During my first supervision meeting (about 3 months ago!), my supervisor and I went over a page of Umoja's guiding principles. Some of the listed principles included keeping students at the center, and meeting students where they are. My supervisor went through the list and discussed some of what she thought were the most important principles (though she stressed that all are important). Most of the principles were self-explanatory or seemed obviously relevant to my work. When we reviewed the principle "build the plane while flying it," I remember thinking that really only applied to the staff members in director positions or the chief officers. The idea behind the principle is this: Umoja does really great work for the students, teachers, and communities that it serves. In order to do good work, you sometimes need to take risks. Moreover, you need to follow through. I believe that this is part of the beauty of the organization. It has also taken some getting used to.
I don't want to go picture-crazy in this post so I will just attach one from the open mic that we just had on Thursday.
The event was coordinated by one of the teachers at the school and the Writers Workshop students I work with helped put up fliers, they all attended the event, and a few of our students (such as the one pictured above) performed. The event was well attended (as I hope you can see from the picture), and there was so much talent in the room. I would definitely call the event a success.
I am one of the facilitators for the Umoja Writers Workshop. Since I was an English/Creative Writing student at Princeton, I figured the particular position would be a perfect fit for me. This has definitely been a learning opportunity. The Writers Workshop is not new to Umoja and the bar has been set high. The challenge for me has been trying to maintain the standard for a group when I am new to the group and have never facilitated a group of more than 15 or so students (Writers Workshop has 30). My co-facilitators for the group are two of the chief officers of Umoja. I was nervous/intimidated about working with them but it has been such a great thing. As I discussed with my supervisor, even though I am facilitating this semester, this is also a time for learning and professional growth. That being said, there are days when one of the co-facilitators will lead (model) a particular activity so I can see how it is done and then work towards being able to lead that particular activity myself. We try to make sure that the program is rigorous but is engaging and relevant for the students. To do so, we have made a few changes to the curriculum, the structure of our day, as well as our facilitation styles. We recently had a group meeting with this year's facilitators and one of last year's facilitators to have some "thought partnership." We're building the plane while flying it. The program has already had 10 sessions but we are still adding to it, fixing it and working out the kinks. I don't know that we will ever be 100% satisfied but the point is to work towards that.
The concept of building the plane while flying it also applies to my fellowship at Umoja in general. My job responsibilities are not set in stone (and I have learned not to get too comfortable with anything). While I know that I am responsible for the Writers Workshop program and much of the background work required (such as coordinating field trips, etc), my other role was not clear for some time. I had a pretty good idea, however, that my other role would be in restorative justice. I recently began shadowing my supervisor in the Peace Room to run peace circles/peer mediation. We then recently discussed me working with the student leaders instead. I have learned to be patient throughout the process and to be ready to jump in wherever I'm needed. As I continue on with my fellowship, my position is still being crafted/redefined.
The greatest thing for me, to date, has been the relationships I have been building with the students, teachers, school staff, and the Umoja staff.
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In very different news, I had a great time meeting up with Emily (one of the D.C. fellows) yesterday. She was in Chicago for a conference and it was nice to catch up and exchange stories about our fellowship experiences :)
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