I know that the song is ‘Georgia on My Mind’ but it seems that the last few days, since I arrived here, I have had ‘Texas’ on my mind an awful lot. Yesterday, I had a great visit with Sylvia Cantu, office manager of National Education Systems Inc. in San Antonio. Sylvia was truly excited about our materials and it was a good meeting.

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Sylvia Cantu, the office manager of National Education Systems Inc. in San Antonio.

Then I drove to the suburbs of Austin, where I stayed with my hosts, Sally and Rod, who both teach grade six. Sally is a language arts teacher with a music background (opera singing!) and Rod teaches math. They were both very hospitable and their home was great.

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Sally [left] and Rod [right], my hosts in Austin, Texas.

What is bothering me is our discussion over morning coffee. Sally mentioned that at her school they’d been having a lot of problems with grade six kids becoming violent in the school yard. Apparently kids have been trying to settle issues themselves through violence. Sally mentioned that this year the problems have escalated. She seemed surprised.

From an outsider’s point of view, it’s disturbing but not so surprising to me. Kids emulate what they see around them. They emulate what they see on television and what they see at home.

If we want our kids to learn to settle their issues without violence; if we want our students to confer with others and to learn tolerance and conflict resolution, then we, as adults, need to set an example by seeking peaceful solutions to the world’s problems.

Learning to appreciate and celebrate diversity is free but it is learned by example. It doesn’t cost lives and it might help Johnny the next time he considers flexing his muscles or ‘throwing a punch’ in the school yard.

When I woke up just outside of Houston on Wednesday morning the cars were zipping by outside my hotel room window. I psyched myself up for three hours of driving into San Antonio across I-10 West. The ‘upside’ of driving is that you don’t really see a country until you see its back roads. I thought you’d enjoy this snapshot of George, the cowboy. I met George at a rest stop between Houston and San Antonio. George trains horses and, where he lives, he doesn’t even have access to a telephone!

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George, a genuine cowboy.

The first stop I planned to make in San Antonio was a parent/teacher store known as The Education Shop. I was greeted by Pam and Kristy who run the place. Later I met the owner, ‘Harvey Jack’, upon his return to the shop. Apparently, in Texas, men are often called by BOTH of their names. The folks at the Education Shop were very hospitable and we had an enjoyable visit. The store is 25 years old but has been in its present location for seven years.

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Kristy Frese and Pam Phillips [top left], Harvey Rogers, the Owner of The Education Shop [top right], Inside The Education Shop [bottom left] Outside The Education Shop [bottom right].

Down the highway and around a few corners I was able to locate The Learning Zone. This family owned and run business has now expanded to two locations. The first and original store, located close to the Teachers’ Credit Union, is in an older building that has lots of separate rooms with different themes. The second store in a newer location has a brighter more airy feel. Both stores offer very important resources for teachers and parents in the San Antonio area.

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Amanda, the manager of The Learning Zone [left] and the inside of The Learning Zone [right].

By this time I was really looking forward to meeting my host for the evening, Betty, an elementary reading teacher. Over Mexican food, Betty and I found that we had loads in common. Music and singing is ‘instrumental’ in Betty’s life. She sings in two choirs and is very involved in a harmonica organization. She even taught the harmonica to her class last year and found that it did wonders to boost the self esteem of slow learners, especially when they did a great job at mastering the harmonica. Betty is looking forward to her involvement as a volunteer at the IRA (International Reading Association) conference taking place in San Antonio in May of this year.

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Betty Welch, my B & B host in San Antonio, Texas.

When I finally stopped to sleep on Monday night, I was somewhere between Lafayette, LA and Beaumont, TX. I don’t exactly remember the town but it was the first one I came to before it got too dark. After my blowout on the highway, I have become more attentive to driving only during daylight hours. All I remember is booking into a Holiday Inn, finding out the Internet wasn’t working, checking out, and moving to a Days Inn.

I’ve become a seasoned traveler. I don’t even unpack my bags until I check the hotel’s Internet connection! Some places advertise that they have it, but my advice to other ‘Internet junkies’ is to “check out the Internet before you check into the hotel”.

When I woke up at the Days Inn, I was still a couple of hours behind my targeted schedule. I got on the road as quickly as I could and made it over to Manning’s School Supply in Beaumont. You know, personal visits mean a whole lot. I think they might mean a lot to the vendors; they really mean a whole lot to me. When I see buyers at the NSSEA show each year, I never could really imagine what their stores looked like. To be able to visualize everything now is so important. It gives a special insight into the needs of each retailer.

Manning’s School Supply’s 25,000 square foot store is large and airy. It resembles the inside of an “Office Place” or “Staples”, with clean white walls, high ceilings, and bright lights. Except that Manning’s specializes in school supplies. Now, they even specialize in fresh custom-ground coffee beans. A second store is located in Wederland, TX.

When I met with Stacie, the buyer, and we talked about my long drive from the north, she told me that Corinne’s mother has a business in Ontario. (Corinne and her husband Richard Creason are the owners of Mannings.) I know it’s a little off topic but this really fascinated me. Evelyn Manning’s company is called ‘Canadian Fly-in Fishing’ and it flies in fishermen/women into Red Lake, Ontario, where ten cabins sit in isolation on seven beautiful lakes. (www.canadianflyinfishing.net). These are only accessible by float plane. When I heard about this and saw the brochure, I knew of someone immediately who would love to hear about this! Dick Cromlish of School Resources Inc, Belmont, NC, had just shared his travel and fishing tales with me recently.

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Stacey [top left] the buyer of Manning’s and Manning’s inside [top right] and out [bottom].

Next stop of the day would be a classroom visit. Dr. Debby McKinney of Bear Branch Elementary in Humble, Texas, invited me to visit her music classes. It was a very gratifying experience. These little kids (in grades one and two), knew so many songs by memory and had such fun singing them that it was a very ‘humbling’ experience. Thanks to Debby and her school for the invitation. I had a great time!

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Debby and her class showing me what great performers they are.

Moving right along, and almost on schedule, my last stop of the day was at Basic Office and School Supply in Houston, TX. There were some scary moments along the way. It was just about rush hour and, there I was, zipping along the freeways with one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding my directions. (Not recommended.)

I am glad to report that I made it safely and had a good visit with Shiray, the owner. Shu-Ray has had her business since 1983. The store has been in its present location for the past 11 years. The 16,000 sq.ft premises has separate rooms, cubbies, and cubicles crammed with interesting resources for teachers and parents alike. I was glad that I had been able to visit. Now I only had to make my way through the rush hour to my hotel. This was to be a trip I would never forget.

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Shu-Ray [top left] the owner and Basic Office and School Supply inside [top right] and out [bottom].

After the fiasco with the tire blowout in Baton Rouge, I was wondering if I’d ever make it over to School Aids. I even thought about canceling my visit. But boy, was I happy someone from the mechanic’s place offered to drive me over there to meet with Bart Todd, Celeste the general manager, and Jamey Finberg.

What an enormous place! This building is the ‘headquarters’ and main School Aids store. They also have five other locations located throughout Louisiana, Florida and Missouri.

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Bart with Celeste [top left], Jamey [top right], inside [bottom left] and outside [bottom right] of School Aids.

Climbing into my van (complete with a new back tire), I crossed my fingers that I’d have no more problems. I had one more retailer to visit and was running about two hours late. When I arrived at J & R School Supplies Inc, in Lafayette, LA, the sun was just going down. As you can see from the photo, the J & R building is so big it won’t fit into one picture!

Jean and his wife Rosemarie opened their first school supply store 33 years ago. The business has grown so big that it now encompasses 33,000 square feet. I was surprised to see so many resources there, but Marie explained that there are many ‘French Immersion’ programs in Lafayette. Jean and Rosemarie’s first language is French and they still speak French at home.

J & R is a family-run business. I had the chance to meet Marie’s daughter Nicole and her brother Randall. After school, Nicole comes to the store, where she likes to help with sales.

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Marie with her daughter Nicole [top left], Marie with her father Jean [top right], and the inside of their store [bottom].

Hope everybody had a nice VALENTINE’S DAY!!!

This is my first time visiting Louisiana and I’ve seen a lot. Staying with my gracious Bed & Breakfast hosts, stopping in at school supply stores, and watching the sunsets should have been enough.

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Beautiful Louisiana sunset off the highway.

But I got a chance to experience Louisiana on a deeper level. I saw how helpful people can be here when you are really in trouble. Between fixing my brakes, experiencing a tire blowout on the freeway, having a crew of men jump out and change my spare, and practically living at the mechanic’s garage as they needed to check my van for the third time in two days, I really got to experience what Southern Hospitality is all about.

Special thanks to Larry Bennett and Charlie of Total Tire and Service, Baton Rouge, who put up with me.

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And to my heroes, Terry Logan, Carl Pelletrin and Todd Baker, of Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries Department, who jumped out of their trucks, grabbed their tools and put on my spare as cars whizzed by at 80 miles per hour.

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My heroes from Louisiana’s Wildlife and Fisheries Department.

I will never forget my time in Louisiana.

Wow! It’s taking some getting used to this ‘Central Standard Time’. As most of my friends know, I have been getting up at 5:00am for years and years (sometimes even earlier). That habit became engrained in me while I was trying to juggle my teaching job with running Sara Jordan Publishing. Anyway, when I wake up here and it feels like it is 5:00am it’s really only 4:00am in Mobile!

Oh well. First stop of the day was at Anders Bookstore in Mobile, where I met with Alice, the manager. Anders is an enormous store that carries college texts and parent/teacher school supplies. It’s located just across the street from the University of South Alabama. Anders has been in business over five decades and has been in its present location for 13 years.

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Alice [top left], the manager of Anders Bookstore showing inside [top right] and out [bottom].

My next stop was a hop, skip, and a jump to the state of Mississippi, where I’d stop at the School & Carnival Supplies Store in Gulfport. School & Carnival Supplies has to be the busiest store I have visited on my trip. It’s gigantic and it’s just bustling. I think I know their secret. Although they have a ton of educational resource material they also specialize in party supplies. No doubt the states of Mississippi and Louisiana must be filled with partiers! All kinds of people were in the store buying helium, Valentine party favors, and party stuff of every kind. At the same time teachers were buying their supplies. Genna and Theresa were very kind to take the time to greet me and Genna showed me all around the store. They really were so busy. It was nice that she took the time.

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Genna [top left] and Theresa [top right]. Inside of School and Carnival Supplies [bottom].

One more stop today and that is just outside of New Orleans, to stay with my host for the night, Joanne. Hard to believe I’ve covered so many states in such a short time. There is lots of water around here too. Everywhere you look there is water and causeways. The Deep South certainly is beautiful, not to mention warm.

Just before leaving Gainesville, I decided to drop in on Learning Path School Supplies. What was originally a ‘cold call’ turned into a pleasant visit with owner Joan Knuth. Joan has had her store in Gainesville for the past 26 years. She holds a degree in Elementary Early Childhood Education. I left Learning Path School Supplies with a long drive ahead of me. I decided to split the long trek over two days. Tuesday night I would spend in Marianna, Florida and by Wednesday night I would be driving into Mobile, Alabama and Central Standard Time.

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Joan [top right] and Learning Path School Supplies inside [top right] and out [bottom].

Hey everybody. Bet y’all been wondering what happened to me! Well, I have been busy writing these blogs (sort of), but sometimes the channels get clogged and blogged (pun) because of the heavy load of responsibilities on my partners who help put this online. Anyhow, I hope that these blog entries will be more current again soon.

Right now, I am sitting in the Starbucks in Gainesville, Florida. I’m gazing out a very clean window on a gorgeous sunny day. The surroundings are great, and they play ‘real’ jazz and unpasteurized music at this Starbucks. Gainesville is a nice place. I would consider moving here. This small town of 100,000 people (of which 40,000 are students) has plenty of bookstores, vegetarian restaurants, Indian food cuisine, coffee shops and lots of green grass and foliage. Yes, I like Gainesville, home of University of Florida. It’s a place to be.

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Me [left], enjoying coffee, highspeed and my surroundings [right] at Starbucks.

Yesterday, I trekked across a toll road known as Alligator Alley. I was wondering if I’d see any alligators. Probably if I’d had to stop at the side of the road with mechanical difficulties I might have; maybe even have an unwanted encounter with one. But I’ve been assured by the locals that encounters between humans and alligators are few and far in between.

Fortunately, however, I made it across the beautiful state of Florida, along Alligator Alley, with no problems. First stop was at School Stuff Inc. in Fort Myers, FL. I was able to meet with Donna, the manager, as well as with Jennalee, the store clerk. School Stuff is an enormous store with very high ceilings.

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Jennalee [left] and the inside of School Stuff [right].

Next, I drove to Giggles and Good Grades in St. Petersburg, where I was greeted by owner/manager Matt Wolfe. It is little wonder that Giggles and Good Grades is expanding. They are opening up a second store in Clearwater at the beginning of March. Matt’s effervescent personality and the great selection in the store make this a popular shopping place for local educators and parents. There are several different ‘themed’ learning centers within the store. This building was originally used as a bank.

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Matt [left] and the inside of Giggles and Good Grades [right].

Last night, I was a guest at the home of Neil and Mary. Neil is a math professor at the University of Florida; Mary is a retired grade five teacher. They were very friendly, flexible, and accommodating, especially considering I showed up 24 hours earlier than planned.

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Mary, my host for the evening.

By now, you must know about www.EducatorsTravel.com, a great network for educators to join and participate in accommodation and accommodating around the world. If you decide to join, please say I referred you. My membership number is 13357.

So long for now, I’m off on another day of driving, meetings, and excitement. Have a good one!

Halfway through the odyssey and time for a long awaited break. I think I mentioned earlier that I look as though I’ve been sleeping in my van. I needed a chance to wash my clothes and rest up a little.

My hosts during my extended stay in Delray Beach, Roxanne and her mother Iva, were incredible. Roxanne is Head of Math at a local high school and her bubbly mother, Iva, is a former primary school teacher. Roxanne and Iva were the perfect hosts. They recommended several places of interest during my stay, one being the wetlands reserve of Wakodahatchee and the other being a free outdoor concert in Fort Lauderdale. We enjoyed a wonderful concert in the sunshine and the walk through the wetlands reserve was fabulous.

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Roxanne and Iva [left], my hosts. Roxanne and I relaxing at the jazz concert [right].

The Ruby Baker Band [left] and the Wakodahtchee Wetlands [right].

Nature shot at the Wakodahtchee Wetlands.

Hello Everyone:

I am sure you must have expected I fell off the side of the earth, or at least into the Atlantic. In truth, I really needed a break to get myself cleaned up. I took in a long weekend in Delray Beach, Florida, but now I’m ready to go again!

Here is what transpired on Week 4, Days 3 and 4.

First stop of the day on Week 4, Day 3, was to Sebring, Florida. Because it was such a long drive to such a small place, I was a little leery of the trip. But what I finally found at the end of the rainbow, was an incredible store, the Happy Owl, run by two equally incredible people. I was greeted by Kay Pigman and her daughter Suzette Rhoades. Both Kay and Suzette have a background in education and were a pleasure to meet with. By the time I was leaving their store, they had the sample CDs out and were listening to them in their store.

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Kay Pigman [left] and Suzette Rhoades [right].

Later that day I drove to Teacher’s Pet and More in Stuart, Florida . Teacher’s Pet and More is a source of valuable curriculum resources for teachers in the Stuart area. (They also have a second store in Fort Pierce.) I was able to meet with Cassie who gave me a tour of the store and valuable insight.

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Cassie [left] and the inside of Teacher’s Pet [right].

Ace Educational would be the last stop before my long weekend hiatus. This incredible store of 35,000 square feet is just one of the two owned by Ace Educational. The other store, located in Margate, FL, is 15,000 square feet. One can find almost anything of educational value in these enormous stores. I was pleased to see many of our titles featured at Ace Educational and discussed how we could improve business and sales with Darci, the audio buyer. I would like to encourage anyone living in the Fort Lauderdale area to visit the store which is really incredible.

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Darci [left], the audio buyer. Me [right] checking our stock levels at Ace.