Council training, new device and photos

I attended the first Council training session for elected members on Wednesday of this week.  Most of my Cromwell Council and Community Board colleagues had attended training on Monday - it was just Robin Dicey and myself at the Wednesday session from Cromwell along with elected members from the Teviot Valley, Ranfurly and Alexandra.  I'm afraid I didn't make a great first impression arriving a few minutes late - I rushed out of a pantomime casting meeting at school and then had a slow trip through the gorge.  Hopefully I will get my timings more accurate for the next meeting.  Robin made sure my lateness was noted.
Windows Surface Pro 3 - to make sure we are all working away in the background
First order of business was training on our new devices - we have all been issued with Windows Surface Pro 3 tablets for our three year term.  There were a couple of quips from the IS guys (nothing to do with Islamic terrorist movements - information services) about teachers and Mac computers - but we soon got past that and onto how to access files and how information will be passed on to elected members.

I have my new council email address anna.harrison@codc.govt.nz please feel free to drop me a line via this email address with questions or issues for the Cromwell Community Board.

The training day was a great opportunity to meet the key people on the CODC executive team and find out a bit more about the day to day workings of the organisation.  I already work in a system full of jargon and acronyms for everything - and I'm entering another with a whole new set to learn.  It's a bit like learning a new language.  I have a new appreciation for the puzzled looks of school board members at their first few meetings.  At school we talk about 'pedagogy' and 'best practice' at Council it seems to be all about 'space.'  Most of the team talked about the space they worked in - and they didn't mean where their desk is situated.

The most challenging part of the day was probably the photo session.  It seems to be universal that people are uncomfortable about the need to pose for a professional looking photo.  The level of smile required - even for the serious issues photo was quite extreme.  I am really worried that I am going to look like some sort of maniacal, wrinkled witch - I should have more trust in the lovely Janyne who was on the other side of the camera - but I am worried.

The Council training has been just a wee part of my week - athletics day on Monday was fantastic and exhausting.  The book fair was a great success, we have more than $800 worth of new books heading for our school library as our commission from the fair.  Clifford the big red dog made an appearance at athletics day - he wasn't particularly good at triple jump - I'm not sure how he went at his other events.  Swim club coaching sessions started this week - I have a great group of wee swimmers.  I coach the youngest in our club and I love seeing the progress they make over a season.

It is great that the week has ended with a long weekend - although I acknowledge that is not the reality for everyone - our community has a lot of people who work while the rest of us take a break.

I have had my eldest home for most of the weekend.  It is always great to see the boys and have a catch up.  He is, like many high school and university students on the lookout for summer employment and he met with a couple of potential employers who he had sent his CV to earlier in the week.  He headed back to Dunedin to get ready for exams hopeful that it will lead to something.
First Cromwell Farmer's Market of the season
We did manage to get to the Farmer's Market this morning.  It was a great start to the season, lots of people, lots of interesting stalls and great produce.  The lummox treated it like a rolling picnic while I secured yummy looking meat, cheese, smoked salmon, fresh vegies and fresh bread. We had a great spread for lunch with left over poached chicken from last night's pho ga and a fresh crunchy asian slaw.  It's high country merino shanks for tea.
Farmer's Market lunch - yummo

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