[Press Release] : Jonette Ford, Dr. Vellore Gopalaratnam and Office of Creative Ministries named Diversity Award winners

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Office of Community Services - (573) 874-7488 (v), 874-7356
(tty)

Jonette Ford, Dr. Vellore Gopalaratnam and Office of Creative
Ministries named Diversity Award winners

COLUMBIA, MO (January 17, 2008) - Jonette Ford and Dr. Vellore
“Gopal” Gopalaratnam were named co-winners of the individual
award and the Office of Creative Ministries was the
organizational winner of the 11th Annual Columbia Values Diversity
Awards. The awards were
given at this morning’s Columbia Values Diversity Celebration at the
Holiday Inn Select Expo
Center.

The awards are given to an individual/family and an organization/group
that have made
significant contributions in promoting appreciation for diversity and
cultural understanding in
Columbia.

Jonette Ford
Jonette Ford is a fifth grade teacher at West Boulevard Elementary
School, a model school for
raising achievement for academically struggling student populations in
the Columbia Public
School District. After working in the textiles and apparel industry
immediately following college,
she returned to the University of Missouri-Columbia to work on her
bachelor’s and master’s
degrees in education. Jonette had her first taste of teaching as a
minority intern with the district.In her first year of teaching, she was
named Outstanding Beginning Teacher by the Columbia
Fund for Academic Excellence.

In pursuit of her goal of increased academic achievement for minority
children, Jonette
integrates the issues of social justice, tolerance and civil rights in
the classroom. One recent
classroom project was the creation of a Civil Rights Museum which
filled the halls of West
Boulevard and depicted key moments in black history. Jonette invited
the entire community to
visit the museum and the community responses to the museum were glowing
with statements
such as “This is the most impressive project I’ve seen at the
elementary grade level.” Jonette
also works with her students to develop personal histories and stories
to connect their lives to
history. The project requires students to interview relatives and
create short films.

Jonette has also been published in the National Council for the Social
Studies magazine Social
Studies and the Young Learner. Her article, “Making Democracy an
Active Force in Students’
Lives,” describes her philosophy of linking literacy and social
studies; resulting in student
learning of how to live democracy, not just knowing how to define it.

Jonette’s work in the classroom engages students and plants seeds for
recognizing the
importance of accepting diversity. As a teacher, Jonette is a leader
who molds the minds of her
students as Dr. King believed a genuine leader should do.

Dr. Vellore “Gopal” Gopalaratnam
Dr. Vellore “Gopal” Gopalaratnam, a Columbia resident since 1985,
is a professor of civil
engineering at the University of Missouri and also serves as the
president of the executive
board of the newly established Hindu Temple and Community Center of
Mid-Missouri (HTCC),
Shanthi Mandir. He is married to Anantha and has two daughters who were
born and raised in
Columbia.

Throughout his life, Gopal has complimented his professional and
personal accomplishments
with a tremendous amount of community service, often leading by
example. He has been a
community organizer in the Columbia Indian community since the early
1990’s. During this time,
he has also been actively involved on an ongoing basis with service
projects for the Columbia
Public Schools, Central Missouri Food Bank, St. Francis House, City of
Columbia, MU student
organizations and the Columbia and Mid-Missouri interfaith community.

Inspired by the teachings of great individuals like Rev. Martin Luther
King and Mahatma Gandhi,
Gopal has attempted to, in a small and local way, enrich the community
by enhancing dialogue,
promoting diversity, learning to be tolerant, fostering equality and
celebrating shared human
values.

Office of Creative Ministries
The Office of Creative Ministries began as a statewide Office of Town
and Country Ministries of
the United Methodist Church. The organization was transformed under the
leadership of Rev.
Mel West when he was named director in 1965. At that time, the
organization was renamed “the
Office of Creative Ministries” and undertook an expanded mission:
“Appropriate response to
identifiable human need.”

The Office of Creative Ministries expanded rapidly, always discovering
and promoting new ways
for congregations in Columbia and around the state to reach out to
those in need. This has
included such programs as: Heifer International (a program that helps
families help themselves
by providing training and farm animals to improve their livelihood),
PATCH (a ministry for
children whose parents are in prison), Habitat for Humanity, the
Festival of Sharing, disaster
response (such as the floods of ‘93 and ’95, tornadoes of ‘03 and
the Gulf Coast hurricanes),
and Volunteers in Mission.

Both the message and the ministry of The Office of Creative Ministries
have consistently been
an example of Dr King’s values. The group’s social justice efforts
have been broad-ranging and
include: caring for the earth, prison ministry, racial justice, working
for peace, gender
inclusiveness and outreach to persons with disabilities. Also, there is
strong intentionality
toward inclusiveness in the governing board, the projects chosen and
people participating.

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