Team Building
Part of my “why” for being in ODYSSEY has always been the community, which is one you likely wouldn’t find in any other class or club at school. However, that community wouldn’t be what it is without the bonding activities we do both in and out of the classroom.
Valentine's Day Celebration
Each year we do a Valentine’s Day Celebration, where we take a class period to eat and make Valentine’s decorations together. Since we do this in our separate sections, it’s a great way for staffs to get to know one another better, especially those who might have gained a new member at the beginning of the semester.
Secret Holiday Gift Giver
Something our staff does every year before Winter Break is the Creative Writing Project and Secret Holiday Gift Giver. The Creative Writing Project takes place in a two-period window where we split off into teams to produce a portfolio of creative art and writing pieces. At the end, we share one of our pieces and hold our own version of a Secret Santa, which is a great way to showcase the creative work each of us has done and have fun exchanging gifts and doing a potluck together at the end of the semester.
Celebrating people
One of the main reasons why I like my job so much is getting to celebrate people when they get published on the website. Since I started posting my sophomore year, it’s become a habit for me to send a message to the class group chat with the story when it goes up along with the person’s name, which people have been encouraged to like and respond to. We’ve also made it a norm in the classroom that anytime someone rings a bell sitting on our adviser’s desk, we all stop and clap, no matter what we’re doing. So, if we’re in the room when I publish someone, I’ll have them ring the bell so we can also celebrate that way. However small these actions may be, I’ve found them to be a good way to encourage people to want to get published and also boost staff morale.
Media Day
Three times a year, we have all of that season’s athletic teams come in for photos and interviews. Although the main purpose of these are to generate content for the next few months, we also take breaks in between teams to play games and often go out to eat afterwards, which is a great way to merge work and fun.
Conferences
While they’re also great learning opportunities, state, regional and national conferences are a great way for all members of our staff to bond with each other. Between attending sessions, eating out together, being roommates for a few nights and doing activities like mini golf, we get to know each other a lot better and see one another somewhat outside of the work environment.
Staff bonding
Since the beginning of the summer, I’ve made it a goal to do a staff bonding activity with my staff each month. A lot of these have taken the form of coffee shop work sessions, but we’ve also done a potluck and painted Nutcrackers together to celebrate Christmas. Overall, these are a good way to get to know each other better outside of the classroom and are a lot of fun.
Work sessions
In addition to doing these with the rest of the Digital Staff each month, I try to do work at coffee shops with other members of the program at least twice a month. We’re all often working on different projects at these, but they’re a good mix of fun and work. We take time to talk and hang out, but also to keep each other accountable and get the things we need to do.