It’s been 3 weeks since I finished the odyssey road tour that took 8 weeks and spanned 10,000 miles. I bet y’all have been wondering where I have been and why I haven’t posted much. Well, my staff at the office did a terrific job but work still seems to pile up while I am gone.

Over the last few weeks I have juggled everything from distribution agreements to gigantic orders to finishing up new products. Not really much to complain about!

I was pretty sick for awhile (low resistance after the trip) and then my General Manager, Darryl, came down with a serious case of the flu. Darryl was supposed to help exhibit at the NSSEA (National School Supply and Equipment Association) trade show in New Orleans. A few hours before take off, we decided he was too sick to even attempt the trip. I was lucky enough to have Wil come to the rescue. Wil had never helped us exhibit before but over the next 24 hours he would learn how to set up a pop-up-booth which included opening a padlocked container (two padlocks) when neither of us knew the combinations of the locks. Not only did he do this successfully, he did so without damaging anything and the show was off to a great start.

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Wil at the booth [left] and Wil and I posing for a quick picture [right].

I really like coming to the NSSEA shows. This is my fourteenth year exhibiting. At ED EXPO, in one large exhibit hall, you’ll find thousands of people “high on life”. Take for example, Kurt Kirckof, who was sitting next to us at dinner. In 1999 Kurt had a dream about an educational kids’ game. His dream is now not only a reality, but he is experiencing dynamite sales. Every time this inventor talks about his game, Going Crazy, he’s still so excited that he practically jumps out of his seat. Everyone at our table was like that … and at the next table too. The entire show is like that. And even me, I am most definitely like that. Once I start talking about our audio kits I can’t stop. Infections can be both good and bad. They can be bad like the influenza that prevented
Darryl from flying to the show. They can be good when they spread contagious enthusiasm. Several buyers who visited our booth couldn’t help but catch the enthusiasm. Sheryl Guidera of Kaleidoscope (Capitola California) ‘caught the bug’ and started sending perfect strangers down to our booth to check out the songs. Thank you Sheryl!

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Sheryl Guidera of Kaleidoscope, Capitola, CA.

Of course I got to meet and greet dozens of friends, old and new at the show. Many of these I missed on the odyssey tour. Here are some pics of buyers, friends and new acquaintances.

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Paul Suarez, Editor of “The Old Schoolhouse Magazine”, with his son Paul Jr. [left] and Russ Davies, owner of Education Station in Summerville, SC, with his wife, Mary, and assistant, Donna Alexander [right].

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Mr. and Mrs. Paul Bennett, owners of The Festival Shop in Birmingham, England [left] and Terri Jackson, owner of Classroom Connection in Chalmette, LA [right].

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Me with Edgar Beauchamp, President of Zona Escolar in San Juan, Puerto Rico [left] and me with Lupe Garza, CEO of NES in San Antonio, TX [right].

Working a show can be exhausting. Fun but exhausting. Everyone seems to be on their feet from 7 am until 11 pm non stop!

These pics give the flavor of working all day and partying all night.

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Excitement on the Show Floor [left] and partying all night [right].

We were also pleased to have Bernard Guglberger, National Sales Manager for EAI Education stop by the booth.

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Bernard Guglberger, National Sales Manager for EAI Education.

Gord and Sandy Nicholl’s three Play and Learn stores have been providing parents and teachers of Eastern Ontario with educational resources for decades.

Over the years we have been delighted to have Gord and Sandy sell our educational audio kits in their Kingston, Ottawa and Napanee stores. Today, while driving through Kingston to visit a friend, I was able to stop in to see Gord. His Kingston store, close to Cataraqui Town Centre is as bright and inviting as ever. Play and Learn was one of the first educational retailers in Ontario to carry our line. I believe we have done business with Gord and Sandy for over the past 14 years. I look forward to 14 more!

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Gord, the owner [top left], Anna and Carolyn, sales staff [top right], Interior of the store [bottom left] and Outside the store [bottom right].

What a busy day! Between mechanical problems with the van resulting in a breakdown on the expressway, a tow truck ride to safety and hitching a ride to where I was supposed to make a presentation to FSL teachers at York University’s Glendon College campus, I’d say it was a very eventful day.

Luckily, amidst all of the craziness, I somehow made it to the presentation on time!

Thanks to instructor, Claudine Cautillo for inviting me to speak to her class and to participant Elinor Bartle for a lift back to my mechanic’s garage afterwards.

The students, all French teachers (enrolled in additional qualifications courses) did an exceptional job of using our music tracks to create brand new lyrics which they performed for each other.

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Me, giving a presentation [left] and teachers participating in the workshop [right].

Over the years, I’ve amassed some pretty interesting resources which I recommended during my workshop. You can take a look at some of them here: http://www.sara-jordan.com/FrenchPage.shtml

I have always felt passionately about second language acquisition. I feel that it is a student’s “right” to become bilingual.

Immersion classes can often become classes for the elite. When my own two children were growing up, if a kid caused the slightest bit of disruption or disturbance, it was often recommended by the school that the child return to the English program and forget about becoming bilingual. To make the point, I recounted a very personal story involving my daughter.

My daughter was a vivacious little kid who daydreamed constantly and looked out the window. When she was finishing grade one, her school’s principal refused “promote” her unless I withdrew her from the French Immersion program. I was told that her report card would not say “promoted” but merely “transferred” unless I agreed to have her removed from the immersion program. I replied that this was not an option in our family. Fourteen years later, I am proud to say that the vivacious little kid is now a young woman. She still daydreams. She is a talented artist. She is also perfectly bilingual. It is important to remember that the ideal student is not the “pencil pushing” child. If a student is inattentive in French class, or in Spanish class, there is a good chance that they may be inattentive in any class. One way to hold the attention of children, is to make the classes more lively and interesting.

I woke up just outside of Detroit this morning, in Bloomfield Hills to be exact. Today I’d stop by and visit the folks at Teacher’s Discovery and then head on home.

I was looking forward to meeting Rena and Janis (my buyers, present and past). Of course I’d stop in to say “Hi” to Skip West, the CEO and mastermind behind Teacher’s Discovery. The last time I’d stopped by Teacher’s Discovery was probably about 12 years ago. With kids in tow, Skip took us all out for lunch.

Teacher’s Discovery is really in a magnificent location. I remember seeing enormous windows in their lunch room with a breath-taking view of forests, and wildlife including deer. I’ve taken a few snapshots here of Skip with me, the warehouse, and my Rena and Janis.

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Me with Skip West, the CEO [top left], Teacher’s Discovery Warehouse [top right], Rena, my current buyer [bottom left] and my past buyer, Janis [bottom right].

Janis was very helpful. After looking at my ‘mapquest’ directions for heading home, she announced that she knew how to shave at least 40 miles off the trip. Her parents it seems head up that way every weekend and her Dad knew of a great short cut.

Thanks to Janis I was able to make it home shortly after it got dark where I was greeted with hugs, kisses and a big bouquet of flowers. Yes. Home is where the heart is.

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Me, at home, enjoying flowers and a bit of rest.

Thanks to the unsung heroes behind this venture who made the entire odyssey possible: Darryl, Patricia, Jesús, Susan, Julia, Andrew, Zan, Klara and Wil.

Also, my heartfelt thanks to the folks at the OMDC who tirelessly help to promote culture and believed enough in this project to generously assist with funding.

The weather is starting to feel cold. There seem to be light snow flurries wherever I drive. I am wondering whether or not I really want to go home! It was eighty degrees in Dallas.

Before heading towards Detroit I made a quick stop at The Teachers Center in Kalamazoo. I had met Doug and Lynn Brigham several times during the annual NSSEA show but it was interesting and exciting to actually see their store. The Teachers Center did not disappoint me. You can see from the photos that it’s a bright and cheerful store packed to the brim with educational resources.

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Bethany at the counter [top left], Inside the store [top right] and Outside the store [bottom left and right].

Jumping into the van again, I headed towards Detroit where I’d be having dinner with Ruth Harris of SongsforTeaching.com. I was really looking forward to meeting Ruth. We have been good internet buddies since the inception of her website a mere three years ago. Ruth’s vision has blossomed into a true internet success. The websites she created to help teachers boost literacy http://www.LiteracyConnections.com and http://www.SongsForTeaching.com now attract 8000 visitors daily and she is considered an expert in the field.

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Ruth Harris and I enjoying dinner in Detroit.

Today I got to visit The Chalkboard and it was a sight to behold. It’s funny. I have seen Norma Ireland at the NSSEA show for so many years, and in the back of my mind I always think “Oh yeah. The Chalkboard.”

Now I really have some kind of visual imprint to draw on. I have seen this “Educational Super Store”, been inside and had the experience.

Although Norma wasn’t available during my visit, I was pleased to meet with Joann Stockenberg, the buyer. Joann has been with the Chalkboard for the past twenty years. She recounted that at the time she first started the The Chalkboard was packed into 1,600 sq. feet of space. Since that time the original store has grown to be over 16,000 square feet with a second store in Aurora and a third and fourth opening up this spring in Downer’s Grove and Batavia.

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Joann Stockenburg, manager [top left], Inside the store [top right], Betty, a sales associate [bottom left] and Outside the store [bottom right].

Congratulations to The Chalkboard for a very impressive and comprehensive display of educational resources!

I still had quite a bit of driving to do before retiring for the evening. Hopping into the van I started my trek towards Kalamazoo, Michigan.

The trip from Iowa City, Iowa to Joliet, Illinois seemed to take forever! Here are two snapshots. The first I managed to take through the windshield while driving at the same time (multi-tasking). The second is from the window of my hotel. I’ll sure be glad to get home!

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Quick shot of the highway [left] and the view from my hotel [right].