School Board Presentation
Yesterday evening, I had the amazing opportunity to represent Henderson Bay by presenting to the Peninsula School District Board. John, Peter, Brian and I gave the board members a virtual tour of Henderson Pawz, highlighting the different areas of our newspaper including the mannequin challenge, a couple of the field trips our school has taken and the student expression page. My personal favorite part of the virtual tour was when Brian talked about the superintendent video and interview I conducted back in October along with John, Chase and Fred. After our presentation ended, Hugh the photographer of the Peninsula Gateway gave me a hug. The feeling was surreal since he’s been one of my idols since my freshman year. I was incredibly nervous on the car ride to the school board office because I had never given a presentation for people of authority, let alone only a handful of the people who hold the responsibility for keeping our schools up and running. When I walked into the room the meeting was held in, there were adults chattering away, having fun and laughing which was not at all what I’d envisioned in my mind. I had expected the board members to be sitting silently stiff in an awkward manner and staring at me as I walked in the room thinking “Who is this teenager and why is she presenting for us tonight?” with stares of judgment, but that was far from the case. Brian introduced me to several members of the board including our Superintendent, Rob Manahan, whom I had the honor of personally meeting last October (see paragraph one.) The members were welcoming and joked around with me which relieved most of my nerves. One lady even asked if it was okay to give me a hug which made me feel a hundred times better. The main thing I remember when giving big presentations like the one yesterday evening is the advice my mom told me from looking at the back of people’s heads, slowing down and taking a breather if I noticed myself talking fast from nerves, and talking to the audience if necessary and making a joke to ease myself into presenting. She previously worked at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard in Bremerton in human resources for the navy before relocating to Silverdale working the same job. One of the responsibilities of my mom’s job is to give new onboarding employees to the naval base a briefing, presentation and lecture. When working in Bremerton, the number of people she had to present in front of could range up to over a hundred. Whenever I had presentation anxiety she offered advice from the skills she had gained from presenting in front of large crowds, which I believe has made a direct impact on my presentation skills. I love you Mom! ~BRE |
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