Georgia | Georgian Police as Leaders in Athletics for Youth | 2 Apr 2015

GE PLAY Georgia Team in collaboration with the program working group developed the schedule for U.S. Based Exchange follow-on and support meetings through August 2015 (on April 7, May 6, June 12 and August 12, 2015).

During the April 7 meeting, working group participants were given a chance to present their individual action plans, receive peer feedback and answer the questions concerning the timeline and other specifics of the actions plans. In the second half of the meeting, guest speaker from the U.S. Embassy/PAS, Gega Gabunia talked about the U.S. Embassy Funded Alumni Programs and Networking Opportunities and answered the participants’ questions about the alumni grants. The meeting was finalized by reviewing the latest blog posts and discussing the strategies and timeline for future postings.

The purpose of the May 6 coordination meeting was the status update on and final overview of the participants’ individual and group action plans. Also the group was introduced to the concept developed in partnership with the Ministry of Education and Science School Resource Officers’ (School Warderns’) Department (SRRD) according to which, MES/SRRD agreed to allocate school resource officers in each of the GE PLAY pilot schools in Tbilisi, Rustavi, Zugdidi, Poti, Senaki and Kutaisi (22 schools in total) to work closely with the assigned Police Officers as coaches and event organizers. The group was updated on the roles and responsibilities as well as the contacts of the school resource officers and police officers allocated to the program by the MES and MIA .

June 12 coordination meeting aimed at finalizing the details of the Georgia Based exchange agenda. In the first half of the meeting the GE PLAY Georgia Program Manager facilitated a detailed review of the Georgia based exchange agenda, answered participants’ questions and made final adjustments based on the feedback received the working group.

In the second half of the meeting, GE PLAY working group was joined by the U.S. based program managers Renee Berrian and Hannah Correy via Skype. Renee and Hannah shared updates about the U.S. participants’ orientation meeting and the main expectations and concerns expressed by group.

To conclude, orientation meetings helped working group members to be more focused about their roles and responsibilities during the exchange. They also started to plan and prepare for the start of new school year and the expansion of the GE PLAY program activities.