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Have you ever walked into a gathering and felt right at home? This is the feeling many people expressed about this year’s WIN Kick-off. Perhaps it is because of Jan Levy, the keynote speaker, or Shawn Langston, our new high school principal, or this year’s WIN Committee, or that many people have attended previous WIN events. Maybe it was all of these. What a great culmination – especially considering what we went through to make it happen. A Sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done. Dwight D. Eisenhower |
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| Kathy Purcell, Linda Kerr Stores, Karen Rogers, Jan Levy, Mitzi Sanders /photo by Ernst |
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In
the past, WIN events have often had speakers in the fields of law and
politics. This summer the Education Committee met and decided to get
a speaker for the kickoff who is from a different venue. We contacted
the Seattle Storm to see if any of the women were available. When that
was not possible, we contacted the University of Washington Huskies
Women’s Basketball team. That didn’t work out either. Each
time we made contact, we had to wait awhile for a reply. This pushed
back the date for our kickoff The mission of Leadership Tomorrow is to develop informed and committed community leaders. In addition to day-long forums and retreats, participant’s work in teams to create solutions to identified community problems. More than one hundred community action projects have been created, many of which continue to impact our region in positive ways. At
7:00 pm on December 11, 2003, President Leah welcomed everyone to the
6th Annual WIN Kickoff She gave a brief explanation of Soroptimist and,
keeping with her chosen theme for this year, shared a notable quote.
Leah called Jeanne Martin to the podium and Jeanne made the surprise
announcement that Carol Sanders, through the Hastings Trust, once again
gave $4,000 for the WIN Program! A large check, representing the real
one, was presented to Leah. It was wonderful to share this with our
community. We are very grateful for Carol’s generosity. She is
part of our WINning team. Shawn was a hard act to follow, but I did my best to explain a bit of history. This started with my experience of trying to reach Shawn to arrange an initial meeting. Things have gone so smoothly since then, it feels like all the gears are in sync. Shawn has been a big part of that. The way the person at the top acts, trickles down to everyone. I talked about the history of the Mentoring part of the program and shared some experiences I’ve had as a mentor. My mentee, Kim, has been a source of learning, laughter and loving for me. The community has been a continued support for the WIN Program. From the Oak Table again working with us on the Kickoff, to local newspapers that include articles about WIN, to local printers offering discounts on printing, to women in the community who have become mentors for the WIN students. Then there are the parents, grandparents, family and friends – many of them who were in attendance – who encourage and support the girls.
Decadent Deserts |
None
of this could be possible without our partner, friend and teammate,
Mitzi Sanders. If SI Sequim is the brick, then Mitzi is the mortar.
Mitzi told us the story of how the WIN Program started as an idea and
grew to a reality. It continues to evolve. She shared information about
Shawn and how much the teachers and students like and respect him. He
is firm but fair. Several students from the audience showed their knowledge
of the principal by telling us he has Speed Racer memorabilia in his
office. As a thank you gift, a poinsettia plant was presented to Shawn
by the students.
Mitzi introduced Karen Rogers. I sometimes forget Karen is not a Soroptimist; she has done so much to help the WIN Program. Karen came to know and respect Jan Levy while participating in the Leadership Tomorrow course in Seattle. Karen was the perfect person to make the introduction. When Jan stepped up to the microphone, everyone’s eyes and ears were on her (once the applause subsided). Jan’s first words were questioning if she could live up to such a grand introduction. Jan
is a person who gets people involved. She had an assignment for us.
To help her, Jan had brought a friend of hers, Linda Kerr Stores, chief
of staff to Seattle City Council Member Margaret Pagler, along. Linda
handed out forms to the audience. It was a list of 24 values (plus a
section titled Others). We were to choose our top ten values; we had
five minutes to make our choices. Then Jan asked us to narrow the list
down to our top five choices; we had three minutes this time. After
Jan had us narrow the list to our top three choices, she asked if the
way we were living our lives reflected those values. It was an eye opener!
Jan got us all thinking. Leadership Tomorrow teaches about volunteering in our community. The better we know ourselves, the easier it is to participate in the things we feel are important. Reviewing our values is something we should do periodically. It’s like doing a sanity check. Truly Jan was the right choice for our keynote speaker. The evening was topped off with decadent desserts and meaningful conversations. Our heartfelt thanks to the Oak Table and their staff, to the Education Committee (and SI Sequim), to Mitzi Sanders, Shawn Langston (and Sequim High), to Karen Rogers and to all those who helped make everyone feel right at home at our 6th Annual WIN Kickoff A special thank you goes out to Jan Levy for what she taught us. She has left us with a gift that keeps on giving. Kathy Purcell |
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The first
step to getting the things you want out of life is this:Decide what
you want.
Ben Stein
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SI Sequim |