Budget Meeting Icebreaker Reveals Fun Facts
A budget workshop this morning at the Manhattan Beach Unified School District offices kicked off with an "icebreaker" among district trustees and other official types that revealed some intriguing information about various attendees.
Finance chief Steve Romines asked each participant to write down one "absolute truth" about themselves and "one blatant lie." He then read the statements aloud and everyone tried to guess who said which things.
The diverse truths were both hilarious and impressive. Among the highlights:
*Superintendent Bev Rohrer, at a labor protest in San Bernardino with her union parents, was "the youngest Teamster to ever throw fruit at management." She was only three years old at the time.
*Trustee Amy Howorth once worked in the pit at a stock car race (her dad owned a stock car).
*Romines once surfed a 21-foot-wave at Steamer Lane in Santa Cruz, near legendary surf break Maverick's.
The exercise drew many laughs and scattered claps - and afforded a relaxed entree into a drier discussion of numbers.