FWP Committee Provides Training and Program for NRCS Staff

The Federal Women’s Program sponsored three days of activities to provide mentor training and a program for all employees, August 22-24, 2006.

Nancy Penry, mentoring trainer, led the group through the mentor/mentee process. Penry emphasized the importance of the mentor partnership, building trust, enhancing communication, setting goals, and reaching closure at the end the mentorship. A total of 12 mentoring teams worked together to start their plan for a mentoring process.

Approximately 42 people attended the all-employee meeting hosted by Zone 3. Eddie Spurgin, district conservationist in Big Spring, spoke about his roll and activities as brigadier general with the Texas Army National Guard. Spurgin discussed one of his most important missions -- assisting with locating debris from the space shuttle Challenger explosion, marking the sites by GPS, and passing the information on to NASA.

Spurgin’s troops also deployed to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Their mission included search and rescue and delivering food and water to the masses of people at the Superdome and convention center. He described the conditions in New Orleans and the problems they faced in their mission. When a hurricane threatened Texas, they were sent to east Texas to prepare for the aftermath of Hurricane Rita. They assisted the public with food and water and dealing with clearing the debris.

Jason Johnson, associate professor and Extension economist, Texas A&M Research & Extension Center in San Angelo, presented a financial investment program, providing tips on how to budget money, get out of debt, and invest money in the Thrift Savings Plan and savings accounts. Johnson’s perspective opened everyone’s eyes to the many possibilities for saving and investing in the future.

The FWP committee held a meeting to review FY 2006 accomplishments and plan for FY 2007. Topics discussed were the budget for FY 2007, the success of the mentoring program, the extension of the STEP program, and plans for the next all-employee meeting in March in Conroe, Texas.

< Back to Texas Highlights