Never Forget
Each year on September 11th, the Howard County Fire and Rescue Services Honor Guard participates in multiple events to honor those lost in the 9/11/2001 attacks. This year, as part of the Honor Guard, Jessica Csitar began her day at the George Howard building in Howard County Maryland and participated in the wreath laying ceremony.
8:46 a.m. The ceremony began at the George Howard building in Howard County Maryland, marking the time the first plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center.
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball, fellow elected officials and command members from the County Police and Fire Departments and Howard County Sheriff’s Office, honored and paid tribute to all who lost their lives during the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, including the four victims from Howard County, with a remembrance wreath laying ceremony.
9:37 a.m. After then traveling to Ellicott City Fire Department Station 2, the Honor Guard assembled to mark the time that the third plane hit the Pentagon.
9:59 a.m. The collapse of the South tower was honored with a ceremonial bell ringing, a salute, and a moment of silence which was broadcast across all Howard County Fire Stations via radio.
10:28 a.m. The collapse of the North tower was honored with a ceremonial bell ringing, a salute, and a moment of silence which again was broadcast across the county.
The Honor Guard teams then divided and traveled to both the Ellicott City Mission BBQ and Columbia Mission BBQ to participate in a community event with other fire departments, police departments, and military organizations in a final ceremony at noon which included bagpipes and the national anthem.
“I am very proud to be able to honor the events of that day each year. This year I carried the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue Services flag (blue). At the top are black streamers with the names of all the firefighters and EMT’s from Howard County who have died in the line of duty. It is the heaviest of our flags, both physically and emotionally. ”
Next step… Triathlons!
Jessica doesn’t believe in taking the easy way out – she has started triathlons and has already inspired other employees of the JCJ Consulting team to compete in a relay triathlon.
On June 16th I participated in my first triathlon race. I opted for the sprint distance for my first triathlon and found a local one with the Columbia Association Triathlon. This triathlon was a pool swim of 500M, a bike ride of 10mi, and a 5k run. My goal was to complete the race in less than an hour, and I came in at 1:44:39. This race was a great starter race with small rolling hills for the bike and run, and the pool swim was far less intimidating than an open water swim. After completing this race, I'm definitely hooked. There will be more triathlons in my future!
On July 7th I participated in my second triathlon race! This was another sprint distance race like the one I did in Columbia. For this race we did a 300M swim, 10mi bike ride, and finished with a 5k run. This race went much smoother for me. I had a great swim and felt like I really pushed myself on the bike. The route was fairly flat with a few minor hills. The highlight was riding the bicycle over train tracks a bit faster than I cared to. They warned us to come out of the drop and even though I did that and was on the breaks pretty steady it still was uncomfortable! Neither the bike nor I sustained any damage so I must have done it right. The run was hot but uneventful and other than the well water they were handing out was much like any other run. Great triathlon for beginners. In the end I survived and think I'll be looking towards my next race.
It only takes one person to inspire others and the relay team is ready to go. The rest of us will be cheering you on!
Racing For a Cause
While others were picnicking on July 4th, Jessica C. was running the Arbutus Firecracker 10k. This race supported two organizations: the Southwest Visions Foundation (SWV) and the Blind Industries Services of Maryland (BISM).
“The race was incredibly hot, and the hills were no joke, and it took me 1:20:00 to complete the 6.2 miles. The race was well organized and we ran down the parade route at one point of the run. This race gets a lot of community participation as many members of the community along the race route put out hoses and sprinklers to help keep the runners cool. There were also parts where community members were handing out popsicles and water. Though the heat was pretty rough, the run was still fun. Several friends of mine from the Howard County Fire Department ran this race with me to support the community.” - Jessica
Thanks to Jessica from all of us for spending her holiday to support this race!
SWV addresses the needs surrounding quality of life, environment, equity and economic development of Southwest Baltimore County. The funds raised will support fourth of July festivities in the southwest corridor.
BISM supports the blind community by providing stable and rewarding career opportunities, innovative rehabilitation programs, economic and personal independence, and appropriate resources for training and education. Together we are positively changing attitudes about blindness.
You can learn more about supporting these organizations at:
DC Dynasty
JCJ is excited to sponsor DC Dynasty, the Men’s Volleyball team representing the Washington, DC metro area in the Volleyball League of America.
Dynasty recently completed their first season with a 19-3 record and 56 points. They finished as runner-up in the Eastern Cup and took first place in the Tier 2 Championship.
Looking forward to seeing more great things from them in the future!
FIRST Robotics
JCJ Consulting supports employee engagement within their communities and is proud to sponsor a FIRST Robotics Competition team- FRC Team 2377, C Company from Chesapeake High School. JCJ employees are actively involved in the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) program at multiple levels, from teaching software development and system integration to students on one local team to volunteering at competitions and organizing training workshops for all Maryland teams.
FIRST is an international non-profit, whose mission is “to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders and innovators, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering, and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.
Team 2377 Compete in the First World Championship in Detroit,MI.
Team 2377 had a great qualifier in the ARCHIMEDES division at worlds. Finishing in the top 20 teams! Great Season Team 2377!
Team 2377 Competes in Chesapeake District Championship at University of Maryland
Team 2377 qualified in the District Championship to go to the 2018 First World Championship in Detroit Michigan and won the District Safety Award! Those guys sure are safe!
JCJ Consulting Welcomes Mary Robidoux as Chief Operation Officer
Mary Robidoux has more than 37 years of experience providing technology solutions for the Intelligence Community. She has a BS in Computer Science from University of Maryland, College Park and a MS in Computer Science from Johns Hopkins, Whiting School of Engineering.
Mary has held jobs as the leader of large organizations performing research, development and deployment of technology solutions to Analysis, Signals Intelligence and Cyber Operations organizations. She has been on the forefront of introducing state-of-the-art technology solutions to transform critical mission operations. Mary has a diverse background managing organizations and programs as a senior executive for the National Security Agency, a Program Manager for several major efforts and as a Lead Systems Engineer.
JCJ is excited to have Mary added to our leadership team!
Team 2377 Competes in District Central Maryland Event in South River MD
Team 2377 was ranked 10 out of 38 teams in the District Central Maryland Event, made it to the eliminations Rounds playing through the Semi-Finals and won the 2018 Chesapeake Central Maryland District Safety Award! They ended the season ranked 21st at of 125 teams in the FIRST FRC Chesapeake District.
Great job to all C Company Team members and all the teams at the Central Maryland Competition!
Team 2377 Competes in Greater DC Regional Event for First Robotics in Alexandria VA
Team 2377 was ranked 6 out of 38 teams in the district qualifier, made it to the eliminations Rounds and won the 2018 Chesapeake District Greater DC Safety Award! Great Job C Company!
JCJ Consulting mentors future software engineers on Scrum Based Agile Development Life-Cycle
Michael Colaric, JCJ's Chief Technical Officer, mentors the 2377 Controls Team on Scrum Based Agile Software Development Life-Cycle
