News & Notes - Thankful for HOBY Maryland
Aaron M. Bernstein
c/o Elaine Williams, Treasurer
4107 Loch Lomond Drive
Nottingham, MD 21236
Dear Friends,
As many of you have already heard, the 2012 HOBY Maryland Leadership Seminar will be four days beginning with ambassador arrival on Thursday, May 24th and ending on Sunday, May 27th. Clearly, this raises a lot of excitement, anticipation, questions, and perhaps even a bit of anxiety. And while I don't have all the answers for you now, I feel giving people information is the best way to move in the right direction so that we are all on the same page.
First and foremost, an enormous thank you to Mount St. Mary's University. It is their generous donation of an extra night of dormitory space as part of our continuing partnership that is making this possible. We simply would not be able to do this without them and their support.
Otherwise, I have tried to break down the important elements and questions that I know you will have. Please feel free to read at your leisure:
Timing
As mentioned, the seminar itself will begin on Thursday, and still end Sunday. Currently we anticipate setting an arrival time for ambassadors around 12 noon or 1pm Thursday. This means the majority of staff, particularly facilitators, will not need to arrive until Thursday morning. This is when the usual staff training will take place. However, core staff and a select group of individuals will need to arrive Wednesday afternoon/evening to prepare for the rest of the staff's arrival. As we begin to work out plans, we'll determine who these folks need to be.
Staffing
We do not anticipate any changes in the size of our necessary staffing. We are still planning for a seminar of 205, just as we would for a three day seminar. This means we will need a minimum of 20 facilitators, and would actually prefer closer to 24 or 25. We would like just as many junior facilitators. And, the Team Alumni group will remain the same as well. However, as potentially taking an extra day off work on Thursday may be a reality for some, we realize this will make it harder to secure commitments, particularly from our adult volunteers. Therefore, we need everyone to be proactive about helping us make sure we have the staff support this year to make the seminar happen.
Program
Filling the space of four days is the least of our concerns. We have always had more elements than we could fit into the three day program. You can anticipate that almost entirely we will be taking the elements of our existing three day program and redistributing them amongst the elements of a four day seminar. We still anticipate the career lunch will be Friday, the service project Saturday, and Sandy Queen for pre-closing ceremonies on Sunday. At the same time, expanding our program means a National requirement of at least one more activity per phase. We plan to use these additional spaces to supplement our curriculum with activities directed at implementation of the National anti-bullying curriculum that we are a pilot site on. Additionally, we are looking to ensure that we are scheduling additional group times, activities to coordinate with the Mount, and certainly more sleep for all.
Finances and Cost
As already mentioned, much of this is only possible with the support of Mount St. Mary's. However, that said, the additional cost to the seminar is anticipated to be approximately $4500 in meals. This money has to be raised like every other dollar, or we will need to find someone to donate one of those meals. Thoughts and suggestions are welcome. And, this does not account for some general increases across the board in expenses that are anticipated as normal annual increases in typical costs. As for impact to the donations that staff are annually asked to contribute ($180 for Team Alumni / $80 for facilitators and junior facilitators), it will be more important than ever that each member of the staff is working to secure that donation or an equivalent amount of gift in kind to make sure we meet our budget. We have no intention of increasing the donations we already ask of our staff.
Concerns
The work both before and during an expanded four day seminar is not to be taken lightly. It will mean additional advance planning by the entire core team, additional fundraising by all, and many new concerns for the staff at the seminar in general. As one of the few members of the staff who has actually been a volunteer at a four day seminar, let me tell you that the workload is not something to scoff at. We all know HOBY takes a lot of energy; four days means that much more so. To address these concerns, the core team in collaboration with the Corporate Board, who bear ultimate legal responsibility for the seminar, will be working on certain preventative planning measures to make sure that we are not compromising the integrity of our program or the safety of our volunteers or ambassadors by some how hastily moving to a four day event.
So, can we count on your help?
We need facilitators and junior facilitators. Email Alecia Frisby at alecia...@hotmail.com
We need Team Alumni. Fill out the application by January 16th at: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/viewform?hl=en_US&formkey=dC03a2Y1TWlmTm9Xclk1WVlhRy1XMGc6MQ#gid=0
We need financial support. Make a donation via paypal: https://www.paypal.com/us/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_flow&SESSION=NEdZAD_bSf9OW_592nb-aJS3MSa81TfT9Xd-PdwGxn9c6gDesLdu901ObrG&dispatch=5885d80a13c0db1f8e263663d3faee8db2b24f7b84f1819343fd6c338b1d9d60
Or, find out how you can help in general by emailing me at semina...@hobymd.org
It has been a decade since Maryland last had a four day seminar. As a MD alum, 15 year volunteer, member of the Corporate Board, and friend to many of you, it is my distinct pleasure to share with you that we are moving forward on this endeavor. I know there will be many more questions, concerns, and to do list items in the course of the roughly 180 days to seminar, but I am glad that we are in this together. I very much look forward to working with all of you towards May 2012.
Aaron M. Bernstein
