Help VISTAs get to know each other

Break the ice at your first VISTA training with this activity:

• Collect a unique fact or obscure detail from each member of your team (cull resumes for information or ask members directly)
• Include supervisors and project coordinators
• List each item without the person's name
• Hand out the lists at the initial gathering
• Give everyone until the end of the day to match each person with an item on the list
• At the end of the day, go through the answers; allow each person to tell a little bit more about their item.

This activity was contributed by Schools of Hope project (Madison, WI), a VISTA program that trains and coordinates academic tutors for low-income students and students of color in the primary grades to improve academic achievement.