Preparing the Space
After identifying your Adult Advisors and Peer Leaders, it is time for your Sources of Strength training! An appropriate setting is critical to having a successful Sources of Strength Adult Advisor Training and Peer Leader Training. The time and effort to find an appropriate location will be well worth the investment.
Below are more details to support your team in hosting your upcoming Adult Advisor Training and Peer Leader Training!
Room Setup
Sources of Strength trainings require a room that is large enough for everyone to sit in a circle comfortably and engage in all interactive activities. Often this is a gym, a library, or a large classroom. If there is not a room in the school/site, perhaps a neighboring community center or space would work. We ask that the room has:
- Limited noise, outside traffic, and other distractions.
- Space for moderate levels of physical movement and music (necessary for some activities).
- Desks, tables, or other objects moved out of the way. Chairs cannot have attached desks.
A major portion of the training involves participant sharing. It is critical that all participants can hear each other and that there are no physical barriers or distractions in the room.
- For trainings with more than 40 people in attendance, we ask that the team provides one or two wireless microphones and a sound system to use throughout the training.
When your trainer arrives, please have the space set up with chairs in a circle with no desks, tables, or barriers in the middle.
Food and Materials
Your training will likely go through the lunch hour, and you will need to make arrangements for the meal during the training. Teams often order sandwiches, pizza, or other simple meal options that Peer Leaders, Adult Advisors, and the Trainer can all eat in the training space together. Having additional snacks and drinks for Peer Leaders, Adult Advisors and Trainers to enjoy are recommended but not required and can add to the sense of the specialness of the day.
The Sources of Strength trainer will provide the majority of the materials needed, but we do ask each team provides:
- The box of materials shipped to the site from Sources of Strength (unless your trainer has communicated that they will bring all materials).
- A projector and screen with an audio hook-up (for Adult Advisor training only). The trainer will bring a laptop and an adaptor but will need access to a projector and screen.
- One Post-it Note sticky poster pad or similar type of sticky poster pad.
Next Steps for Internal Team
- Discuss when to hold Peer Leader meetings twice a month for 30-60 minutes. We will talk about this more during the Adult Advisor Training, but we ask you to start thinking about when.
- Finalize at least the first meeting date and time before the Peer Leader Training takes place (should be within the first ten days after training).
- Discuss a possible communication tool such as Google Classroom, Remind, email, etc., so you can communicate effectively with your Adult Advisor team and your Peer Leader team directly following the training. It's great to sort this out before the training to get people signed up.
