Dialogue Page 7

Player's Lineup

The progress of the world is the history of men who would not permit defeat to speak the final word.

J. R. Sizoo

In every thought and action, think excellence.

Byrd Baggett

Future Leaders Rap Gavel For Parliamentary Procedures!

Vicki Kissack, Area N-1 Governor

Two raps from the President’s gavel sent the audience shuffling to their seats. President, Taite Johnson announced, "The meeting room will come to order." A respective hush falls in the room. President Johnson continues, "Will the Secretary please read the minutes from the last meeting?" Secretary, Aleesha Gladson, assertively stood and began reading, as Treasurer, Brandon Winterholler, and Committee Chair, Ezra Coleman, looked on. Razor City Toastmasters Club #6397 joined with the Gillette FFA Chapter to host a one of a kind Parliamentary Procedure Workshop on October 28th, 2010 in Gillette, Wyoming. Karen Trigg, high school agricultural education teacher and FFA Parli-Pro Coach was the speaker and educator for the workshop. The workshop started with the high school FFA students presenting a mock meeting. Mrs. Trigg then followed up with discussion among attendees about the frustrations they experience at meetings they are involved in. The discussion set the ground work as the workshop proceeded to give the audience tools to improve the efficiency and productivity of a meeting. overflowing	Finally, the students worked as co-educators in interactive breakout sessions. "It was exciting to see the youth of our community in these roles, we learned a lot from them. I am proud of them and wish them luck at state!" Rita Mashak, President of Razor City Toastmasters. As Toastmasters we are trained to look outside of the box, reach out to people, and encourage leadership. On this autumn day in a small room, in an iconic library, our nation’s future leaders, jumped outside the box, extended their hands, and not only encouraged but educated a group of active community members as well as Toastmasters. Remember: "If you always do what you’ve always done, you will always be what you’ve always been"
Be Ian-Spired (cont.)
(Continued from page #6) owned a Persian cat. I knew one day I wanted to become wealthy. So can you guess what I had written down on my piece of paper. "Persian cat." Oh, by the way. Ian said, "I have everything I wrote down on that piece of paper…everything except that dang cat Persian Cat — can you believe my son Quincy is allergic to cats?" Ian called six brave student volunteers out of the audience to reveal what they envisioned as their number one goal in life. These students along with everyone else would get a "Be Ian-Spired" bookmark with a place for their goal — along with the six principles for success to reach that goal. The first girl up was struck with stage fright, but three wanted a college education and a good career, one wanted to go to Harvard and be a scientist, the sixth girl wanted to be a doctor. After each one shared their goal, they read one of the six steps toward success printed on the bookmark.	At the end of the assembly kids surrounded Ian — some got autographs, some told him what they were too shy to tell in front of the packed bleachers, some just wanted to touch him or shake his hand — the last boy waited until all the other kids were gone and said, "I just want to be a baseball player. My family says I’m no good at playing ball and I’ll never be a baseball player." Ian bent down and spoke quietly and earnestly, and though I didn’t hear the words, the impact of what Ian said was apparent on the boy’s face and his body language. I watched as Ian’s wife walked out with him and thought of the three daughters and son that watched him give his speech at the Toastmasters International Speech Contest in California. The irony of that event taking place only a little over a hundred miles from where his journey from prison to success started years ago was poignant.