T3 Committee Chair (Co-chairs) – The T3 chair(s) will facilitate communication and planning within the committee. This includes arranging for meetings (or conference calls) and seeing that decisions are documented and communicated. She (they) will be familiar with all committee projects and will prompt and assist as needed to ensure timely completion.
Internet Weaver - The internet weaver will setup a T3 specific emailing list to facilitate committee communication. She will establish an email address for the public to use to contact the T3 committee. She will become familiar with and promote the use of the UUWR Cakes blog (http://cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/blog/ ). If applicable, she will handle arrangements for the processing of online T3 registrations.
Treasurer – The treasurer will handle all funds for the T3 committee and maintain accurate accounting of income and expenses. If appropriate, she will open and maintain a checking account specific to the T3 project.
Registrar – The registrar will maintain a list of participants enrolled in each T3 workshop, with their contact information, congregational affiliation and their workshop payment status. She will send enrollees confirmation of their enrollment including appropriate links or information, such as a map and directions or suggested items to bring. As enrollees request babysitting, the registrar will pass that information along to the local contact for that particular workshop. A few days prior to any given workshop, she will provide the lead facilitator with a roster of attendees for the workshop.
Lead Facilitator – The lead facilitator has primary responsibility for the workshop session. She will coordinate with other facilitators to allocate who is responsible for presenting what. In general, the T3 workshop outline will be followed for each event. However, the lead facilitator may use discretion to expand or cut material, as needed. The number of participants at a given event will greatly influence whether there is time to expand material or if some discussions need to be kept to a minimum.
Facilitators – Facilitators will help the lead facilitator conduct the T3 workshop. They may present readings, the slide show, and/or facilitate one of the sessions from the curriculum. They will also share personal experiences, tips and tricks from previous presentations of Cakes as appropriate.
Music Coordinator – The music coordinator has primary responsibility for presenting the music utilized in the workshop. She will teach participants the words, tune and will lead the group in song. She will ensure that the Carol Eagleheart CD is present and that there is a way to play it. She may choose to bring in percussion or other musical instruments to share.
Local Contact – The local contact should be a member of the hosting congregation. She will be responsible for coordinating building access, setup / cleanup, refreshments and arranging for babysitting. She should recruit additional assistance from the congregation as needed and will keep the office staff updated with appropriate contact and schedule information. The T3 committee will provide payment (or reimbursement) for all refreshments and babysitting. All T3 members present for the workshop should plan to assist with setup / cleanup. The local contact has the option to also participate as a facilitator, but is not required to do so.
Introduction:
Our Central Midwest District Cakes Train-the-Trainer committee consisted of a core group of women from the two district women’s organizations; the UU Women’s Connection (UUWC) and the CMwD Women & Religion Committee (W&R). We had the further advantage of having one member who also was a member of the Continental UU Women & Religion Committee.
We developed and presented 5 workshops district-wide to promote the newly revised Cakes for the Queen of Heaven curriculum. For each event, we had a minimum of three facilitators, two from our core group and one local contact. The following is an outline summary of our experiences. It is intended to provide guidance for other groups developing their own Cakes Train-the-Trainer workshops.
Our T3 Goals:
- Publicize and promote the newly revised Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
- Encourage women to initiate and facilitate this workshop series
- Pass on lessons learned from facilitators experienced with the old curriculum
Plan of Action:
- Create a 1 day workshop to train potential facilitators
- Offer the workshop several times throughout the district in the current year
- Publicize the workshops widely, also serving to publicize the new curriculum
- Continue to offer this workshop occasionally on an ongoing basis (annually?)
Logistics:
- Core group of planners for committee who also serve as the workshop leaders
- Designate roles & responsibilities, i.e. chair, registrar, treasurer, webweaver, etc.
- Arrange for locations, dates, local contacts
- Estimate overall budget to determine what fees will realistically cover costs
- Develop publicity strategy, i.e. fliers, mailings, articles, websites, emails, etc.
- Develop a standardized workshop outline, activity plan, handouts, setup etc.
- Arrange for online registrations and credit card payments
- Collect and summarize evaluations and then incorporate lessons learned
Comments from Rev. Shirley Ranck (2/24/08):
- Explore the topic of reverence for large women in ancient times and the shifting preference to smaller figures as a possible correlation to women’s shrinking power in many cultures.
- Be sure to address the question/comment that arises “but scholar A doesn’t agree”. Answer: “the curriculum is based on the work of distinguished scholars and in every field there is disagreement on interpretation of data.”
- It is okay to pick and choose which questions from the curriculum to discuss and which activities to do. It is a co-creative process, however, always include the historical material, the visual program and engage participants in personal sharing.
- Leaders/facilitators are not teachers. It is important to get the participants to talk and experience rather than be “talked at”. Facilitators are not “experts”. It is OK to say “I don’t know”. Be open to what participants say. Sometimes a good response is “I’ve never thought about it that way”.
- Emphasize that mythology reflects and reinforces the social structures. The curriculum includes stories exploring real women of ancient times, such as a woman poet of Sumeria. Further, each session connects the ancient to the modern through sharing of personal experiences in the present time.
CMwD Cakes Train-the-Trainer (T3) Committee:
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Co-chairs:
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Nancy Irons - W&R, from north suburb of Chicago, IL |
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Webweaver: Gretchen Ohmann - W&R and Continental UUWR, from St. Joseph, MI. |
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Treasurer: Nicole Lisk (now Nichols) - UU Women's Connection, from St. Louis, MO |
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Registrar: Diana DeWeese - UU Women's Connection, from Springfield, IL |
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Additional T3 Committee Members: Jennifer Evans - UU Women's Connection, Oak Park, IL (western suburb of Chicago) |
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Janet Nortrom - W&R Wise Woman, Milwaukee, WI |
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Local Coordinators: Teresa LaPlante W&R, from Watervliet, MI (not pictured) Sherry Dearborn W&R, from Peoria, IL (not pictured Julie Bock, from Milwaukee, WI |
Roles & Responsibilities outline
Co-chairs:
Nancy Irons and Pat Goller served as primary coordinators for this project. Though we never took on the title of chairs, we functioned as such. Gretchen Ohmann also provided leadership on many initiatives.
- Served as primary liaisons to our respective organizations
- Recruited additional committee members
- Arranged meeting (and conference call) dates and times
- Developed and distributed agendas prior to meetings
- Facilitated meetings, kept discussions on topic, recapped decisions and responsibilities
- Arranged for minutes to be taken and distributed
- Prompted people to report on various topics
- Took initiative in communications to keep projects on track
- Developed a proposal for funding submitted to Area UU Councils
- Developed and presented a workshop on Cakes at the annual District Assembly
Treasurer:
Nicole Lisk from UUWC served as our Treasurer. She is a member of Elliot Chapel in Kirkwood, MO (St. Louis area).
Nicole opened a nonprofit checking account using the UUWC nonprofit ID number. We had an initial deposit of $2,439 ($1,000 from each of our organizations and $439 raised in donations). To create a budget, we estimated our expenses, guessed at our attendance levels and ultimately decided upon a registration fee of $30. The Treasurer established a budget spreadsheet and tracked income and expenses throughout this project. Registration checks mailed to the Registrar were forwarded to the Treasurer for deposit. Online registration fees from PayPal were downloaded into our account.
Reimbursement checks were mailed to facilitators upon submission of a completed reimbursement form with receipts attached. (Reimbursable expenses included: Travel @ $.25 per mile, Telephone charges for conference calls, Photocopies of fliers and handouts @ $.05 each, Postage as needed, Folders, Food for workshops, Activity supplies, Babysitters, etc.) At the end of this project we had funds still available. The committee decided to purchase sets of curriculum for each of our hosting congregations and to allocate $500 to the Continental UUWR to be used for future Train-the-Trainer efforts in other districts. All remaining funds were then split between our two organizations and the checking account was closed. Nicole prepared a final financial report.
Resource Documents:
Spreadsheet with Budget and Actual figures
Reimbursement form
Early in this project we submitted proposals for funding to UU Area Councils (St. Louis, Chicago and Milwaukee), however no grants were awarded. A sample proposal is included.
Publicity:
Gretchen Ohmann, our webweaver, also served as our primary coordinator for publicity.
Flyers:
Created a single flier with all workshop dates and locations included
Registrar name and contact information was listed
folder
Facilitator Training Flyer template
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Sample registration form(1 MB)
Flyer distribution:
Handouts at events (women’s conferences, District Assembly, General Assembly), Included in 2 quarterly district mailing to congregations
Initially mailed to out-of-district but nearby churches
Re-mailed to host & nearby churches 6-8 weeks prior to the local training date
Other:
Email notices to everyone in or near district who purchased the curriculum
Mentioned in email to Women and Religion email list. (Did we send to UU Women's Connection elist?)
Mentioned in UUWC printed newsletter
Posted on W&R, UUWC and Cakes webpages
Posted on CMwD website on Calendar of Events
Articles sent to Area UU Council newsletters
Articles sent to the CMwD eNewsletter (x2)
Mailed fliers to District RE Directors
Presented District Assembly Workshop as brief (90 min.) introduction to Cakes & our T3 workshops
Resource Documents:
Articles published in Newsletters
Registrar:
Diana DeWeese served as our Registrar. Most communication with both the committee and the attendees was handled via email. We set our fees at $30 per person (which did not include the curriculum)
Diana was our contact person on publicity and fielded questions from the public
Processed all mailed registrations, forwarding checks to the Treasurer
Online registration information was sent to Registrar from the Webweaver
Compiled an Excel spreadsheet of all registrants
Followed-up with registrants as needed
Provided rosters of participants for each workshop and any special requests
Sent out confirmation of registrations and pre-workshop details, i.e. directions, parking issues, link to church website, which entrance to use, when and where to meet, etc.
Confirmation materials should include: (provide sample confirmation message)
- Confirmation of date/time/location with maps and directions. These can be links
- Local information as appropriate, i.e. parking issues, which entrance to use, contact phone #
- Reminder that purchased curriculum and music CDs will be available on-site for pick-up or available to buy on-site that day.
- Reminder to bring the curriculum with them if they already own it.
- Suggestion that registrants bring an item for the altar, particularly a symbol of the goddess or a symbol of peace.
- If chairs will be without padding, it might be wise to suggest they bring a pillow to sit on.
Webweaver:
Liaison with UUWR re. webhosting Cakes blog, announcements, email group list
Setup committee email group list
Checked email from public and responded or forwarded as appropriate
Coordinated email announcements / publicity
Setup PayPal account and passed on online registration information to Registrar
Workshop Facilitators:
Each event had a designated Lead facilitator, Music facilitator, Local facilitator
Local facilitator arranges for rooms, food, babysitter, access to building, etc.
Lead facilitator arranges for handouts, equipment (i.e. computer & projector), altar items, resource materials, nametags, etc.
Music facilitator teaches and leads the songs, brings instruments &/or CD to play
Facilitators finalized details of who was doing what the week prior to the workshop
All facilitators use the Detailed Workshop Outline
Double check that everyone has paid and that you have all contact information.
Facilitating Workshops:
- Clearly introduce the concept of “I” statements and minimize cross-talking
- Explain expectation of privacy, “What is said in circle, stays in circle.”
- Encourage everyone to participate, even if only to say, “I pass.”
- Be aware that some may be hard of hearing and ask participants to speak up.
- For Session 1, suggest people can name their “spiritual mother” if “birth mother” is not appropriate.
- Be aware of time. Start and end on time.; Cut material if you need to.
- Introduce song at beginning of session and then use it later as well
- After lunch use “(person’s name) is here, (person’s name) is here, May all manner of good things come to her now” around the circle to re-establish the mood.
- Include introduction of the Cakes blog in the Strategies for Success discussion.
- Rearrange session 5 so the personal experience with violence is earlier, rather than at the end. Use the discussion of Peace as the ending topic.
Workshop Logistics:
Set registration deadline at 5 days prior to event
Refund requests reviewed on an individual basis
No refunds given for less than 24 hours notice
Babysitter must be requested in advance
$20 per mother grant available for home babysitting instead on on-site
Copies of curriculum and Music CD available on-site for purchase
Home Hospitality through local facilitator for leaders and participants as needed
altar table at st. joseph facilitator training day
Setup: (Do setup in advance, perhaps the day before. May need to request that church staff do it)
Chairs in a horseshoe with projector screen at the opening
Low altar table in the center or under the projector screen
Use a line of tealights in place of the tea boxes to represent the thousands of years.
Welcome table with sign-in sheet, nametags, folders
Side table with a sampling of resources, i.e. books, videos and extra handouts
Side table extra curriculum and CDs available for purchase.
Area with tables and chairs available to use for food or when working with the clay
Decorations if available, Banners, Goddess figurines, musical instruments
Equipment:
Laptop, Projector, Screen, curriculum CD with slide shows
Blog video? Screen shots of the blog?
Digital Camera to take photos (Please send some to the blog)
Food:
Continental breakfast: Coffee, Hot water, Juice, Pastries or Bagels, Fruit
Lunch: Sandwiches / Soup / Salad ordered from an area restaurant, Participants decided what they want upon arrival. Local facilitator places the order and coordinates pickup / delivery. (Be sure vegetarian options are available)
Drinks: Coffee & Hot water all day, soft drinks both regular & diet (Be sure there are non-caffeinated options)
Afternoon Snacks: Bread dragon with butter and jam, Cookies, Fruit
(Perhaps pass a bowl of Hershey’s Kisses around during the final visual program)
Handout Summary:
We found it most consistent for one person to put together all of the folders and deliver or mail them to the Lead facilitators for each workshop. Participants were reminded to bring their curriculum if they had purchased it. We had extra copies of the curriculum available, so copying of material from the book was minimized.
Sample Training Workshop Day cover: Cover page with facilitator names and contact information
Sample Training Workshop Day Schedule
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Curriculum Table of Contents(45 KB)
What Is Cakes?
Facilitators Tips (Strategies for Success)
folder
Cakes sign up sheet Blank Cakes sign-up sheet to use in home congregation
Cakes Slices Supplemental readings, chants, plays, etc. (use your own ideas, of course!)
Sample Training Workshop Eval Form
Business cards for the Cakes blog*
Promotional material for W&R and Women's Connection and their upcoming events
Possible Additional Activities:
Spiral Dance
Dances of Universal Peace
Drumming
Chanting / Songs – “Lady Weave Your Circle Tight, “May the Circle be Open”
UU Women and Religion is offering these additional resources to groups who want to offer facilitator training in their District or area:
1. e-mail chat list for planning and discussions
2. e-mail news/publicity list — add all your contacts and e-mail them news of your events
3. * Cakes blog "business" cards to hand out
Contact Gretchen by e-mail:
Cakes for the Queen of Heaven
Train-the-Trainer Workshop Schedule
9:00 Continental Breakfast / Mingling
9:15 Welcome / Overview / Opening
~ Short break for stretching, restroom, drinks ~
10:15 Session 1 -The Sacred Female
12:15 Lunch / Mingling
1:00 Strategies for Success
~ Short break for stretching, restroom, drinks ~
2:00 Session 5 - Reclaiming Women’s Heritage of Peace
3:30 Reactions / Closing Ritual
4:00 Refreshments / Mingling
[copy and paste to your word processing program]
EVALUATION SHEET FOR
CAKES FOR THE QUEEN OF HEAVEN
Facilitator Training
Date:
Location:
We welcome your comments, suggestions, and critiques of this program. Please share your evaluations of Cakes for the Queen of Heaven Facilitator Training with us. Leave here or send your evaluation to:
[name and address of person compiling evaluation results]
Please rate each item from 1 to 5 and add brief comments if you have time. Thanks!
5 – great, 4 – good, 3 – okay, 2 – fair, 1 - poor
Overall program: Rating: _____
Was the pace of the day beneficial? Rating: _____
Comments on Individual Sessions. Rating: _____
How was the setting and food? Rating: _____
Were the materials helpful? Rating: _____
What would you change or add?
Will you be teaching in your church soon? Where?
Facilitator Training Day
CAKES FOR THE
QUEEN OF HEAVEN
A Unitarian Universalist Course in Feminist Thealogy
Written by Rev. Shirley Ranck, UU Minister
in Response to a General Assembly Resolution
To Empower Women in our Church and in Society
November 15, 2008
[photo of church]
Universalist Unitarian Church of Peoria, IL
Facilitators
Diana DeWeese,
217-546-5834
Pat Goller,
217-787-0687
Sherry Dearborn,
A joint effort of:
Central Midwest District Women & Religion
& UU Women’s Connection of Central Midwest District
Continental UU Women and Religion
www.cakesforthequeenofheaven.org/blog
OPENING BLESSING
We are here
FROM DIFFERENT WORLDS, DIFFERENT LIVES,
Each has lived a different week
EACH HAS LIVED A DIFFERENT LIFE
We are unique and different women,
YET WE COME HERE TOGETHER IN SISTERHOOD.
We seek the humanness that is in us all
WE SEEK THE TRUTH THAT IS IN US ALL.
We seek the understanding that is in us all.
WE SEEK THE LOVE THAT IS IN US ALL.
Blessed Be.
-- Anonymous
Train-the-Trainer Preparations
Setting – Welcoming table with nametags, packets, already paid for curriculum
Dining area with continental breakfast and drinks (later lunch & refreshments)
Use this area for clay sculpting in PM session?
Chairs in a circle, Low altar table in the center with cloth, candle, altar items
(If large group, second room with chairs / altar might be needed)
Newsprint, easel, markers, tape, boombox or computer for Eagleheart CD
Computer with projector, projector screen, Cakes CD, Blog screenshots
(alternately, Cakes DVD with TV and DVD player)
Side table with organizational fliers, literature, sample resource books
Different side table with curriculum for sale
Box or basket for completed evaluations, extra pens
Packets - 2-pocket folders with Cakes sticker and photocopied materials
Cover sheet with facilitator contact info
Workshop Schedule
Selection of extra blessings & poems
(Can the Goddess Rescue Planet Earth by Meg Bowman, Nonsexist Lord’s Prayer, But We Have Only Begun, Other?)
Cakes Q&A by Nancy Irons
Cakes Table of Contents – In Ancient Times
(Table of Contents of Part II or Flier if available??)
Workshop Handouts
Session 1 – Song sheet for “In Ancient Times”
Session 5 – Song sheet for “May We Be Strong”
Strategies for Success
Blog screen shots??
Sample T3 flier
Blank paper & Pen
Evaluation Form
Materials for Session 1
Goddess figures on the altar
Song sheet in packet
Yemaya story, crayons, markers, paper
14 Tea boxes (cups from church kitchen??)
Materials for Session 5
Peace symbols on the altar, Easter bread dragon(s)
Song sheet in packet
Copies of reading from pages 55-56
Clay for everyone and working space
Train-the-Trainer Workshop Schedule
9:00 Continental Breakfast / Mingling
9:30 Welcome - Introduction of Organizations and Leaders
Overview of today’s schedule - Handout
Reading – Blessing or Poem, Lighting of Candle
Opening Ritual - Introduction around circle (I am daughter of)…Brief discussion of the history of this
Background - Cakes Q &A document, Refer to additional materials in book
Brief Personal Sharing - Why are you here today?, Experiences with Cakes
Discussion of Facilitator Roles & Rules – Recap pgs 20-23
Overview of curriculum -Table of contents, Discuss CD, Slide shows, DVD?
Extra readings if time allows
~ Short break for stretching, restroom, drinks ~
10:30 Session 1 -The Sacred Female (Break into 2 sections if group is large)
Incorporate song “In Ancient Times” Allow time for discussion during slideshow, Cut activities as needed
12:30 Lunch / Mingling Drumming? Other Activity? Spiral Dance?
1:30 Strategies for Success – Facilitator covers handout with group discussion
Logistics / Organizing; Church Support; Publicity
Resources / Cakes Blog
Potential Problems
Follow ups
~ Short break for stretching, restroom, drinks ~
2:30 Session 5 - Reclaiming Women’s Heritage of Peace (Break into 2 sections if group is large) Incorporate song “May We Be Strong” Allow time for discussion during slideshow, Cut activities as needed
4:30 Reactions / Closing Ritual
Feedback – Brief discussion of workshop, Fill out evaluations, Once around the circle (I am name and I feel. . . )
Reading / Song – facilitator choice
Extinguish Candle (Sing May the Circle Be Open??)
5:00 Refreshments / Mingling - Cake??
Cakes T3 Reimbursement Form
Amount of reimbursement request: ______________________________
Pay to Name: _______________________________________________
Address: ___________________________________________________
City, State, Zip: ______________________________________________
List below item(s) purchased and attach receipt(s):
Please submit to:
[name], Treasurer
[address]
[city, state, zip]
For Treasurer’s records:
Check #:
Amount:
Date Issued:
Dear Registrant,
This email is to confirm your registration for the Cakes for the Queen of Heaven Workshop at the First Unitarian Society in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 22 beginning at 9:00 a.m. and ending at approximately 4:00 p.m. The address is: 1342 N Astor Street, corner of Astor and Ogden (Ogden 1400 east).
Please respond to this email as soon as possible so that I know I am using the correct email address.
Should you need assistance getting directions while you are traveling, please contact Janet Nortrom on her cell phone – [local contact phone number]. The telephone number at the church is [phone].
For more information about this congregation use this website:
http://www.uumilwaukee.org/
You are invited to bring a Goddess symbol and/or a symbol of peace to put on the altar.
Please bring the curriculum with you if you already own it. You are also invited to bring other resource materials that you have in your library.
Purchased curriculum and music CDs will be available on-site for pick-up or available to buy on-site that day.
Directions:
From the West: Off I-94, continue east on I-794 to the Van Buren exit. Follow Van Buren north to Ogden St. Turn right on Ogden and go three blocks east to Astor.
From North on I-43: Exit onto McKinley Ave and go east (left). Continue on McKinley to Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. (McKinley becomes Knapp St. at that point.) Continue on Knapp until it ends at Jefferson St. Go north (left) on Jefferson 1 block to Ogden. Go east (right) on Ogden to Astor.
From the South: Heading north to Milwaukee on I-43/I-94, continue onto I-43 northbound through the Marquette Interchange. Exit onto McKinley Blvd and go east (right). Continue on McKinley to Dr. Martin Luther King Drive. (McKinley becomes Knapp St. at that point.) Continue on Knapp until it ends at Jefferson St. Go north (left) on Jefferson 1 block to Ogden. Go east (right) on Ogden to Astor.
If you are not familiar with the area, and this map is not helpful, I would suggest that you use www.mapquest.com
Parking.
The church doesn’t have a parking lot, so plan on using street parking. On weekends, parking is also available at the Lincoln Education Center parking lot located one block west of the church. The lot is immediately south of the Lincoln Education Center (a large red brick building) at the southwest corner of Ogden and Marshall Streets. (See area map, above).
In Faith and Sisterhood,
Diana DeWeese
Registrar
