COMMUNITY-BUILDING

bonner leaders begin group service experiences with picnic

               What's the role of PLAY in a healthy community?  Who plays with whom -- do

                we always play with people of our own abilities-cluster, class, social group? 

                Is play-for-growth just for kids, and do you have to organize it? 

                What's the relationship between play and your comfort zones with people who are

                     different from you?

Bonner Leaders began their group service experiences this year by picnicking at Jordan's Point with residents of the Rockbrige Area Community Services' group homes on Sept. 29.
 

• we played, laughed, had our noses "stolen" by our new friend Marshall, batted around a giant beach ball, and enjoyed the sunshine together

• and ate and ate and ate and ate . . . !

• Residents of the three group homes in Rockbridge and Bath Counties are adults with differently-abling cognitive conditions, and some are also diagnosed with mental illness

the role of conflict in community-building: can it be constructive?

On Oct. 17, Leadership Development director Burr Datz will conduct the first Bonner Seminar, engaging Bonners in identifying their ways of dealing with conflict.  Is the absence of conflict the same as community health?  Can one use conflict to build community?  Are there better ways of doing this and worse ways?  And how do conflict styles impact one's community service?