Nathaniel Otjen

A VISTA training and Holiday Bowl is held for the AmeriCorps*VISTA’s in the Cedar Rapids and Iowa City regions every year. On Thursday, November 17th, this year’s training was held with the Holiday Bowl after it.

The morning began with an introduction of what each VISTA member was doing in the community and there were 23 VISTA’s in attendance. The training included a session where VISTA’s could identify what type of personality they are and talk with other people who share similiar traits to see how they can use those traits in bettering themselves and working with others.

A VISTA volunteer said, “I think it was great having everyone come together to reflect upon what they have been working on in the community and I found the personality activity particularly helpful!”

After the training session everyone recieved lunch and an awards ceremony followed where Julie Rochford and Ann Davidson (both AmeriCorps*VISTA Program Supervisors) summarized what VISTA’s have done locally in the past year. They also thanked those who just completed their terms.

When the lunch and awards ceremony was over, everyone went to the May City Bowl to go bowling!

Rochford reflected about the day, “The Annual CCIA VISTA Holiday Bowl is just one way our program shows appreciation to members for the amazing contributions they make each and every day in the Corridor!  It’s a great opportunity for members to learn about each other’s projects, share accomplishments, and have a good time!”

This year’s VISTA training and H0liday Bowl was an absolute success!