Multi-Skilled Tech Sherica Owens and Discharge Nurse Shawanka Scott this week became the 30th and 31st JPS team members to sign the enormous sneaker that resides in a case on the reception desk in the Cardiac Medical Unit.
“Most people refer to it as ‘the giant shoe,’ but we call it the ‘Walk the Walk Award,’” said Cardiac Medical Unit RN Clinical Manager Glenn Carr. “We wanted to do something to celebrate people who, simply, are nice. Nice in that they’re helpful to team members in this department and others. Nice to patients. They’re just people who are great to work with, the ones who don’t just say they’re going to do things. They just get them done.”
To get the right to autograph their name on the shoe, a team member has to be nominated by a coworker and then get the most responses when a vote is taken every quarter among the 45 or so employees in the Cardiac Medical Unit. After the winning team member signs, the shoe is put back under its clear plastic cover for everyone who walks by to admire. This time, because the voting was so close, Carr decided to have the two top vote getters sign the shoe.
When Owens and Scott were asked how badly they wished they’d get a chance someday to sign their name on the Walk the Walk trophy, they both modestly they hadn’t given the issue much thought and that it was nice just to be considered.
“What are you talking about?” A nearby teammate interjected. “You know you’ve been walking past that every day looking at it.”
Owens and Scott burst into laughter.
“Really, I just love people and I love what I do,” Owens said. “It’s not about recognition. It’s about making a difference. But it’s an honor to have the people you work with say they appreciate you.”
Whether or not Owens dreamed of putting her name on the shoe, Scott said there is no doubt her coworker truly deserves it.
“She really is the nicest person,” said Scott who, even as she was being honored for being nice, couldn’t help but be a gracious team player. “I’ve never heard her say no when someone asks her for something.”
Scott added that she, too, loves working in the Cardiac Department and that her job is its own reward. She said patients there tend to come back frequently and that she appreciates developing a bond with them.
“You get a chance to build a rapport,” Scott said. “I know it’s important to patients to see a friendly, familiar face when they come here.”
Carr said he found the giant shoe, which at one point was a display in a footwear store, about 13 years ago. The shop was going out of business and he asked if he could buy the promotional high top sneaker not as a trophy, just because he thought it was cool. The owner agreed to part ways with the shoe and sold it to Carr for $10.
The massive sneaker spent a few years at Carr’s house before he decided to bring it to JPS and let his entire staff enjoy it. He’s glad to see it being used in a way that makes people happy.
“When people ask me where I work and I tell them, sometimes I get a blank stare and they tell me they don’t know where that is,” Carr said. “So I say my office is by the big shoe and they say ‘Oh, I know where THAT is!’”