September 2006

Paying Attention to What We Build

August is the time when we are out on the road helping schools with their trainings and orientations. It is wonderful for us to be out in schools seeing kids’ faces and experiencing the impact of Link Crew and WEB first hand.  Thanks to all those schools who invited us to be a part of their kick-off to school this year.

There are a couple of schools we work that run their own orientation programs and don’t have Link Crew or WEB. They have created their own programs and just ask us to come in to help them. It is always interesting to notice the difference between a Link Crew or WEB school and one that is not practicing some of the core elements of that make a crucial difference in school cultures.

At one particular school they run a program they call the “Buddies” program. Although there are many aspects of this program that really work well, one element seemed to be lost on the upperclass leaders there; they forgot to pay attention to the impact of each one of their actions.

To conclude the day, the upperclassmen or ‘buddies’ led their groups into an auditorium, much like we do with Link Crew and WEB (although no costumes). To bring the groups back in they had them do a blindfolded trust walk. A sighted leader led a group of 15-25 blindfolded freshmen (As you know, we don’t recommend group’s that size or a blindfolded trust walk) around the campus and then into the auditorium. Although many of the kids had a great time, there was a moment toward the end that broke my heart.

While the kids were walking in, some of the leaders started randomly yelling, “DUCK!” The surprised freshmen immediately lowered their heads when in reality there was nothing there to bump into. The leaders had a good laugh and to many it seemed a harmless joke. 

We must pay attention to our actions, because our actions are the foundation of anything we build. The freshmen were being exploited for their innocence.  The upperclassmen had a good laugh. I wonder what happened in the minds of the freshmen as each took off their blindfold and saw that they had been victims of a joke. Was trust diminished just slightly? Did the all the work of the day aimed at building relationships suffer with a fracture in the foundation?

It is so often just the little things we say and do that define how we deal with power and influence.  It is our job as coordinators to help our leaders understand it takes weeks to build trust and only moments to lose it. 

At your next meeting take some time and remind your leaders to pay attention to each of their actions. Each action builds on the next and it takes only one insensitive act to bring a mountain of good works crumbling down.

Just for You

The Refresher

We are excited to be offering four Refresher courses this year. We are shifting the Refresher just a bit to hopefully make it easier to attend and get more out of the experience. The big change is that we are including a night’s stay the evening before, plus dinner and a full breakfast. To cover these additional costs the price this year is $675 ($645 if you register and pay by Dec. 15^th). This will allow us to start a little earlier on the first day and prepare a more comprehensive Refresher.

You may also notice that we are reducing the number of Refreshers that we are offering. We are going to begin rotating the Refresher to different parta of the country so that if we are not in your area this year, we will plan to be there next year. Please call and let us know if geography is keeping you from attending.

We all know part of our success depends on the network that we create, so that hopefully the extra night will continue to encourage those networks to build. We are laser focused on providing you a two day experience that will catapult your program to the next level. Give us a call if you have any questions.  

Call 800-688-7578 or register online at www.boomerangproject.com/register

 

State	Site	Dates
CO	Cheyenne Mtn. Resort, Colorado Springs	3/15-3/16
IL	Eaglewood Resort, Itasca	3/22-3/23
CA	Chaminade, Santa Cruz	3/29-3/30
MN	The Maddens Resort, Brainerd	4/26-4/27

Announcements

• Calling those interested in becoming coaches!! We are in the process of selecting new coaches for the 2007 Basic Training Conferences. If you are interested, please submit a Request to Coach Application, available online at www.boomerangproject.com/community. When you are there, click on ‘forms’. Look for the Request to Coach Application.
• We are also hiring someone full-time to come and work in the Boomerang Project office in Santa Cruz.  Information is online in the same spot as the coaching application or you are welcome to call us at 800-688-7578.
• Also a quick reminder that we have grant writing services available to you now. If you are pursuing a grant or want some help trying to identify funding sources, give us a call and we will direct you to our grant writer!

Upcoming Trainings

The Follow Ups  

We have already seen some of you in Missouri, Texas, California, Oregon and Washington and are looking forward to seeing many more this fall. Make sure you are registered so that we can have materials and food ready to go!  That will help us tremendously.

Call 800-688-7578 or register online at www.boomerangproject.com/register

 

State	Site	Dates
CO	Radisson Hotel - Aurora	9/18
MN	Sheraton Hotel - Minneapolis	9/19
IL	Holiday Inn - Hillside	9/20
MI	Dearborn Inn/Marriott - Dearborn	9/21
CT	Sheraton Hartford Inn - Hartford	9/21
ON	Radisson Hotel - Markham	9/28

 

The Student Link Conferences

We are excited again to host the Student Link Conferences. They are a great opportunity to connect your Link Leaders with others in your area.  They will leave refreshed and motivated to connect with their freshmen and with some skills to do it! The current locations we are planning for are below.  If you don''t see your area, but are interested in either hosting or going to a conference, let us know and we will try and work to make it happen! Register here: www.boomerangproject.com/register

Location	State	Site	Dates
Redford	MI	Thurston High School	10/18
Grayslake	IL	Grayslake Central High School	10/19
Bellevue	WA	Sammamish High School	10/19
Spokane	WA	Sunnyside High School	10/25
Denver	CO	Dakota Ridge High School	10/26
Salem	OR	McKay High School	11/1
Mauston	WI	Mauston High School	11/2
St. Cloud	MN	Apollo High School	11/3
Fresno	CA	Clovis High School	11/14
Vacaville	CA	Vacaville High School	11/17

Book Recommendations

How the Brain Learns, David Sousa

This is a great overview of brain-based learning. David Sousa is one of the best authors I have read for making brain research and new information accessible for non-scientists. The overview is comprehensive, the research is recent and the advice is highly practical. Big thumbs up for those of you interested to learn a little more about how our brains take in, process and remember information.