Lodi’s recreation manager worked hard for certification from national organization
Lodi Recreation Manager Jennifer Winn has become one out of 175 individuals in the State of California and one out of 1,400 nationwide to obtain the Certified Parks and Recreation Professional certification for the National Parks and Recreation Association. Winn received the certification on April 9 and became the first Lodi staff member to receive the certification while working for the city.
“I feel that it gives me a little bit more insight as to how parks and recreation departments and agencies run and helps me do a better job at running and working in my department in my position,” she said.
According to Winn, in order to obtain the certification she had to be in the parks and recreation profession for at least three years and have a four-year college degree. She also had to pass an exam that took her about 10 months to study for.
“There is no class or anything. It’s a book you study from and then you take the exam. It’s a four-hour exam with multiple-choice questions which covers five categories on park and recreations such as operations, programming, human resources, finance and communications,” Winn said.
The exam required Winn to know the “ins and outs” of the parks and recreation agencies, such as what it means to oversee a parks and recreation department and what it means to provide customer service, along with state regulations and laws. She also had to know about operating and funding recreation programs and how to apply for grants.
As a recreation manger for the City of Lodi, Winn is responsible for managing Hutchins Street Square. She oversees all the programs and classes offered at the facility along with the theater, the aquatics program, renting out space at Hutchins Street Square and serving as a liaison between city commissions and the city council.
“The challenges of being a recreation manager are always finding the right funding to run programs and services and providing the best we can for the community,” Winn said.
With the certification, she said she feels more confident in the services that the parks and recreation department provides for the community.
“It will allow me to provide better customer service and knowledge for our community,” she said.
In a year, Winn plans to work towards obtaining her parks and recreation executive certification. Until then she plans to take more classes to further her education.
The parks and recreation executive certification establishes a national standard for managerial, administrative and executive parks and recreation professionals which focuses on knowledge and skills necessary to be successful in those roles.
To get her executive license, she has to maintain her parks and recreations professional certification for two years, and pass another major exam.
“My goal is one day to be a director of a parks and recreation department. Ideally, it would be lovely to be one for the city of Lodi,” Winn said.
She has been working the city’s parks and recreation department since 2010, and finds the job very rewarding.
“I enjoy recreation. I enjoy
“The challenges of being a recreation manager are always finding the right funding to run programs and services and providing the best we can for the community.” JENNIFER WINN, LODI RECREATION MANAGER
providing programs, services and events to our community and developing those and seeing those come to life,” she said. “That was my goal was to put events on and programs on for the people in our community.”
Having been born and raised in Lodi, Winn felt as though it was a huge accomplishment to be able to serve as a recreation manager for Lodi and give back to the community. She feels that obtaining the certification will help her to excel in her career and be able to help the parks and recreations department and others with the knowledge that she has gained.
While Winn may be the first to obtain the certification while working with the city, she is not the only one to receive that accomplishment. Deputy Parks and Recreation Director Cathi DeGroot obtained her Parks and Recreation Professional certification prior to coming to the City of Lodi. In addition, she’s one out of 16 people in the state to have obtained the parks and recreation executive certification.