Mark's Perspective on His Southwestern College Workshop

On Sunday (4/17) Matt and I offered one of the three workshops for students. During our workshop we talked about the work of SoCe Life and how we do interviews. Each workshop was about 25 minutes long and we had 5 or 6 students in each group. 

During the workshop students asked good questions like how we get funding and what our typical work hours are. Matt talked about how we are supported by donations and a grant we got from the Wichita Community Foundation. As far as the work hours, I explained how I work 10 hours a week for SoCe Life and that a lot of that time is spent going door-to-door meeting neighbors. 

One student asked how we got started, so I told them about John McKnight. He is one of the guys who came up with this model of community development. He was working in the Chicago area, and he has some videos we watched that talked about how neighborhoods get stronger. 

As I led the workshop I wondered, “did I say enough? Did I say too much?” And I wondered if I emphasized the right things. It is always hard to know for sure. 

I do enjoy telling stories of the neighborhood. That was probably my favorite part of the workshop. 

As for leading a workshop, I’d do it again!