The first meeting where I would meet other team leaders for the program year and be introduced to the Field Cordinator (FC) did not happen until the second week of September. By this time, I had grown tired of the summer in Richmond and whoever said that the weather would get better once we hit Labor Day weekend was wrong!
On a very warm Friday morning, I was back at the AmeriCorps office for this program - a bit earlier than scheduled and the first person I met was the FC. She was a very interesting person and we chatted up while she and I set up some tables and materials for the meeting. I still cant remember what my first impressions about her but I was thinking to myself that she would be the first female boss I've had! I would later learn that most other members and team leaders had been interviewed by the FC and so many members in the Corps including the ones that were returning for a second year of service knew the FC more than I did.
The meeting was more of a training session for team leaders who the program staff wanted to be prepared and informed about the program, so when we met our members (for the first time) a couple of weeks later, we knew (sorta!) what we were doing. The day went by pretty quickly with lots of fun activities and team building exercises (By this time in my life, I had been through dozens of team building exercises and yet everytime, I ejoy them) and a smattering of information and thoughts from the program staff and past members about the challenges they faced the last service year. I kept a very open mind and my goal was to absorb as much information as possible and not make any conclusions or assumptions yet. I quickly learnt the names of the other team leaders and realized I had much more real life work experience than all of them. I didnt know if it was a good thing or bad thing.
By the end of the day, we had a big binder with program documents and manuals and we knew the schools we were assigned to. The FC had tid bits of information about each school, what worked in years past, what didnt work, who our school site contact would be , whether there would be a work area/ office space for AmeriCorps members etc. It was one of the most valuable piece of information that I received that day. When my turn came, I was eagerly waiting for some exciting information about the elementary school I was being assigned to (since I could not figure out from the map where it was even located!!).. In summary, my school site contact for me would be the Asst Principal of the school who required a lot of professionalism from the members and in the last couple of years, the program members and especially the team leader had left a lot to be desired in that department. So, inputs from my FC to me was - Dress professionally and be professional always and I was thinking to myself - how do you do it otherwise? I would later learn in bits and pieces that the school had not had a very good experience with the members and one of the things I had to do during the service year was to reverse the reputation of AmeriCorps at the school. GREAT!
One other thing that happened at the end of the day was that each new team leader was paired with a returning team leader based on the similarities in schools they were assigned, the challenges they might face during the school year etc. Also, our FC was going to bring us to each of our schools in the following week to introduce us to the site contact who in turn could be our main point of contact for most things in the school
With all the information and a date set with a returning team leader to visit her school, I was all set to begin my journey ...
On a very warm Friday morning, I was back at the AmeriCorps office for this program - a bit earlier than scheduled and the first person I met was the FC. She was a very interesting person and we chatted up while she and I set up some tables and materials for the meeting. I still cant remember what my first impressions about her but I was thinking to myself that she would be the first female boss I've had! I would later learn that most other members and team leaders had been interviewed by the FC and so many members in the Corps including the ones that were returning for a second year of service knew the FC more than I did.
The meeting was more of a training session for team leaders who the program staff wanted to be prepared and informed about the program, so when we met our members (for the first time) a couple of weeks later, we knew (sorta!) what we were doing. The day went by pretty quickly with lots of fun activities and team building exercises (By this time in my life, I had been through dozens of team building exercises and yet everytime, I ejoy them) and a smattering of information and thoughts from the program staff and past members about the challenges they faced the last service year. I kept a very open mind and my goal was to absorb as much information as possible and not make any conclusions or assumptions yet. I quickly learnt the names of the other team leaders and realized I had much more real life work experience than all of them. I didnt know if it was a good thing or bad thing.
By the end of the day, we had a big binder with program documents and manuals and we knew the schools we were assigned to. The FC had tid bits of information about each school, what worked in years past, what didnt work, who our school site contact would be , whether there would be a work area/ office space for AmeriCorps members etc. It was one of the most valuable piece of information that I received that day. When my turn came, I was eagerly waiting for some exciting information about the elementary school I was being assigned to (since I could not figure out from the map where it was even located!!).. In summary, my school site contact for me would be the Asst Principal of the school who required a lot of professionalism from the members and in the last couple of years, the program members and especially the team leader had left a lot to be desired in that department. So, inputs from my FC to me was - Dress professionally and be professional always and I was thinking to myself - how do you do it otherwise? I would later learn in bits and pieces that the school had not had a very good experience with the members and one of the things I had to do during the service year was to reverse the reputation of AmeriCorps at the school. GREAT!
One other thing that happened at the end of the day was that each new team leader was paired with a returning team leader based on the similarities in schools they were assigned, the challenges they might face during the school year etc. Also, our FC was going to bring us to each of our schools in the following week to introduce us to the site contact who in turn could be our main point of contact for most things in the school
With all the information and a date set with a returning team leader to visit her school, I was all set to begin my journey ...
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