Forty five students participated in the largest LOOP(ette) ever at Olympic College on December 28.  These students, part of the Workfirst program, worked in groups of 4 or 5.  Some of them had been in the program for several months, others had just been accepted.  Brianna Baker, the program's coordinator, Denny, Joe Teisan and Lorie Waggett acted as coaches, answering questions and providing encourangement and guidance.    Some of what the students said about the experience follows.   “Fun and thought provoking!  I liked the social interaction.  I liked the color post-its.  I liked that the activities that keep you involved.  I liked that it helped me remember the life goals I have which sometimes are easy to forget.  I liked EVERYTHING!  I liked hearing other people, the goal setting,  and realizing I have the power to make things happen for me.  My direction is clearer,   One said, “How in depth this workshop was!  All the areas of improvement I need to plan for.”  And another said, “I liked Loopette because you can draw out your present and future instead of writing.  It helped me a lot.”   

Idea Cards" Good Idea for Meetings  

Participants who came to the early morning “Intro to the Card and Chart Technique” workshop on Thursday July 30 were graciously hosted at the NM Chamber of Commerce offices because the Theler Center was just too hot to handle. They learned how to make meetings more effective by using visualization techniques for brainstorming, decision making, action planning, and task assignments. Not only did they discuss materials, preparation, questioning and instruction techniques, they practiced collecting, clarifying, posting and clustering “idea cards.” They expected to learn how to: “be a better facilitator, make a meeting run more efficiently, manage a contentious meeting, and help participants clarify the task or issue. What they said at the end of the 90 minute workshop was that the C&T technique : “was a clearer way of doing mind-mapping; was a very useful tool for facilitating a meeting or conducting a training; could easily be adapted to a database structure, will help bring clarification in meetings; and it was a good demonstration of excellent facilitation techniques.” One person said, “I like the card idea better than the leader doing all the writing. It seems the leader would be less harried.” The workshop was facilitated by Denny and Marcia Hamilton from TAP Training Associates Pacific. All participants received a Card and Chart Start up kit. Come to an early morning 90-minute workshop facilitated by the Hamiltons, Thursday, October 8, 2009 at 7:30 am at the Theler Center in Belfair, 360-275-4898. Make your presentations more effective. Learn to use your voice, your hands, and visual aids to better communicate your message, convince your listeners, and sell your product! Coffee, danish, and juice will be presented. Call 360-275-6701 or register on line at www.tap-trainingassociatespacific.com.

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At a meeting with the head off Mason County's Emergency Management Department, Martin Best,  CDP members explored how the  CDP group might fit under the Mason County EMD as a C O V A D  Community Volunteer Action in Disaster group.   As a COVAD group we would have access to education and training events and have a venue to coordinate the use of our volunteers in the event of a disaster.  We would provide volunteer support through the series of shelters identified in our area.   

Two community CDPEP planning workshops have been held in Belfair to date.   The first was held on July 10, 2009 and the second on September 10. The third will be held from 3:00 -5:00 at the FD#2 firehall in Belfair on October 15. Discussion involved emergency shelters, swine flu, community education, linkages with community organizations, media and the program itself. The public is welcome to attend all  meetings.

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In May, 2008, Denny began work with the Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance on a three part capacity building program for humanitarian field personnel.  The first element is distance learning, which involves reading 6 chapters related to humanitarian emergencies, which were written for this program.  The chapters are: Humanitarian Coordination, Information Management, Protection,  Preparedness and Strategic Planning, Advocacy, and Humanitarian Funding.   In the initial roll out of the course, 85 people signed up to participate.  Every two weeks, they each completed a chapter and an exercise at the conclusion.  These exercises were submitted to the course managers, reviewed and received a response.

Following the successful conclusion of the distance learning component (Phase 1) the participants were invited to and attended a face-to-face training workshop.  In the first year, one was held in Geneva, a second in Mombasa, Kenya and the third in Bangkok.  These workshops focus  on developing and enhancing competencies required for effective performance in humanitarian emergencies.  Three more workshops have been scheduled for 2009.  Mombasa and Bangkok are the sites for the first two, which will be conducted in June.  The third will be conducted in December at a venue yet to be decided.

The third phase is a follow-up involving personal action planning and is completed over a two month period after the workshop has been completed

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The chart of goals and objectives really pulled everything together.

Building my career tree and working on a short-term, initial strategy to start pursuing my goals was the most useful. 

The guidance from the facilitator and the support of the group were helpful in getting me to see and express my own dream.  (No one prescribed to me what I should do.)

When I knew I needed a change in my life, I knew what I neded to change FROM, but not what TO....

A very fun and enlightening experience.

Totally new for me and very interesting and helpful.  It is a necessary step for an MBA class.

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