Congratulations to our State Level Award Winners
4th Quarter Awards
Outstanding Projects of the 4th Quarter:
Camping Trip by Abbey Warren – Individual Development
Outstanding New Member of the 4th Quarter:
Laurie Bledy
Presidential Awards of Appreciation:
Abbey Warren
Blair Hedgepeth
1st Place Chapter for the 4th Quarter:
Alexandria!
Year End Awards
First Timers at Convention Award:
Mark Kaufmann
Year End CPGs:
1st Place – Run/Walk Club
Tucker Watkins – Outstanding Local Officer:
Diana Karczmarczyk – Community Development
Sidney D. Peck – Outstanding Local President:
Amy Tenhouse
Luther Lee Allison – Virginia Cup Program Manager:
Laura Murphy
Virginia Cup Winner – Top Chapter in the State, 2009:
Alexandria!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
How To Get the Most Out Of Your Jaycee Experience - Degrees
Are you new to the Jaycees? Have you been a member for a while but don’t know how to get the most out of your membership? If you are asking this, the US Jaycees have developed a program to help you get the most out of the time you spend as a Jaycee. It is called the Passport to Leadership.
http://www.usjaycees.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=104&Itemid=166&limitstart=10
The Passport to Leadership program is broken down into ten steps called degrees that help you to get involved, gain experience and become a leader. Each of the ten steps has a list of tasks that are required to move on to the next degree. Sometimes, these tasks are easy and can be accomplished in a few minutes, and others require a longer commitment, but each item that you have to do is designed to help you learn personal and professional skills.
If you would like to take the next step in your membership, I encourage you to start down the road of the Passport to Leadership Program. You can advance one degree each quarter and before you know it, you’ll gain valuable experience and skills as you become a 10th degree Jaycee! Are you a brand new Jaycee? You can spring forward your first three degrees by completing all eight requirements of the Leaderboard program within your first six months.
So what are you waiting for? Get started on your first degree by getting involved! You’ll help yourself and your chapter be better.
http://www.usjaycees.org/index.php?option=com_docman&task=cat_view&gid=104&Itemid=166&limitstart=10
The Passport to Leadership program is broken down into ten steps called degrees that help you to get involved, gain experience and become a leader. Each of the ten steps has a list of tasks that are required to move on to the next degree. Sometimes, these tasks are easy and can be accomplished in a few minutes, and others require a longer commitment, but each item that you have to do is designed to help you learn personal and professional skills.
If you would like to take the next step in your membership, I encourage you to start down the road of the Passport to Leadership Program. You can advance one degree each quarter and before you know it, you’ll gain valuable experience and skills as you become a 10th degree Jaycee! Are you a brand new Jaycee? You can spring forward your first three degrees by completing all eight requirements of the Leaderboard program within your first six months.
So what are you waiting for? Get started on your first degree by getting involved! You’ll help yourself and your chapter be better.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Alexandria Jaycees Attend LOTS
Seven Alexandria Jaycees made the trip down to Ashland, Virginia to attend the Local Officer Training Seminar (LOTS) put on by the leadership of the Virginia Jaycees on Saturday, February 20, 2010. While at the event, they met other Jaycees from across the commonwealth, learned about motivating their team, conflict resolution, public speaking, the new Passport to Leadership Degrees program and Jaycee competitions.
Former Jaycee Trish Tyler led the discussion in how to motivate your members. She noted that there were four main types of motivation but the most effective was Intrinsic Motivation. This is when you have a desire within yourself to do something. It is the proverbial ‘What’s in it for me?’ If you can listen to your members and prospective members you can find out what they really want and you can find a way to motivate them.
Trish also talked about Conflict Resolution and surprised us a bit by stating that conflicts can be good. They can raise and address problems, energize work on the most appropriate issues, help motivate members to participate and help us to learn to recognize and benefit from our differences. However, you have to know how deal with a conflict in order to have a positive outcome. When people are confronted with a conflict, they have five different reactions: Avoid it, accommodate with the idea, compete with the person who is creating the conflict, compromise or collaborate. All of these reactions can be effective in different situations, but the best option is usually to collaborate to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Speaking from her experience of winning two US Jaycees Speak Up competitions, Trish gave her audience some pointers on public speaking. She said to stay on point, try to stick with the rule of three. Having three points helps you remember the information that you are presenting and can avoid overloading or boring the audience with too much information. Everyone needs to know how to speak publicly and this is a skill that can help you advance in your professional career as well.
Alexandria Jaycee members who attended were Daniel Anzanello, Sarah Godshall, Romney Hogaboam, Jennifer Jackson, Laura Jarchow, Harry Schroeder and Sally Schroeder. We all were able to meet and reconnect with other chapters from around the state including Fredericksburg, Richmond, West End, Tuckahoe, Pulaski, and more. All of these chapters are excited about the new year and will be working hard to be the best chapter in the state.
As is usually the case when attending state events, I think that everyone got a fresh dose of excitement, motivation and new ideas to bring back to their local chapters. If you haven’t taken the time to go to a state-level convention or training, you owe it to yourself to check one out. It is definitely worth it.
Former Jaycee Trish Tyler led the discussion in how to motivate your members. She noted that there were four main types of motivation but the most effective was Intrinsic Motivation. This is when you have a desire within yourself to do something. It is the proverbial ‘What’s in it for me?’ If you can listen to your members and prospective members you can find out what they really want and you can find a way to motivate them.
Trish also talked about Conflict Resolution and surprised us a bit by stating that conflicts can be good. They can raise and address problems, energize work on the most appropriate issues, help motivate members to participate and help us to learn to recognize and benefit from our differences. However, you have to know how deal with a conflict in order to have a positive outcome. When people are confronted with a conflict, they have five different reactions: Avoid it, accommodate with the idea, compete with the person who is creating the conflict, compromise or collaborate. All of these reactions can be effective in different situations, but the best option is usually to collaborate to make sure that everyone is on the same page.
Speaking from her experience of winning two US Jaycees Speak Up competitions, Trish gave her audience some pointers on public speaking. She said to stay on point, try to stick with the rule of three. Having three points helps you remember the information that you are presenting and can avoid overloading or boring the audience with too much information. Everyone needs to know how to speak publicly and this is a skill that can help you advance in your professional career as well.
Alexandria Jaycee members who attended were Daniel Anzanello, Sarah Godshall, Romney Hogaboam, Jennifer Jackson, Laura Jarchow, Harry Schroeder and Sally Schroeder. We all were able to meet and reconnect with other chapters from around the state including Fredericksburg, Richmond, West End, Tuckahoe, Pulaski, and more. All of these chapters are excited about the new year and will be working hard to be the best chapter in the state.
As is usually the case when attending state events, I think that everyone got a fresh dose of excitement, motivation and new ideas to bring back to their local chapters. If you haven’t taken the time to go to a state-level convention or training, you owe it to yourself to check one out. It is definitely worth it.
Monday, February 15, 2010
My First Virginia Jaycees State Convention
I spent several years in Virginia Beach when I served in the Navy and even went back a few times for work since then. However, last month I returned to the beach for something other than work, the Virginia Jaycees Year-End Convention. As a relatively new member of the Alexandria Jaycees and first timer at the convention, I was very excited to attend and see what the Jaycees were all about, outside of the activities I had been involved with locally. Well I had an absolute blast, got to meet a lot of great people and look forward to attending another state convention when the weather is a little warmer and there is less of a chance of being snowed in by a blizzard! Yes, the blizzard hindered some of our fun, but it didn’t stop us Jaycees from doing what we came to do, which was celebrate a great year, learn some new things and have some fun. And fun was certainly had by all. But it wasn’t just about the fun, there were some good training sessions where I learned some things about the Jaycees that I had not known, as well as learned about the traditions and regulations of the organization. As a former military guy, learning about and understanding history and traditions means a lot to me. One of my favorite events to participate in was the First Timer’s Program, in which all the first timers were asked to participate in a scavenger hunt type of activity which doubles as a great way to meet as many Jaycees at the convention as possible. Unfortunately I was triumphantly beaten in the competition by a West End Jaycee, but it was not from a lack of trying on my part! I took my defeat in stride and with honor, as the Alexandria Jaycees took home oodles of awards including the Local Chapter President of the Year and the Virginia State Cup (aka The Number One Chapter in the State)! For anyone who has not been to a state convention, I highly recommend attending one soon, especially for those Jaycees that are new to the organization. I will be at one in the near future, and if you need advice on how to win the First Timer’s Award, I’ll be happy to help.
Believe In Yourself!
Many of you have probably seen the latest YouTube sensation to make the rounds, but if you haven’t, here’s a link to check out. This video has been shown on several TV networks including ESPN, Fox and NBC, and the fisherman shown in it has been interviewed by Fox and Friends and The Today Show.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cV4FCwtTEo
I’m not bringing your attention to this just because it is a funny video about a random guy getting attacked by a goose, but to hopefully inspire you to believe in yourself and follow your dreams.
The fisherman in this video is a good friend of mine from childhood and was a groomsman in my wedding, Drew Gregory. Up until last year, he had been working for different colleges and helping their recreation and intramural sports departments. He used these jobs to pay the bills, but in his spare time he was working on his craft…kayak fishing. Over the years, he made numerous contacts with people in the fishing industry, practiced the techniques, honed his skills, and learned what it would take to make a living as a professional kayak fisherman. Then, at the end of last summer, he left his job and pursued his passion full time. He created a website for fishing tips and videos, negotiated a deal with the company Jackson Kayak to design a river fishing kayak and began leading tours for casual river fisherman. Whenever he is out on the water, he has his waterproof HD camcorder rolling so that he can record anything that he catches or that happens to him. That’s when the goose attack happened.
What can we learn from Drew? I hope that it is not just how to be attacked by a goose and survive! I hope that we can see a man who knew what his passion was and decided to believe in himself and pursue that goal.
How can the Jaycees help you to do this? We’re not all cut out to be kayak river fisherman, but we do have our own professional goals for ourselves. Just like Drew, we have to practice our skills and learn about our passion while we are working in areas that don’t always get us closer to our ultimate dream. The Jaycees can help you develop your talents in many areas. We offer opportunities in leadership, writing skills, public speaking, organizing, recruiting, sales, business and social networking, project management, fundraising, accounting, management, planning and much more.
My challenge to you is to believe in yourself. If you know what your goals are, the Jaycees can probably help you get there. If you don’t, we can help you develop as a person as you discover your life’s ambition. Give us a try. Get involved and get active, because the sky is the limit.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cV4FCwtTEo
I’m not bringing your attention to this just because it is a funny video about a random guy getting attacked by a goose, but to hopefully inspire you to believe in yourself and follow your dreams.
The fisherman in this video is a good friend of mine from childhood and was a groomsman in my wedding, Drew Gregory. Up until last year, he had been working for different colleges and helping their recreation and intramural sports departments. He used these jobs to pay the bills, but in his spare time he was working on his craft…kayak fishing. Over the years, he made numerous contacts with people in the fishing industry, practiced the techniques, honed his skills, and learned what it would take to make a living as a professional kayak fisherman. Then, at the end of last summer, he left his job and pursued his passion full time. He created a website for fishing tips and videos, negotiated a deal with the company Jackson Kayak to design a river fishing kayak and began leading tours for casual river fisherman. Whenever he is out on the water, he has his waterproof HD camcorder rolling so that he can record anything that he catches or that happens to him. That’s when the goose attack happened.
What can we learn from Drew? I hope that it is not just how to be attacked by a goose and survive! I hope that we can see a man who knew what his passion was and decided to believe in himself and pursue that goal.
How can the Jaycees help you to do this? We’re not all cut out to be kayak river fisherman, but we do have our own professional goals for ourselves. Just like Drew, we have to practice our skills and learn about our passion while we are working in areas that don’t always get us closer to our ultimate dream. The Jaycees can help you develop your talents in many areas. We offer opportunities in leadership, writing skills, public speaking, organizing, recruiting, sales, business and social networking, project management, fundraising, accounting, management, planning and much more.
My challenge to you is to believe in yourself. If you know what your goals are, the Jaycees can probably help you get there. If you don’t, we can help you develop as a person as you discover your life’s ambition. Give us a try. Get involved and get active, because the sky is the limit.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Welcome to the Alexandria Jaycees Blog!
Hey Jaycees!
It's your president, Harry, here. I wanted to start a blog to keep up with the times and give us another way to highlight our members' accomplishments, let you know about stories from our projects and remind you of any awards we've won.
This blog is going to be for you, our members too. Do you need some writing experience to build your resume? Do you have something to say about the Jaycees or a project? Let your voice be heard here, on this blog!
Remember, you get what you put into the Jaycees. You'll never know what you'll get out of your efforts until you get involved. Who knows? You may find a new job, learn new skills, meet important people in the community, increase your business or meet new friends.
I am looking forward to keeping you up to date and seeing you again at our next event.
Harry Schroeder
2010 President, Alexandria Jaycees
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