i have to say going into my 3rd year of teaching at CKU, this was my best experience ever. the NEW format for CKU is incredible and as i said to each of my students, it's all about YOU. let me just give the break down on how i spent the last 4 days....
it starts off with a meet & greet night on wednesday when the students start arriving. this was a chance to meet all of the students and other teachers, check out what projects they are making over the weekend, view the various album tracks, and take photos, talk, and get to know everyone. it was so fun, casual, and personal to have time to actually talk with everyone.
thursday kicked off with our make & takes, now this wasn't the normal chaos day, the new CKU assigns students to their "home room" where you spend the entire day in one classroom, with your friends both old and new. throughout the day you create and complete a 6x6 album with layouts taught to you by 8 different teachers at CKU - but wait, did i mention that the teachers are the ones actually going from room to room? that's right, we get 30 minutes of class time with each home room, teach them our 2-page layout, and then pack up and go to the next room. heck, you even get lunch brought to you in your home room - how cool is that? i loved the experience of teaching every single student, the excitement to see what other teachers before me taught, and how relaxed all of the students were because they didn't have to go anywhere else - the day just flew by.
thursday night was truly amazing with the kick-off bash getting the entire student body in one huge ballroom. the excitement was intense, the spirit was soaring, and the dorm participants entertained us with their skits, songs, and lots of laughter. it was great to hang out with fellow teachers and friends too including the ever so unique and quirky margie romney-aslett and her daughter megan - so many laughs and stories...
then, the best part of CKU was revealed...a keynote presentation by Ali Edwards. now you already know what a huge fan i am of ali's, but this presentation had everyone speechless - ali is truly the most genuine and amazing person i know and she completely set the tone for the entire weekend. i'm not going to give anything away on this, but it was my most favorite moment of the weekend. i look forward to seeing it 2 more times at CKU-Houston and CKU-Provo...way to go ali - you rocked! after the presentation there were 2 more bonus projects taught to everyone in the ballroom - whew, what a day!
friday was a day of classes for me. in fact, i taught 4 classes that day - "generation grunge". this project was exclusively designed for CKU using my favorite products from ranger including distress inks, distress crackle paint, paint dabbers, and from my idea-ology line...grungeboard! we created a mosaic mirror using the new grungeboard minis and i'm happy to say - every student completed their project in class, that's what it's all about. the cool thing is that half of the student body gets to take the 4 different classes that day while the other half is in their album track creating an exclusively designed album from their favorite scrapbook designer! then friday night brought everyone back together for a fun crop night with lots of prizes given away!
saturday was day 2 of classes for me as i taught "generation grunge" 4 more times to the students who were in their album tracks the day before, because get this...now with the new CKU format every student gets to take the SAME 4 mini classes. that's right, i got to teach every single student - i really loved that. it was cool to see how so many students that had never really played with inks or paints or didn't like getting their hands dirty, really stepped outside the box and took time to just create!
saturday night was commencement where everyone got to get together one last time for some contest winners, thanks from all of the teachers, and a slide show recap from the 'oh so talented photographer paolo, and take a visual journey through the last 4 days of CKU.
whew! what a weekend. i just wanted to share it with all of you through my eyes and how much i appreciated sharing time with everyone who took the time themselves to share. thanks again....t!m
well i'm back on a plane, but this time, i'm heading home tomorrow morning! it's been a very busy week at Ranger and a very busy (but very fun) weekend up in Massachusetts at the sue gilman trade show teaching Ranger on the Road. lots of work, but still a rewarding time of sharing techniques, seeing old friends, and meeting new ones. i'm really looking forward to being home for the next week!
