Kulesa Named Employee of the Quarter at Waymart

​SCI Waymart’s Employee of the Quarter for the third quarter of 2023 is Sgt. Thomas Kulesa. His nomination form read:

Thomas has been a dedicated ICU corrections officer for the past 18+ years. He has a certain set of skills or a gift that not many people have or can acquire working with the vulnerable population of mental health inmates. He has the ability to not only work with difficult inmates but have them thriving on the unit, and he never even has to raise his voice. I have personally seen inmates on the unit that have never spoken before or left their cell and Tom can always find a way to communicate with the inmate and have them out of the cell walking around and talking with him, laughing and sharing stories or their favorite sports teams. Tom has always supported the activities department and helps with second shift activities, mural ideas and holiday contests. He is the go-to guy in a crisis and takes on all roles of the ICU team on second shift when the ICU team is unavailable or gone for the day. He is responsible, trustworthy, courteous, cooperative, caring and consistent. He has always been the natural leader of the ICU second shift team and an all­ around nice guy to work with. His leadership qualities have led to him securing a sergeant position in the DOC. While he is a tremendous loss to the ICU team, he is an even bigger gain to his CO2 cohorts and the DOC is an even better place having him in this new position.