I often think my life is going to slow down and instead, it continues to run faster than California Chrome did in the Belmont! The last month has been full of a lot of writing and planning and a significant professional change. I'll be joining Kansas State University as the Art Education Instructor. Right now, plans are to commute back and forth to Kansas State from Texas as I will be working on an annual nine month contract. It's going to take some effort to make the commute, but I am very excited about joining Kansas State University. I'll be teaching all students in the elementary general education program and I'll also be teaching all of those students who want to be elementary or secondary art teachers. This is going to be an exciting time of passing on these last 24 years of fine arts teaching, as well as a lifetime of my own experience in band, choir, dance, theatre, and the visual arts. I find myself at a point in life where I just want to give back. Leaving a legacy is something I guess we all begin to think about as we get older. So the last two months have been filled with the application and interview process for KSU. That included preparing and teaching a lesson to a room full of college PhD professors and I loved it! It included traveling back and forth to Manhattan (Kansas, not New York). It also included saying "til we meet again" to a lot of people I really care about in Texas in PISD. It included the difficult task of saying goodbye to a lot of precious students and their parents. And, it included packing up the hoards of "things" I tend to fill my classroom with. The last week I've been voraciously writing curriculum for KSU. I simply love writing and there is nothing better than writing creatively and that is what writing art curriculum . . . and arts integration curriculum is to me. And, I was able to do this while sitting at the beach in Florida on a beautiful deck overlooking the white sands and emerald coast. I'm pretty sure that is some pretty amazing curriculum!
This week finds me focusing on going to Istanbul again. We leave this weekend. There is an incredible adventure awaiting next week as I complete the Fund for Teachers Fellowship I was awarded to go to Istanbul to a mosaic workshop. This gal that grew up in a town of 54 people fell in love with the great, big, colorful globe many, many, many years ago. Next week will be an adventure like no other. I'll be blogging a lot or at least as Wifi will allow. Hopefully I won't have to wait until I get home to do that. Art stirs a passion in me that makes life make sense. It always has. All of the arts. I hope you'll follow the journey....and get out a paintbrush and see what you can do occasionally....or play some music and just dance. Getting in touch with our creative side is what makes this big, crazy world more loving!
