What was your first car? ’98 Dodge Intrepid (not recommended without a bottomless maintenance budget)
If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be? India
Would you rather sky dive, bungee jump, zip line, or parasail? Definitely zip line
What is the funniest saying you have heard working here? Any/every time someone besides Brian says “Are we done here?”
If you could eat dinner with anyone from the past, present, or future, who would it be and why? My grandpa passed away last summer so I would love to have one more conversation with him.

While I agree that Jenna tells the truth not sure I am ready to try Brownies and garlic cheese spread just yet!

Please join me in congratulating Jenna on this award as we are delighted to have her as part of our Better Learning Systems family.

Regards,

Jeff

Training the Planet–One Certification at a Time

BLS Vision poster

We’ve talked a lot this year about job training and industry certification, and not just because LearnKey is an elearning company. Industry certification is one of the little things that sets a candidate apart when applying for a job. Continuing education is what helps an employee keep their job in an ever-changing technological landscape.

LearnKey’s mission is to create flexible expert learning solutions – solutions that work for everyone because they are not only easy to use, but they are extremely engaging and interactive. Our goal is to train the planet through a better learning experience.

At the beginning of the year, Jeff Coruccini, Chief Executive Officer of LearnKey, challenged our employees to use LearnKey’s training to earn at least one certification in their respective fields. This served the dual purpose of (a) helping employees to gain additional training and achieve certification, and (b) giving all employees the chance to experience our training and give feedback on how to improve our products. Several employees have taken Jeff up on his challenge and during 2014 LearnKey helped the following employees achieve certification:

Aaron Colborn – Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Adobe Illustrator CS6
Brad Washburn – Adobe Dreamweaver CS6
Chad Stocks – Microsoft Excel 2013
KaeLee DeMille – IC3 Global Standards 4, Microsoft Word 2013
Kim Johnson – Microsoft Excel 2013
Marian Eckley – Adobe Premiere Pro CS6, Adobe Illustrator CS6
Rob McNeil – Adobe Premiere Pro CS6

LearnKey’s Veteran Services team has also been busy this year helping veterans to become certified. There are currently over 300 veterans enrolled in LearnKey’s Blue Ocean and Certify for Life programs with each student working toward several certifications. One of our first Blue Ocean graduates was Tristan Roberts, who earned A+, Network+, Security+, Word, Outlook, and Excel certifications this year, and now works for LearnKey on our Veteran Services team.

Congratulations to all those who have earned certifications this year and in previous years, and good luck to all those to are studying to become certified.

Happy Veterans Day!

Today is Veterans Day and I want to start off by saying THANK YOU to all of the brave men and women who have served or are currently serving our country. I would also like to say THANK YOU to my Grandpa Ramsay who served in the Army and fought in the Korean War (1950-53). I have learned so much from him and am so grateful for the sacrifices he made for this country.

At LearnKey we are proud to have both Veterans and active duty military on our team. On this day I want to recognize and thank them for their service. THANK YOU to Michael Watson, Kelly Woods, Aaron Colborn, Jessica Staples, and Tristan Roberts. We are grateful for your service and proud to have you all on the LearnKey team. I asked Michael, Kelly, Aaron, Jessica, and Tristan to share a little bit about their experiences. I hope everyone enjoys reading about their experiences as much as I did.

Michael Watson – Has worked at LearnKey for for 15 years. But Scott Walker was here a year before me. =)

What branch of the military did you serve in? U.S. Navy
How many years did you serve? 4 years
What were you trained in? Communication Technician Radioman & Yeoman
Reflections on your service: I was stationed on the island of Ohau, Hawaii. Based in Pearl Harbor and worked for CINCPAC (a joint command in the mountains overlooking the island) for three years. Not the typical sailor’s tour of duty, but I had it made for my entire four years including one at sea on an attack carrier. I would never trade those four years.

Kelly Woods – Has worked at LearnKey for 2 years

What branch of the military did you serve in? Currently serving in the Army Reserve
How many years did you serve? I have currently been serving for 3 1/2 years
What were you trained in? My MOS (Military Occupational Specialty) is a 68J/Medical logistics Specialist
Reflections of your service: It has been very rewarding to go into the service at an older age. I was 39 when I went through basic training and I learned how old I was then! =) However, through perseverance and dedication I was able to grow tremendously. I find that I love the freedoms that we have in this country and I am proud to be one of the soldiers who defend those freedoms!

Aaron Colborn – Has worked at LearnKey for 9 months

Aaron

What branch of the military did you serve in? Air Force
How many years did you serve? 6 years in England, Italy, Spain, and Kuwait.
What were you trained in? I was trained to work on the LANTIRN system (Low Altitude Navigation and Targeting Infra Red for Night). Basically, radar navigation and laser bomb targeting for F-15’s and F-16’s.
I personally had a very good experience, it taught me how to be responsible for myself and others as well as giving me the tools to work as part of a team, something that has been very helpful in the rest of my life. It also put me through school. I used the GI Bill to follow my dream of going to film school. Now I have a BA in Film Studies and didn’t have to pay a penny. I have zero school debt.

Jessica Staples – Has worked at LearnKey for 7 months

What branch of the military did you serve in? U.S. Navy
How many years did you serve? 4 years
What were you trained in? I was a Cryptological Technician. Basically, I analyzed various radar characteristics (what frequencies they ran on, what vessels or aircraft used them, which ones were navigational, which ones were used for weapons systems). I did a lot of investigating, picture taking, logging. It was a cushy, but necessary job on the ship.
Reflections of your service: I really enjoyed traveling. As awful as it was being stuck on a ship for weeks at a time, or on deployment for months at a time, the port visits to foreign countries made it all worth it. I’ve been to Japan, Hong Kong, Palau, Dubai, other areas of the Middle East, Alaska, Guam, and a few others I can’t think of. Experiencing other cultures really made me respect diversity and food. I would give almost anything to experience it all again. Well, the traveling…not the deck swabbing. =)

Tristan Roberts – Has worked at LearnKey for 3 months

What branch of the military did you serve in? U.S. Navy
How long did you serve? 4 years
What were you trained in? I was a Hospital Corpsman (GreenSide) Trained in med/field medicine
Reflections of your service: Best decision I made was joining the military

LearnKey’s Certification Challenge

Jeff Coruccini, Chief Executive Officer of LearnKey, started this year with a goal of helping and encouraging every employee to become certified in their respective industries using our video courseware. The race was on to see which employee was going to be able to earn their certification first. The answer, drum roll please, Marian Eckley and Aaron Colborn! Both employees work out of the Salt Lake City Studio and are now Adobe Certified Associates in Premiere Pro CS6. Then, just two days later Rob McNeil, who also works in the Salt Lake Studio, earned the same certification. They like to call themselves the elite team. The jury is still out on that one.

Not only have these employees answered the challenge of become certified, but they also used LearnKey’s Premiere Pro CS6 course to earn their certifications. This gave our video production team an excellent opportunity to see firsthand what worked and what didn’t. Since then, we have been able to film and edit our Premiere Pro Creative Cloud course. We were able to take what we learned and pull those changes into our new course. We are looking forward to releasing this new and improved course and can’t wait to share it with everyone!

The list of employees who have earned certifications this year continues to grow:

Kim Johnson, Director of Client Services and Support, earned her Microsoft Office Specialist in Excel 2013 Certification
KaeLee DeMille, Technical Writer, earned her IC3 Global Standards 4 Certification
Brad Washburn, Online Content and Social Media Manger, earned his Web Communication using Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 Certification

As you can see Jeff’s goal of having employees become certified is catching on and changing how we produce our courses with a higher level of competence. Congratulations to all those employees who have earned certifications both this year and in previous years, and good luck to those studying to become certified!

Employee of the Month: LearnKey.com has a raving fan!

That is correct, our very own Colin Bell has been working hard to improve the user experience when navigating learnkey.com. His approach really demonstrates “less is more” as you can see from our home page and how we focus on students, educators, veterans and corporate enterprises.

This was no easy task, and for that he has been recognized as Better Learning Systems employee of the month. His hard work truly demonstrates and lives up to our core values: ease, value and trust. The site is much easier to understand, our value is in the quality of our courses with new releases up front and he trusted the input of his team members when planning the improvements. Colin had to accept a ton of feedback, sometimes not getting clear enough direction and last minute changes – he handled all of it just like a true team player.

Here’s what one of the nominating leaders had to say about Colin:

“We would like to acknowledge Colin this month for his outstanding work in updating and streamlining our website LearnKey.com. With his attention to detail he has created a cleaner and more user friendly website. Colin has been a trusted team player who ensures that we are representing our brand in a professional manner. We are truly grateful to have him as a part of our LearnKey family.”

A perfect example of someone putting passion around his work.

We’d like to share with you some fun questions and answers so you can get to know Colin too:

Continue reading “Employee of the Month: LearnKey.com has a raving fan!”

Newest Employee of the Month: Outstanding, Amazing, Invaluable and more!

“Outstanding”, “Amazing”, “Invaluable” – Those were the words used to describe Rikki McKim, our newest LearnKey employee of the month.

Rikki is a customer service champion known for a keen sense of how to “connect” with students, teachers and learners so she can help them use our LearnKey education courseware and OnlineExpert Learning Management System for the best experience. Anyone who has ever spent time with Rikki quickly understands why we feel so fortunate to have her as part of our team. She truly cares about our customers and values their commitment to us as a learning provider.

Here’s what her leader had to say:

“I value her knowledge and her ability to dig in and understand our systems better. Her customer service skills are outstanding. Rikki is extremely easy to work with and truly cares about her coworkers and our customers”.

There is a saying “happy employees create happy customers” and this is living proof that it works!

Learn some fun facts about Rikki:

Continue reading “Newest Employee of the Month: Outstanding, Amazing, Invaluable and more!”

LearnKey’s Newest EOM: Making a difference one Veteran at a time!

One of the greatest things our employees do everyday is focus on how they can make a positive difference in the learning experience. In our Salt Lake City office where we shoot the courses with our experts, our production crew is making sure the objectives are covered and we cover the right topics. In Cedar City where we produce the courses tying in video, technical writing and graphic design ,once again its about how can we drive the best learning experience making our courses easy to understand.

Then there is our LearnKey veteran services team that is working hard to help every veteran who goes through our program to counsel and support them making sure they stay on track and meet all their milestones.

This is where our newest Better Learning Systems/LearnKey employee of the month Corin Saunders works hard to “make a difference” – not only for our veteran students, but also working to improve our systems and processes we use each and every day.

Following her nomination, here is what here manager had to say:

“Corin joined the Veteran Services team in April of this year, and from day one she has had a huge impact on the team and the students that we support. She has truly immersed herself into the position and become an expert in all of the multi-platform education programs that we provide. In the interviewing process, Corin made it clear that she loves to help people and feel that she is making a difference. That is very apparent in her work with over 100 Veterans with whom she communicates on a regular basis. She dispenses just the right amount of compassion and tough love to help our students to make the most of their time with LearnKey and gain the certifications they need to advance their careers”.

We are so fortunate to have Corin as part of our team, and for fun, let us share a little bit of insight to her personally by way of these questions:

Continue reading “LearnKey’s Newest EOM: Making a difference one Veteran at a time!”