This last week we held the first Shepparton CRT Support Network collegial meeting. I'd like to thank everyone for attending and participating, you made it a great night! I'd also like to thank those who would have liked to attend but were unable to. The support you have shown for future meetings has helped let us know we are on the right track for you. We look forward to seeing you in the future!
Unfortunately this one was a bit rushed as Jen and I scurried behind the scenes to get everything put together. This meant it was rather short notice which didn't leave a lot of flexibility for people to say "yes". I felt, however, that it was better to get the airship off the ground now than put it off for another month. The ball is now rolling and through discussion with those who were there it's clear that this is something that there's enough desire for to justify going ahead and running more collegial meetings. We hope to be posting a schedule for meetings in the not too distant future like we do for Wodonga to make sure everyone has plenty of warning.
To give everyone a solid idea of what these meetings are about from our end, I'd like to discuss the coffee machine and what it represents. CRTs are busy people with unpredictable work, families at home and hobbies to participate in too. Time is important to us.
We also have great days where we like to reward ourselves. Pull into a cafe, grab a nice coffee or hot chocolate and a pastry on the way home. We also have those days where we do the same thing because it's been a very challenging day and we deserve it just for making it to the end of the day with nothing having exploded. We also have those very busy times where we just are so flat out we need something nice as a pick-me-up.
So it's there for you no matter which of the reasons you need it. No extra stops that take even more time, it's already waiting for you at your destination.
It's a nice example of how these meetings aren't just about our PD, it's about us as CRTs and recognising that we're people too. It's also about acknowledging that while the greater education community might often think we have "the easy job", we really really don't and you all deserve recognition for the important role we fill in education.
So I'll leave you with the video we closed the meeting with. I press-ganged my husband into creating this video because we all need some positive affirmation from time to time. If you have CRTs in your Facebook friends (or through other social media) please share this video, they deserve that affirmation too!
Regards,
Mel.
