Making the Pieces Fit

“When I say TEAM, you say BUILDING!”

“TEAM!” - “BUILDING!"

“TEAM!” - “BUILDING!”

“TEAM!” - “BUILDING!”

After School University's Eddie Gardiner, Trang Truong and Sunny Im trained approximately 90 after school professionals throughout 3 one-half hour blocks on a sleepy Saturday January 29, 2011. By the time this training was over sleep was the last thing on their minds. The AU team showed them the importance of teambuilding with staff, students and a program as a whole.

During the OTJ (On The Job) sessions, the participants were able to see the importance of being able to facilitate solution driven discussions during staff meetings. They also had to come up with their own creative group names such as Monkeys, The Incredibles and Brainiacs. Another part of the training included “repeat after me” songs/chants as well as learning a variety of ways to get staff members to participate in a program wide assembly.

The teambuilding activity at the beginning of each session drove home the importance of working together towards a common goal. Activities like putting together jigsaw pieces, first in groups of about five individuals. They then discovered that the entire room had to work together as a team to solve the puzzle. The participants illustrated that working together and communicating are imperative in building a team.

“Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” ~Henry Ford

By: Sunny Im - Associate Program Director