Meeting Adjourned!

 

This week we were asked to think of a meeting that we have been a part of that has been hard to leave. I can think of a time when I was on a committee in my sorority. The purpose of the committee was to salute outstanding young women in the community. Most of the young ladies were high school and college aged students. The committee was in charge of finding young women and then hosting a luncheon where the young ladies would respond to a question that was posed by the chapter. At the end of the luncheon the young ladies were given a gift by our chapter. It sounds like just a girls day out for lunch but much more went into the event.

I have to say that this was one of the most efficient groups of women that I have ever worked with. Soror Jan Carter did a fantastic job and the chairperson of our group. From the beginning to the end of the planning went very well. It was almost as if she knew about group development. She had us introduce ourselves, she told us the purpose of the group, she formed sub-committees within the group so that everyone had a role. Most importantly, she made sure that each group understood their roles. The group functioned very well and I was sad when our chapter decided to end this luncheon. This group in my opinion was like a well-oiled machine. The Adjournment was hard for me because It really felt good to be in a productive group where people felt safe to give their opinions and where a group of women worked without the bickering that can sometimes occur with women. After the last luncheon the committee met and the chairperson provided lunch for us and thanked us for the work that we had done. We also looked at the goals that we had established at the beginning of our planning and talked about how we were able to meet those goals. Those goals were met by good leadership and effective teamwork.  I  participated in three of the luncheons that my chapter gave but there were women who had been on the committee for several years. It felt good to be appreciated and that last meeting was a little sad.

As we come closer to completing the program here at Walden I think that I will think about some of the ideas that my colleagues have shared. I think I have a wider perspective of early childhood education based on the discussions that I've had.