As I enter Corbly Hall room 409 on the final day of Summer Institute 2007 the fellows are working furiously to complete their E-potfolios, Diana is in her usual place at the computer and Dolores J. has just entered the room. Our world traveler has recently arrived home from Africa and we are eager to hear her stories. The facilitators also notice brightly colored bags with their names on them and magnificent gifts inside tucked by their chairs. The tags read “Thank You” and are from Dolores Scherer. Thank you, Dolores!
9:00 arrives and the facilitators start talking about moving toward our Sacred Writing space, but the fellows seem unwilling to move away from their keyboards. Diana suggests, “we could just let them work,” but Melanie exclaims, “we must have Sacred Writing on the last day,” and of course she is right. Amy, Diana, Melanie and Peggy sitting about Dolores consider what the perfect prompt for the final day might be. Ideas fly and swirl until it seems unlikely that a decision will be made in time to actually do any sacred writing when Peggy emphatically states that Molly and Pierre it is. When in doubt use Dr. Moore’s “Molly and Pierre met in a bar …” It never fails to illicit interesting and often hilarious stories. Dr. J wrote a sweet and sultry tale while Ian took us back to a time of slow gin fizz and French resistance romance. But the story that brought us to the edge of our seats and had us laughing to the point of tears was our story: “The Rest of the Story” by Jennifer Stapleton.
Dolores S - Dolores created her own computer company, Computers for Dummies. It is a smash. Dolores then quit teaching to write books for Weight Watchers on her very own computer. She gives book talks on stage from a bathtub filled with bubble bath.
Marsha - Marsha was discovered as the singing prodigy she is. Currently she is touring Comedy Clubs where she opens every act by dedicating it to her husband. Depending on how she feels, Marsha may begin her act singing, “I just can’t get enough of your love baby” or “Little Bunny Foo-Foo scooping up husbands and bopping off their heads.”
Joseph - Joseph moved to Korea and opened his own school. He had to. His wife, Ku-Knee-How, has just had their thirteenth child. Joseph is determined to make Korea an English speaking country.
Sara - Sara gave up teaching to be a writer. She divorced her husband when she realized that her beloved dog, Murphy, was the real hero in her romance novels. She and Murphy live in a bungalow on the beach in California.
Melanie - Melanie left West Virginia and settled in the mountains of Colorado. She is a stay at home mom and currently lives with her husband, son, and her husband’s second wife, Hildy. Hildy goes to work everyday to support the family. Melanie has her perfect world.
Robin - Robin shot and killed her husband’s new wife. A new law, Robin’s Law, has been accepted by Congress. Any woman who steals her best friend’s husband is to be immediately executed. Robin is a hero and friend to women everywhere.
Heather - Heather found true happiness the day Jon Bon Jovi arrived in her classroom and declared his love for her. Heather would only allow Jon to whisk her away from West Virginia once he publicly admitted what a jerk he really is. Jon had never gotten over Heather after their one-time conversation. Now they are both happy.
Bonnie - Bonnie, now known as Bad Ass Bonnie Sloan, wears leather boostias and hunts down wanted criminals in Mexico. She needs no weapons. Bad Ass Bonnie is revered and feared by all. Bonnie has just received her sixth award for bounty hunter of the year.
Amy - Amy finally gave up her charade and confessed to being in love with Dr. Spock. She has every episode of Star Trek memorized.
Diana - Diana quit teaching and now has her own syndicated talk show, “Talkin’ with Momma Clay.” Her motto, “Baby, this is your life, you have to choose what is best for you,” is displayed on billboards everywhere. Momma Clay is currently number one in television ratings and Tom Selleck declared his love for her on the Jay Leno show.
Greg - Greg decided if you can’t beat them, join them. Being privy to the inside track on how to outsmart Wal-Mart security, Greg is now head of security for all Wal-Marts nationwide. He hired his special ed students for the security personnel. In a recent news release, Wal-Mart stated shoplifting is down 80% and have reintroduced the smiling face slashing prices in their ads.
Mike and Karen - Mike finally admitted that he wanted to be a stay at home wife. He and Karen relocated to the Caribbean where Karen runs her own technology support company. Mike has never been happier and Karen confides their house has never been cleaner.
Kathy - Kathleen officially changed her name to Kathy. Kathy is in love with her new Smart Board and uses it daily to teach children songs to help them learn important concepts. Kathy Schaffer is now a published children’s author and will be the next author invited to MUWP.
Angela - Angela taught public school for three years before realizing her only desire all along was to be a Sunday school teacher. Angela designs Vacation Bible School sets for churches all over the world and has been voted Sunday School Teacher of the Year in 2011.
Peggy - When Dr. Shirley Lumpkin mysteriously disappeared, Peggy became Dr. Hendmurph. Students have recently reported to police that Dr. Hendmurph is sometimes overhead saying, “Shut up Shirley! I run the show now.” An unidentified female grad student is on record stating she saw a hand flop out of Dr. Hendmurph’s office closet. Dr. Hendmurph responds to all such accusations as mere retaliation on the part of failing students.
Ian - Ian is currently featured in education journals across the country for his work incorporating technology into the classroom. In his spare time, Ian authors a romance series, Languid Love, about the tumultuous lives of Molly and Pierre. Under the pen name Sean Wyatt, Ian is currently writing a series about mishaps in Appalachia. His first book, entitled Big Red and Other Freaky Tales is currently number one on the New York Times Best Seller List. For those readers who cannot get enough of Ian’s ingenious mind and wit, Ian blogs daily.
Kim - Kim finally got her revenge after 22 years. Due to possible indictment, Kim will only state that the revenge involved a thousand tons of horse crap, a boat and a cross-dressing hooker. It was sweeter than she had hoped. Now Kim has given up the full time profession of student and owns her own company, The Sweet Taste of Revenge. With the proceeds from her company, Kim bought her own ghost-free house, horse farm and boat. Kim states she has finally found her true calling.
Jennifer - Jennifer was legally certified as crazy earlier this year. Due to her circumstances, Jennifer is in project to open a sanitarium called Trey’s Place for teachers with mental illness.
Bart - After Bart moved to Michigan to begin his law career he was never heard from again. Teachers taking part in MUWP state that a quiet, nondescript looking man has appeared in the Corbly Hall computer lab to push the correct buttons for frustrated technology immigrants. When the teachers turn to thank him, the man is gone.
After Sacred Writing there seemed to be a lull in the room as many of the fellows and facilitators let it sink in that this would be their last Sacred Writing together. The fellows confessed that they had come to love Sacred Writing and that 9:00 would always feel empty. Angela requests that Peggy e-mail everyone a prompt. She thought she might but then realized what a responsibility it would be to come up with a prompt everyday at 9:00 for the rest of her life and thought it best for the fellows to go cold turkey.
The fellows soon moved to Third Space, affectionately known as Third Base and began playing musical blogs. We enjoyed moving from blog to blog reading and commenting on the piece each person had chosen for us to read. After the music stopped we enjoyed a pasta bar in the Shawkey Room. Eddy popped in for lunch and left us all a gift of her book. To quote several fellows, “Eddy Rocks.” The fellows then presented each of the facilitators with their very own brand new set of sparkly pens and #2 unsharpened pencils. There is no quicker way to a teacher’s heart than through office supplies. As lunch was finished and the brownies eaten the fellows left the room one by one saying their goodbyes with hugs all around.
Back in the Summer Institute rooms a few fellows are scattered about finishing up last minute details and the facilitators move about putting things away and cleaning out the refrigerator when Mike begins to take down the words that have formed a quilt on our wall.
Blue Screen of Death
Teaching is in my Soul
Today is a great day for a Demo
The truly educated never Stop Learning
Your damn Religion of Peace
I love it when I feel that “aha” on my face
If you lose it, you can get it back.If you sacrifice it, you lose it forever.
The incredible gift to be a teacher
Duct it or Chuck it.
Camden Park! Thanks for the memories.
If rain would melt fat, I would stand out on 5th Avebuck-naked
A teacher is a safe Harbor
Fractured, fighting, families
The gift of the love of writing
I wish I had half as many students and twice as much time
.…grasping for time
I couldn’t save those kids, but I had to save myself.
Writing is a magical key.
If I won the lottery I would open my own school.
Why go out for Chik-fillet when there’s pizza at home?
Facit!
Phenomenon called “Run from the Landlords.”
I wanted someone who was rich and had a hairy chest.
My kids suggested Alf.
Verbs are the energy of a sentence.
Writing assessment is over and we can be real writers now.
Rules and Routines must have Reasons and Relationships.
Every time I say the word exercise, I wash my mouth out with Chocolate.
How many walks in my writerly mind did I miss?
Telephone, Telegraph, Tell Mike.
World of Work and Worry
Sleep, Creep and Leap
Find their Currency
Beat’em Granny Style
Honey, you’re a daschund and he is a poodle and not to mention he’s missing something.
Who got into this for the money.
Interact with source material
Words have Power
Mrs. Henderson is remembered for caring
Student behavior is not an attack on me.
Hell, I need help anywhere I can get it.
Never wish a day away.
…no porn no printing
My stock soared!
My gratitude for good writing is unbound; I am grateful for it the way I am grateful for the ocean.
Mrs. Thomas, I saw you frontin’ by your hooptie! I smiled not knowing if he had just cussed me out.
Keep Showering!
Women scare me
They should.
The lights are off and the doors are closed, but this summer will never be forgotten. This is my third Summer Institute and it is by far the best I have had the privilege to be a part of. Every summer I leave with new ideas and renewed commitment to teaching, but this summer was special. Everyday I was impressed by your love for teaching and your dedication to the profession. Dolores Scherer said to me several times that being with young and talented teachers this summer has given her hope for the future of education. Teachers like Dolores, Kathy, Greg and Diana, give me hope that as I continue through my career I will continue to grow and that it is possible to love teaching as much on the last day as I did on the first. So today, on the very last day of Summer Institute 2007, I say: thank you. Thank you for your talent, energy, dedication and for answering the call to this most noble profession. The class of 2007 will forever be spoken of reverently alongside the never forgotten and often mentioned class of 1997.
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