By Beth Dolinar
They used to be called “coffee klatches”, those informal meetings of several individuals (usually women), who would drink coffee and chat. What comes to mind for me are those 1960s sitcoms in which women would just walk through their neighbors’ back doors and sit at the kitchen table for a visit.
They used to be called “coffee klatches”, those informal meetings of several individuals (usually women), who would drink coffee and chat. What comes to mind for me are those 1960s sitcoms in which women would just walk through their neighbors’ back doors and sit at the kitchen table for a visit.
We’ve gotten away from that sort of thing,
just as most of us no longer vacuum in aprons and pearls. But we love our
coffee more than ever. We just tend to call it other things (double breve
macchiato, anyone?), and we don’t drink it at our next-door neighbor’s kitchen
table.
I bring this up because it’s recruiting
season for the Luminari camps. Although we’re not long past the fun and success
of our 2016 camps (including our new public speaking camp, Speak and Tell),
it’s time to look ahead to next summer, when we will once again offer a slate
of innovative and exciting programs.
And here’s where the coffee comes in. During the coming months, I will be hosting a
series of “coffee talks” to spread the word about our camps. I will invite the
parent of a recent camper to then invite several other parents—as few as 2 or 3
or as many as 6 or 7; we will meet at a coffee shop or someone’s home, to talk
about our camps and how they can enrich the lives of teenagers.
The idea is to work face-to-face, taking a
personal approach to telling parents about our four camps. The informal setting
will allow the alumni parents to share their own children’s experience, and
will allow me to answer questions.
We at Luminari begin our recruitment each
fall to give families the opportunity to consider their summer plans and to
confirm their registrations well before the “spring crunch.”
As coordinator for Luminari, I enjoy
getting to know our teen campers as well as their parents. These coffee talks
will allow me to do more of that.
If you are the parent of a camper and would
like to put together a group for one of our talks, please call or e-mail bdolinar@luminari.org.
And if you’re just learning about
Luminari, I’d love to meet with you and your friends, too. These coffee talks
are for everyone—parents of teens and friends of teens. Teachers, too.
I’ll be happy to meet all of you. And the coffee’s
on me.
Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.
***
Luminari Coordinator, Beth Dolinar brings her talents and experience as a writer, Emmy-award producer, public speaker and deadline driven multi-tasker to our team. She writes a popular column for the Washington "Observer-Reporter." She is a contributing producer of documentary length programming for WQED-TV on a wide range of topics and currently teaches as an adjunct faculty member at Robert Morris University. Beth has a son and a daughter. She is an avid yoga devotee, cyclist and reader. Beth says she types like lightning but reads slowly -- because she likes a really good sentence.
No comments:
Post a Comment