By Bonnie Prater
WSIA Training Coordinator

Hello Everyone,

Every year many of our members provide an invaluable service to our membership by offering to facilitate or instruct our various training programs.  When our members share their expertise with the attendees of our training programs they provide real life applicability to the topics we cover and allow our members to connect and learn from each other.  WSIA could not provide such training without the help of our facilitators and instructors.

I am dedicating this Training Coordinator’s Corner to the recruitment of future facilitators and instructors.  Everyone knows someone from the membership who is always volunteering to facilitate or instruct; the claims person, nurse, vocational counselor, attorney who is a familiar face because of their level of volunteerism. 

We need more of these volunteers – we need you! 

Facilitators are the cornerstone of our Washington Workers’ Compensation Professional courses. They are the leaders who guide and mentor the students throughout each 13 week course of instruction and learning.  Through this experience, the facilitators gain insight, build relationships, develop their own knowledge and skills, and earn the respect of their peers.

WWCP designees are strongly encouraged to further their learning by becoming WWCP facilitators.  As an added bonus, WWCP continuing education credits are available through facilitating.

Of course, to be a really great facilitator you need training.  WSIA provides this training, too.  If you are interested in becoming a facilitator for WWCP, I invite you to join me for Facilitator Training being held June 12th and 13th at the Inn at Port Hadlock, Port Hadlock, Washington.  You will learn about the WWCP courses, facilitator responsibilities, adult learning concepts, different learning styles, how to use A/V equipment, how to select and use guest speakers/instructors, how to guide your students successfully through the course, and much more. 

If you have an interest in becoming a facilitator, send me an email at bonnie.prater@wsiassn.org and let me know you would like to participate in facilitator training.   I will take it from there.

If you are interested in becoming more involved in our membership community but facilitating is not your thing, I encourage you to volunteer as a guest speaker/instructor. All our training programs utilize guest speakers/instructors so there is a large need to constantly replenish our resources. 

You have worked hard to get where you are and have a tremendous knowledge and skill base to share with others. Get involved!

In most cases, materials are provided, but it is the personal work experience and insight of our guest speakers/instructors that make our training programs really interesting and beneficial to our members. In addition, there is a great sense of purpose and satisfaction that comes from helping others. 

I am building a database of qualified guest speakers/instructors for the upcoming program year and would love to hear from you.  I encourage you to send me an email at bonnie.prater@wsiassn.org and let me know you would like to be added to that database. 

Thank you for everything you have done and will continue to do for WSIA and our membership.  Remember, get involved!

Bonnie Prater

WSIA Training Coordinator

bonnie.prater@wsiassn.org

Posted 18 April 2008

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