Santa’s Village/Cultural Arts Session – December December 18, 2009
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Fellow classmates, please correct me if I’m wrong as I’m going on memory on this session notes since I seem to have lost the agenda from this session. We began the session among several young students from the Leadership Richardson youth program. We were all assigned a station or task to work on in the morning during Santa’s Village. 1,200 under previlaged or somehow challenged children were planning to visit us at the village during our 2 hour time frame. Wow, 1200 is a LOT of kids!!
I was stationed at K-ELF TV the station in the village interviewing children about what they want for Christmas. The wonderful 3 young ladies that were with me from the youth leadership program were outstanding. We took turns interviewing, helped direct traffic and passed out candy. Some of my very favorite answers to the inevitable “what do you want for Christmas” question were the following: 1. magic, 2. cupcake maker, 3. a Christmas tree, and 4. a baby (which, upon clarification did not mean a doll, but an actual baby). We ended up interviewing them by the 3s as to get more of them through the line, which went very well. The children were a delight and I truly believe that we did make several hundred children a bit happier during this holiday season.
For the afternoon, we toured the Eisemann Center and what wonderful story that was told. Balancing ourselves above the stages and learning about how the Eisemann Center was established was amazing. We were then taken into a room where Bonnie Perry, Richardson Arts Alliance, interviewed the guy from the Richardson Symphony and the lady from the Tuzer Ballet. The Richardson Symphony actually gave us all 2010-2011 season tickets. What a wonderful gift! The Tuzer Ballet is currently performing the Nutcracker at the Eisemann.
We created a posterboard with our pieces of art that we brought in along with some props that were given to us. It was a mad dash to get it put together, but it was fun.
We learned about the Vigilanes, the drum and bugle corps. The singer/songwriter that one the Wildflower contest last year performed a couple of his songs for us, which was really awesome. Philipino dancers proceeded to show to us some of their dance moves and got many of us out on the dance floor. Our class has some really good moves…haha.. The time was strictly structured as each group or speaker got up and knew that they were under the gun to stick to the timeframe that the committee setup for them. They did a fabulous job getting everyone in and out within their timeframe. We ended with the Rich-tones which were 4 ladies singing barbershop style. They were really delightful to listen to and I enjoyed them a lot.
This committee was made up of Jody, Jen, Brian Poff, Geoff and Brian. They did a fantastic job and I’m glad to have had the pleasure of being able to enjoy the day that they put together for us! Way to go!
Social Services Session November 15, 2009
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“A Brighter Tomorrow” was the theme of Friday’s session, as the social services team set the goal “to provide greater awareness for the social service organizations which serve the Richardson community, and encourage involvement”. As we made ourselves comfortable at the top of the Texans building, Pam and Neil introduced us and Pam Anderson (class XVII, the best class) welcomed us.
Will the Trill then began to tell us about his team and how they worked together. The SS team included Bill, Lisa, Chip, Chelsea, and Will. Will walked us through our table discussions, whether it was senior services, youth services, drug/alcohol services, or special needs. Each table discussed their topic and then was introduced to their social services leader in the community. Our table was for senior care and we were blessed to have Richard Smith from NETWORK join us. Richard is the new director for NETWORK for senior care and I think we all gave each other some perspective.
Chip and Pam then when over a Village of 100. Which we had to guess what percentage of Richardson were of different ethnicities, education, etc.
Dollar Bill then went into the Business of the Non-Profit. He introduced Jennifer Morrison from New Beginning Center, a center for violence abuse victums. She had a lot to talk about….all of the headaches plus the government regulations of a non profit….chapter 51, for example.
Chelsea presented two videos about VNA and Equest. Both were very interesting and I didn’t even know that they existed! I particularly liked the Equest video, as it showed people with the inability to walk use horses to help strengthen their hips and muscles.
Geoff shared that for next month’s homework we need to take pictures of the city’s art. His group will do the Santa’s Village/Cultural Arts part of LR in December. I hope Santa and his team are ready for us!
We then broke into groups to go and visit NETWORK and the New Beginning Center. I had been to NETWORK before, but never toured the facility. I’ve dropped off food in the back. It was motivating to me to see the bare shelves of food two weeks before Thanksgiving. We were told that usually the place is overstocked for the holiday. I then gathered bags of groceries at home to find ways that we could help. Santa’s elves were also there helping make the holidays wonderful for some families in need. We were given boxes of quarter cards to pass out to fill to help for donations. I hope that I can convince each person that gets a card to fill it up with quarters. If each of the cards are filled up that I have, it will give them $1,375…..I’m sure they could feed a lot of mouths with that money!
Our next journey was to New Beginning Center. We had the pleasure of being introduced to this facility where violence abuse victums and abusers come to join in group counceling. They get 9 females to every 1 male victum. Each room had a cutout of a “witness” that had a name, dates, and story of a victum that died in a violent crime due to abuse. It was frightening to see the stats on the walls and to think about how people live. The room of 30+ people seemed quiet and thoughtful as we all felt the uncomfortable reality that violence brings.
A woman that was very nicely dressed, part of the New Beginning Center board of directors, then shared a story about a woman that married a violent man, had a baby girl and finally used the center for help. We found out that it was her amazing story that helped give her the strength to volunteer and help at the center now.
We returned to Texans to find Greg Gross, Richland College. Greg shared his triumphant story of being homeless and lost to obtaining two master’s degrees. It was truly amazing how his point of view was changed by talking to a man in a suit at a shelter that turned out to be a resident rather than a volunteer.
The SS team did a fantastic job and as our first group to go, I’m sure it was a challenge. Their embroidered shirts really made them look sharp! They educated and motivated at least me. I have now gathered about 6 grocery bags full of food that I’m taking to the food bank tomorrow. My husband and I are also going to adopt a family for the holidays to help the children have a wonderful Christmas. I’m also going to pass out the quarter cards.
I hope the others in my class will be motivated. Please share – what are you going to do?
Leadership Development Session – Oct. 9 October 13, 2009
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We began our Friday morning at Cisco with a wondeful breakfast. Neil Stampe welcomed us and Dizzy Dick presented us with yet another way to test our learning styles. This test was based on a scale of four dimensions of learning including experience/observation and concrete/abstract. It was confirmed that I am an active experimentation/contrete experience learner, which is, in fact, no suprise to me whatsoever.
We were then taken on a trip to Abilene, appearantly unwillingly. The Abilene Paradox was a short film which basically taught the valuable lesson that it’s critical to let others know how you feel about a situation or you may all be heading down a path in which none of you want to go. Who wants to go to Abilene for lunch in the heat of the Texas summer in a car with no A/C?
There is a game called Barnga that is among the few torture methods used for leadership. Each table was given a different set of instructions for their card game and we were all told that the winners shift to the table forward, losers move backward…..without talking. So once we moved, it was very confusing and frustrating because you couldn’t talk to each other. The lesson was that different cultures feel that way when coming into new communities without the benefit of speaking the same language or understanding the rules.
Champion Chip gave us homework for the November group, which is Social Services City Government. Don’t forget to make 5 copies of the handout and find 5 social service organizations.
In the afternoon, we were arranged in a circle where we were given a private picture. In the circle, we had to arrange ourselves in order, but we had to figure out what that order would be. Quickly, we decided that it was from a micro picture to a big picture….kind of like the fly on the frog on the fish on the log on the bottom of the sea. So we each had to find out where we were supposed to sit in the circle that made sense with the picture that we were holding. This exercise was somewhat frustrating, but patience was definately needed as we each described what our picture included. It really made me realize that I need to sometimes sit back, be patient, and let others figure out where they go on their own. I can’t always be the leader and we can’t always hurry up and get it done as much as I would like that to happen.
Dizzy Dick then looped a rope around our circle and filled it with marbles. These marbles represented wisedom. We were then given a stick with a plastic spoon on the end of it. We were supposed to help each other out and pick up the pieces of wisedom and share them with the others in the circle. We found that helping each other out made getting the marbles easier. After sharing our marbles with others, we were asked to take one of the pieces of wisdom and give it back to our community. We each shared things that we will do to help….including participating in the citizens police academy, joining a board, getting involved in rotary, etc.
Neil and the ROCs did a wonderful job wrapping up steps in creating a learning community and the important lessons learned throughout the day. But, I believe the fun began when we went to happy hour at Ye Shire Tavern following the day’s events. We had a great time socializing and talking to each other in a much less formal setting.
Thanks to my fellow members of my LR class, Neil, Pam, the ROCs, and Dizzy Dick for another fantastic day of leadership. Good luck to the November group, Social Services, I’m excited to see what you have in store for us.
Retreat – Day 2 September 12, 2009
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This morning we went to MetroPCS and began with a wonderful breakfast. Dizzy Dick, the ROCs, Pam, and Neil welcomed us to day 2. We were given a sheet with everyone’s name on it and various facts about us that we had to match to each participant, which we completed throughout the day.
They gave us some “quizzes” that helped us open our minds like how many boxes are in at 4 x 4 divided box, connecting 9 dots with only 4 straight lines, and a picture of various shaded squares showing Abe Lincoln. We also came up with about a zillion things to do with a paper clip, some of which are very questionable.
Each table was divided into people with a ROC at each table to help us with the task of coming up with a list of challanges that are community faces. Our team consisted of Jolly Jodie, Diamond Jim, Kerrie (Care Bear), Courage Kay, Krazy Keith and I. We decided that we were concerned about Richardson becoming a home for both the young generation and the excisting older generation. A few other issues that we discussed were lowering tax rates, changing demographics, cultural diversity, and socioeconomic challenges, among others.
Pam gave us a binder and went over the LR by-laws and information about what we should expect in the next 8 months. Which, she was right, wasn’t the most fun of the day, but good information nonetheless.
Proceeding to take a “personality” test. The test results revealed that each of us had a combination of Red, Yellow, Blue, and Green, which were described by Dizzy Dick. I thought they were all right-on and very funny. I was 9 Red, 8 Blue, 5 Yellow, and 0 Green. Red was the results driven, gotta get it done group, Yellow were focused on freinds and making others happy, Blue are the creatives, and Green are the analistics and organizers.
In their trickiness, they sent us in the breakroom for us to figure out our teams and to eat lunch. We found our names on Christmas bulbs in our bandana colors. We then found that inside the bulb had the team that we were on. I am on the Public Safety Committee Team with Par the Dare, Mere Bear, and Brilliant Brian. We don’t present until May, which is the last group to present before graduation……that seems so far away, but I’m sure it’s going to fly by so quickly. We shared lunch and talked about our personality colors and shared things about ourselves.
We then were given a box of props by our ROC, Susan (Goldy Rocks), and were told to use them to present our team with the logo that we developed. Each team and person presented, sharing something about them and their group. This was great fun and we have so many funny people! Krazy Keith and his braids…..Phil in his box…..Will and his beer joke….it was all really hilarious, great to learn about people, and got the answers to our quiz. This is really going to be fun…..
Retreat – Day 1 September 11, 2009
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At 6:50 this morning we boarded the bus at the Chamber for Stony Ranch, all with hope and sleep in our eyes. Although many of us were in a groggy state of mind, the air was filled with excitement as to the adventures that lay ahead for the day.
We played an ice braker game on the bus where we switched seats to learn about each other’s pets, an embarrassing story, and what we would do if we had a week of no committments. We soon pulled up to the ranch and were given a bandana in a bag with our name on it, colors varying. We have yet to find out what the bandana’s significance is, if any, yet…..
Happy mouths drank coffee and ate granola bars as Dizzy Dick gave us the rules of their home. He proceeded to arrange us in a circle where we gave ourselves an LR name. From Karina Stamina to Will the Thrill, we had a good time trying to remember everyone’s names. (mine is Unruly Julie)
We then moved on to break out into two groups where we were tasked with sending our 17 members through a “spider web” created by ropes. Carrying some through the rope holes and others crawled through themselves, we all were supposed to get from one side of the web to the other.
I’m not sure when we did this, but we broke into teams of 3 and did the trust challenge. One person trusted the other two to catch them while they leaned backwards into the 2 spotters. Great for helping learn to trust others.
We proceeded to leadership games, which we started with the tennis ball toss. In this game, we were in a circle passing tennis balls to each other in a certain order, which didn’t change, and balls were added for difficulty. We were then handed the task of getting the tennis ball around in the order as fast as we could. In four different tries, we manipulated ourselves and the situation to get the time down to 1.3 seconds.
Moving on, we went over to the group wall where we all had to get to the top of the wall using our team for support. Rules such as the last person didn’t have a base to climb on and each person can only be a base 3 times applied, among others. The wall was about 14 feet tall, which looked really hard, but once we started working with our team on this task, we all realized that working with our team make this 14 feet seem a lot more manageable! Thanks team!
We gathered back for lunch grub and were all ready for some fuel. We gathered for our afternoon sweat-provoking activities. Finding challenge rope course partners, we quickly became trusting of them. Dizzy Dick reviewed with us the ins and outs of the rope instructions and it wasn’t long before we were off. Fight or flight was kicking in at this point in most of us as we reviewed the contents of the view ahead. Briefed on the A course, we were directed to climb a pole, walk across an elevated log and proceed along the ropes course guided by our trusted partner. The B course was pointed out as being the more difficult course and the challenge pole was also suggested. Many decided quickly what they were and weren’t going to do as we scattered.
My partner was Dollar Bill and we decided to head toward the B course. Waiting in line, we learned how to run the course and felt good about seeing others go through it with much ease. Champion Chip, being the first, did a wonderful job of making it look easy. I was pretty nervous those first couple of steps onto the new platform after I swiched ropes, but after that I became comfortable very quickly. The hardest part was getting the nerve to jump off of the platform to do the zip line, which ended up being the most fun of it all! The zip line was a wonderful swing in the trees that begins with you jumping off of a platform…..just get up the nerve to jump and you’ll be fine.
I was happy to help make sure that no “Dollar Bills” fell as I guided my partner through the B course. Bill did great and zipped through and was off of the zip line in no time at all. We then moved over to the challenge pole where I climbed the pole and completely missed the trapeze bar. I was really hoping to snag it, but I’m glad that I made it to the top. I must give my partner, Dollar Bill, a huge shout out here as he was so much fun and a very trustworthy and awesome partner to have – thanks, Bill!
Appearantly, the ranch was infested by toxic waste when we got back. Our task was to move the waste into the safe zone. We were broken out into two teams where one team was blind-folded and the other, which I was on, was given the problem of solving the waste issue. We guided the blind-folded group by using the waste removal aparatus. Since we have trusted each other all day, we had no problem with the task.
By this time we were again ready for fuel and proceeded to make our tummies full with some hamburgers and apple pie. Dizzy Dick and his crew along with the LR ROC’s made today a wonderful day as we were presented with tasks that took us outside of our comfort zones. It was such a great experience and I hope that the others in my class enjoyed it as much as me.
I’m looking forward to tomorrow! I really need sleep now. zzzZZZZzzz good night and I’ll see you tomorrow!
LR XXV Orientation August 27, 2009
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Welcome to my blog. I’ve started this blog for the Leadership Richardson Class of XXV, the finest class, according to Neil Stampe and Pam Krause. I do believe that we are better than the best since they wanted to come up with something even better for us!
We had our orientation last night at Richland College. Neil Stampe introduced our LR ROCS and Pam Krause helped us realize what we are in for in the next few months.
We began in teams of 3 or 4 with a scavenger hunt around Richardson searching the historical sites. The questions led us to clues to get to the next place on our hunt. I was on team “Blue A”, as we were lead through the city via Restland Cemetary, the City building, the library, Big Springs Cemetary (we were supposed to go to the hosipitol instead), Methodist Regional Hospitol, the police department, fire department, Owens sausage, RISD admin building, and back to Richland. We had decided that since it wasn’t a race, that it was ok to stop for a beverage at Sonic before heading south to Richland. The LR ROCS were happy to help us through our journey. It was obvious that a lot of work was put into this project.
Upon our return, we were greeted with cold water and catering from the Blue Mesa….yummy! We chatted with our fellow classmates as city leaders began joining our group. Pam Krause introduced Steve Mittelstet from Richland as he welcomed our class and explaned many things about Richland that I was unaware…..who knew that had such a wonderful collegiate high school where kids graduate with a HS diploma and an Associate’s degree?….and why wasn’t I aware of this when I was 16 years old!?! So Steve Moon, Bill Sproull, Gary Slagel, and Bill Keffler all gave us words of wisedom and encouragement as we take on this new challenge in our lives.
There was a nice buzz in the room and I am glad to be a part of this class. We have a great group of people and I’m looking forward to meeting and getting to know all of you in my class. I’ve started this blog for all of us, so please contribute as mine is not the only experience that people would like to hear about.
Have fun and good luck, let’s prove to them that we are indeed the FINEST class yet. Go silver!
