With November comes a season of anticipation in education.
Anticipation for Thanksgiving Break.
Anticipation for Christmas Break.
Anticipation for A BREAK!
I always prioritized a true Christmas Break where I separated from school work. However, if I didn’t spend any time during these two weeks preparing for the next semester, I often felt like it was February before I felt back on track.
This is why I implemented a WINTER OFFICER RETREAT.
Unlike the summer officer retreat (read the blog here), which focused on leadership training, goals and BIG PICTURE concepts, the winter officer retreat focused on the DETAILS.
For the winter officer retreat I focused on FOUR main areas of the program:
-
GOAL ASSESSMENT - The officer team reviewed the 10 FFA chapter goals set at the summer officer retreat, determined which goals had been met/unmet, and then discussed how they would meet these unmet goals during the second semester.
-
TEAM BUILDING - By this point in the year, an officer team can begin drifting apart. It is important to build this team culture and mend any unwanted tension between team members. This was done through team building exercises and discussing the results of our officer team 1-on-1s discussed in the Combatting the Mid-year Mehh blog post.
-
POA DEVELOPMENT - In Ohio, the National Chapter Award application was due in March. This allowed our officer team to review the quality standards in the application and determine holes in our POA. Our officers used Asana to track POA development and execution. Officers determined tasks needing completed, who was responsible and deadlines for each of the activities in the second semester. This process is outlined in the Using Asana to Manage Your POA blog post.
-
WORK TIME - This time was also used to complete officer books, committee work, to-do list items and just general tasks that would need to be completed during the second semester.
By setting aside 4-5 hours during Christmas Break to organize the FFA chapter and the second semester activities, I was less stressed and more organized going into the new year! Tactics like the summer and winter officer retreats, officer 1-on-1s and using Asana to organize our POA were just a few of the ways our chapter reached the national top 10 stage for Models of Excellence and Models of Innovation three times, and were named the number one chapter in Ohio three times.
Download a copy of a Winter Officer Retreat Agenda here and reach out to The Owl’s Nest at info@owlsnestresources.com with any questions!