7 Ways to Create Community
July 2021 my family uprooted our deep roots in the South and made our way to the state that does football and crab cakes (IYKYK).
It was an exciting time for us and we immediately got into the grind of everyday life. Grad school, teaching agriculture, new school for second grade, and a new daycare.
Day in day out became get up, get ready, go to work, attempt to find energy to make dinner, bed time routine, and sleep.
And by December 2021, I had enough. I couldn’t stay on that hamster wheel anymore without an outlet. And what I really needed was a friend.
So I got a job to try and find a friend. No lie.
I ended up joining the team at my local Pure Barre studio because 1. Free Membership 2. Find people who *might* be a potential friend.
Extreme, maybe. But, I was desperate. I couldn’t feel alone anymore. I was over it. It was time to take drastic action.
Enter, Allison. The Pure Barre teacher who is a catalyst for a good time. She happened to be the teacher assigned to my Friday night shift and within a few weeks I knew this was it. I hit the jackpot. Getting paid to work out AND getting a friend finally in my new hometown. Allison was just the start of a bigger Pure Barre community that now celebrates each others birthdays, big moments, and simple coffee chats after class.
What I was fed up about was the fact that I had no community. Community is truly just a feeling you get when you are with others that share common attitudes, interests, feelings or even goals.
And I know that this is happening in the world. Especially after the past few years. Figuring out “where do I fit? “should I be in this group anymore?” “what am I missing?”
Community begins with a catalyst. You know back to chemistry class that you hopefully did better in than me. A catalyst is a person/thing that causes something to happen quickly.
If you are looking for community. It might be time to be a catalyst.
Here are some actions you can take to be a community catalyst:
Find a group on your city/county recreation site
I just found out my city has Adult Fencing classes for three months and only $150 (can you say en guard?)
Go to a community event
Farmer’s market, holiday event, cultural fair etc. The list goes on and *most* of the time people are willing to speak to you because they are selling
Join a gym/work out class
There are lots of free first classes out there (ex. Orange Theory, Pure Barre, Core Power Yoga) try it our, check out the vibe and see!
Find a place of worship
Are your looking for a new place to worship? Test out a few and see if one has a community group you are looking for
Online friends are real friends
Some of my very best friends were people I first connected with on Instagram. Take the DM off the gram and set up a Zoom Call!
Find an organization to volunteer for
Find a cause you are passionate about and volunteer for them. Great way to find like minded and hearted people
Attend a networking event
For the ag teachers out there this may look like going to a free event by G&G, attending a National FFA teacher session, or even checking out teacher networking events in your county.
The options are truly endless. But the point is, they are just options unless you decide to take action on them.
You can curate your own community; you just might need to remember to be a catalyst!
How to Get You Community Involved in Your Chapter
As a teacher you are booked from 8-3:30 everyday (and some nights and weekends).
Let's be honest. You can’t do it all.
What if there was a way to lighten your load? That would excite you right?!
Community partners, whether they are supporting teachers by being guest speakers or providing a monetary, time, or service donation, they help make our programs stronger.
Time to figure out how to get community partners engaged in your program. And GOOD NEWS, we have just the resource to help you!
We have taken a dive into the Germinate Session Vault and pulled out a session that can give you the direction on how to approach community members to ultimately make them engaged partners from the one and only Cara Parlato-Butler from California.
Sounds too good to be true right?
Well, like the Disney Vault (and Cinderella) this session will turn into a pumpkin and head back to the vault on April 30. Take some time to block off your calendar (approx. 20 minutes) to watch this session and download the takeaways to get your community relationships started before April goes out like a lamb.
Your Fundraising Specialist Teacher
We can all agree on one thing.
There never is enough funds to do everything you wish you could do for your chapter.
And because of this problem, we must add something else to our to do list.
What we do know is there can be a way to have awesome fundraisers that are fully integrated into your program of activities and the three circle model. Whether you’re looking to improve upon your existing fundraisers, or start over from scratch with a new one.
And you have access to the G&G Fundraising Specialist Teacher, Abbey Brown. She is excited to help you raise money to support the awesome things you do as an ag program!
Here is what she can support you with:
-Planning a Successful Fundraiser
-Innovative Fundraising Ideas
-Boston Butt Sales
-Hosting Field-Trips
-Fun Farmer’s Academy (Day camp for kids)
-School Based Enterprises
Here is what you should do next!
Head over to Abbey’s Specialist Roster Page
Watch her introduction video
Download her takeaway
Connect with her via Instagram or Email for you specific fundraising needs
Need other specialized support, check out the other G&G specialist teachers!
How to Get Rid of Sucky Meetings
For over three years, Monday nights have meant G&G meeting nights.
If you’ve been around G&G for a while you know that the entire team works full-time in OTHER jobs. G&G is something we do on the side. So time is of the essence for our meetings.
We also have been exposed to meeting that have made up want to ripe our hair out.
Have you even been in a meeting (or lead a meeting *no judgement*) that
🤦🏿♀️Could have been an email
🤦🏽♂️Nothing got accomplished
🤦♀️Went longer than they told you
🤦🏻♂️You just got talked to the entire time
What kind of emotions does that spark for you?
Maybe you feel like it was a waste of time. Maybe you feel like your presence there wasn’t needed (and you could have used your time better elsewhere. Maybe you feel like those meetings are more like lectures of “do this” or “don’t do that”. Maybe you feel like the meetings aren’t actually deciding anything at all.
Well friends, there is a better way!
You can take charge of the meetings you lead with this simple meeting template.
Here is how to use it so you can have a smooth and effective meeting...
1️⃣ Consistency
Use the SAME template, SAME flow, SAME time, SAME length, every time. Consistency in meetings allows you to show respect to your team members and the real value is they will come ready and prepared for what will come during the meeting!
2️⃣ Decide
Have a section of the meeting to JUST DECIDE (preferably at the beginning). Making decisions takes energy and when you focus in on those decisions you will make them quicker and make sure you get the MOST important things done first.
3️⃣ Tackles
Take time to review every member of the teams tackles. Tackles are something that one team members has ownership over (ex. FFA Secretary's tackle are Meeting Minutes). Give them space to rank themselves and tell the group why. This allows you to see where they need support and you can cheer them on as they complete their tackles.
Take a chance and try it out. Serve your team members with consistency this week.
You have power in the very thing you are resisting
I can remember my first time welding. It was at the Georgia FFA/FCCLA center my Junior Year of College. My awesome instructor Mr. Von Peavy could smell my fear. And of course, like any good teacher he got me to be the first to try and strike an arc. Shaking in my oversize green fire retardant jacket, my welding helmet and oversized leather gloves I took hold of the electrode and tried multiple times to get an arc going. With encouragement from Mr. Von Peavy I got it going after a few tries. And you know what, throughout the intensive week of welding 101 I got more and more confident with my skills each time I stepped into the welding booth.
Fast forward 3 years later and I am teaching metal fabrication to my students in my first teaching job. And I admit, I was not an expert in welding. But, what I do know is each time I was in the booth I got just a little bit more proficient and a little bit more confident.
What skills do you have that you could improve on? What skills do you feel proficient at but want to become an expert at?
How do you get that? By showing up and continually pursuing that skill.
You can expedite that growth by teaching others. I can imagine there is a certain topic that you have felt less than confident about teaching. Maybe it is something that you never learned in high school or college and you face teaching it to squirelly middle schoolers and apathetic high schoolers. What should you do? DOUBLE DOWN on that topic. Go all in. Study it, reach out to other experts, watch professional development sessions on it, purchase curriculum in that topic area, and your skills and confidence will increase.
Have you ever heard of the power formula. Yes, the person who almost failed high school physics is telling you about physics.
The power formula is POWER=Resistance X Effort squared.
What does that mean? It means that you can find power in the very thing that you are resisting but putting more effort into it.
Let me tell you a story.
My first year teaching I asked selfishly the state staff what the least participated CDE was in the state. They said Ag Communications. I said “Great, something that I can learn about and maybe just maybe my kiddos will be able to succeed in.”
Three years in a row we got THIRD place in the state. Now, that sounds impressive right? Well the first year there was just three chapters competing and the next two years it was five. Progress right? Not really. We just did the minimum to get there. We didn’t go all in. I didn’t go all in. I just put minimal effort into that CDE and we got minimal results.
Well, I moved to a different state and said I need to double down. Remember the power formula is DOUBLING your effort in the thing that you resist.
So I started studying the Ag Communications rubrics and contest information. I started taking the quizzes with my students. I started asking for help from state staff, we started practicing way earlier than we really needed to, I even taught a professional development session to other teachers about Ag Comm. And you know what, I learned a ton. My students learned a ton. That fourth year coaching a team in Agriculture Communications was a year of doubling down. And they won the area contest, they won the state contest and they won the national contest.
You might be thinking, ok you made it to the top. Good for you. While that is true, the learning didn’t stop there. I decided to continue to double down on this CDE with my next group of eager kiddos. I refined the way I coached certain parts of the content. I knew where you win and lose competitions based on the rubric. I flew out to California to teach other agriculture teachers how to coach this content. Year after year I recommitted to my growth in that area. I kept on leaning into that resistance and doubled my effort to get to unshakeble belief in my content knowledge and coaching technique.
Am I saying that if you double down on anything you are going to be on stage at nationals, no.
Am I saying that if you want a chance to be standing behind your students beaming with pride as they get recognized for their hard work at the local, regional, state of national conference you need to put more effort into it, yes I am.
And the impact you have with your power is not just impacting you, but those around you.
What if you took this idea into other areas of your life?
Resisting cooking homemade meals? Double Down?/ Who gets the impact? Not just you, but your whole family!
Resisting getting planning done during planning? Double Down? Who gets the impact? Not just you, but your students!
Resisting learning about that new prep topic? Double Down? Who gets the impact? Not just you, but your students/school!
What is that area of life that you are resisting? What do you need to double down on?