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More lights every day! CCE I am in my studio today surrounded by a wide variety of students who are doing various things. I have my "hard working and diligent" Trevor who is hanging lights from the rafters in here. I have my group of several other students, who are drawing and some who are talking and joking. But the funny thing is that I have seven people here voluntarily and it is almost 5 PM. (I even have an animator in here!) This studio has turned into one of those places that stays active until I say it is time to call it a day on most days. I love that...it has taken a year and a half, but it has gotten to be kind of like DJCC was for the students that went there back in the day. Not just a class, but a place to belong. I am very satisfied to see that the studio culture is settling in and that lots of people WANT to be here into the evening time. It is good preparation for how things will be for them when they go to college and design school. Sometimes it takes aw

 Our studio from my desk...becoming more festive every day. I am prone to become defensive when I hear people saying things to me like "Oh, you teach HIGH SCHOOL students! How can you stand them and their attitudes, aren't they difficult to deal with?" My eyebrows always get tied up in knots and I'm instantly perplexed by this. That's like saying, "Oh wow, you are an adult? How can you stand it? I know so many annoying adults ... it must be a pain." Categorizing all of any age group based on your perceptions of the worst of them is never a wise idea. In fact, I battle categorizations of all kinds. Stereotyping teen behavior is perhaps one of my least favorite categorizations made by adults who have minimal contact with the age group. I have some students who, admittedly, have a way to go before they are fully "grown up." I also have some others who are extremely mature and responsible, not to mention, kind-hearted and caring teens...and

Today was the first day of our yearly middle school tours here at Career Center East. My mind was blown today when we had the first two schools come to visit. In the morning, we had Downing Middle School which feeds into Marcus High School, and Creek Valley Middle School which feeds into Hebron High School. We had our CCE designers greet the students and spend some time with each of them, and then we offered brochures and asked the students to sign an interest list if they felt that our class might be a good fit for them. There were 38 Downing students that signed the list in the morning, but there were a whopping 90 from Creek Valley who signed! In just one day, we have over 120 students who have shown interest in the class. That is amazing, especially considering that 120 is the maximum enrollment that we can handle here at CCE during the course of one school year! And we got that in one short day! It really makes me excited to see what happens the rest of this week when we hos

Senior designer Amber Goddard copyright2011 This has been the "strangest" fall I have experienced in many years. For example, today is November 13th. The high temperature was 86 degrees. My daughter was wearing shorts all day and still complaining that it was kinda hot. Think about that for a minute... four degrees shy of 90? I can't really get into the spirit of planning for Thanksgiving dinner yet, and well, it's just days away now. But that isn't the only reason that this has been an unusual fall. I think that it is very strange how quickly the school year is passing. I know that the Spring semester always seems to go slower than the Fall semester does, but I think that this school year has gotten so far ahead of me that I am surprised by it. The students that I (seemingly) just started to work with will be gone within weeks. We are already turning in 3 week progress reports for the second 9 weeks! Yikes! I fear that I will blink an eye and we will be g

There are a couple of students in a group that includes some of the best students that I have ever taught, who have distinguished themselves recently. One is a senior girl from Hebron HS, and the other is a senior boy student from The Colony. I am pleased to say that it looks as though they are in the process of developing the caliber of portfolio that they may receive significant scholarship offers for. I am very hopeful. The students that I selected as the top most outstanding students for the 9 weeks that just ended at Career Center East are: copyright2011, Kade O'Casey copyright2011, Erin Hotchkiss Erin Hotchkiss and Kade O'Casey . Erin is in her second semester, and Kade is also in his second semester. They are both already planning to attend top level schools to major in design and illustration, respectively. Here are a few examples of the work that Kade and Erin do. Click on them for a larger version. I am very happy to have both of these quality students in

One of the more challenging things that I do in my life is to try to inspire high school students to understand how to "really" meet deadlines. By that, what I mean is to not just get the work done. That is easy (or it should be). The more difficult issue is how to get them not to merely turn something in on the day that it is due, but to get them to turn in something worthwhile. While I am relatively happy with the students' ability to get things done by the due date, I am asking myself if it is at the highest possible quality level. I have to continually ask myself to assess the skill levels of the people involved and to also assess how much artistic effort they have put into each piece. I know that effort is a real issue for all employers, and if they get an employee these days (in this economy) that they feel is putting forth minimal effort, they will let them go and find one of the VAST numbers of people out there looking for a job to replace them. So how do I impr

Al fresco dining is on my radar. I still continue to be impressed by the beauty of fall in Texas. The air is warm and crisp, kind of like the most delicious Apple Brown Betty fresh from the oven. I walk outside and all I can think is that we should figure out a way to be outside all day long every day during this, the most gorgeous few weeks of our year. With that in mind, I can hardly wait to walk out the door this afternoon into the waiting world of blue skies and coolish air. I don't know what I want to do tonight, but I do know that I want to try to have dinner outdoors if possible. I want al fresco dining, and I want to get to a restaurant before the afternoon and evening crowds make the waits intolerable. Then who knows? Maybe a nice nap early in the evening so I can stay up late tonight. One thing is for sure. I am finished with work for the day! Hooray for leaving at 3:45 on a Friday afternoon! See you later!

I guess I need to just step up and admit that I love October. Every year I feel the change of the seasons very strongly during this month, and it makes me happy to think that we are soon going to have little trick or treaters out running around and then Thanksgiving and the winter holidays that for years have included a lovely Christmas celebration for me and for my family. I love the warm glow of candles and fireplaces, and I like the smell of things that are delicious being cooked or baked in the kitchen. I guess I value this even more since we had a very difficult, long and extremely uncomfortably hot summer. I am having a great time with my students right now. We are starting new projects next week, but we have a school holiday on Monday for the State Fair of Texas. It is a much needed and anticipated day away from class to just have fun. I plan to do as much of that as I can this long, lovely fall weekend. My students are very busy preparing to attend National Portfolio Day

Sometimes I think that we are forever complaining about how busy we are. There is something that I noticed about myself after this summer. I had some days that were very empty as far as "work" is concerned...it seemed that all I had to do was to be completely directed by me. In other words, if I decided that I wanted to, I could sleep until noon and I could relax all day. That was not my favorite choice though, and I will try to explain why... I like to be busy. I like to feel that I have purpose in each day, and that each day has meaning to my life as a whole. Those days that I chose to sleep a lot and just "take it easy" are not the days that I remember the most about my summer (although they were nice every so often). The days that mean the most are the days that I went someplace amazing or did something productive. I have decided that I enjoy being a busy bee. That means a lot to a woman of my age. I am 53 years old, and will qualify to "retire"

Several "firsts" have occurred since the last time I posted. I missed the first day of the school year with the beginning of the school year "crud" and I feel like my immunity system has been exposed to plenty of germies already! Ha! I know we have had a few cases of gastrointestinal distress that proved to be pretty serious. Ugh. More pleasantly, we have had some gorgeous September weather too. That's VERY nice. There have been some very nice surprises in the studio in terms of some talents that are coming to light. I like the students this fall, they are very interesting and diverse. Maybe a little younger than I have taught for awhile, but that is interesting. I think that many of these students may just be around here for multiple years. It's a little bit hard to believe that we are almost halfway through September and we have the first three weeks of school in the can. I would say that we have done very well getting this year started successfull

We are glad to have high school underway, and we wish our graduates all the best as they head off to college for another year. We handled the first week of classes here at Career Center East just beautifully! I am always worried about the first week, because high school students tend to have a very hard time "readjusting" their night owl habits to start the school year again. This year I have to compliment them. They showed up alert and ready to go on the first day! It was quite different than many years. I am really impressed with their willingness to work hard too. I know that I threw a whole lot of new information at them during the past five days, and they were just great about keeping up with me. It seems right now that this year is full of strong potential. As our school year gets underway, summer is still blazing its scorching heat down on us with 62 days over 100 degrees, continuing its seemingly unrelenting march toward the record of 69 days. (That is on

After three days of school, I have to say that this school year is going down like an ice cold glass of lemonade so far. We have had a great time up here in the loft so far. The studio looks great, and it's nice to be back. So far as the students go, I don't know all of their names yet... but I have so many that it is a challenge. I am getting a few more learned every day, and I am enjoying talking to more and more of the students as they lose their initial hesitancy to talk at school and now are beginning to let their real personalities emerge. It is a nice time. There are approximately 27 in the morning, and that is actually a perfect size...although I know I could take a few more. There is a waitlist and I suspect they could still decide to add someone else, but we shall see! In the afternoon, there are 30 and that is maxed out. I am also not counting two that are special situations that Mr. H and I are kind of "sharing" even though they are enrolled in Animati

It has been quite a long and hot summer here in Texas, and it drains the energy out of the most well-meaning of us. I am no exception and so my summer was spent trying to escape the 40+ days of over 100 degree temperatures that we have had here in the Metroplex (so far) with no end to the drought in sight. I have to admit that I haven't given this blog a lot of thought until this week, when I began spending some days up at school again and it occurred to me to do some updates. So here we go... the summer blockbuster! With the end of the school year in June came the usual sadness as I watched classes break apart and I knew in my heart that some close friendships were breathing their last (even with promises of "we'll visit" or "keep in touch", some good friends will never follow through on those. High school brings necessary changes in people, and so does the end of high school.) Being a witness to this for year after year now, I sometimes feel like I'm

Alfred Lord Tennyson There's an old adage that goes like this... "In the spring a young man's fancy lightly turns to thoughts of love." I think that I could very easily add to that thought. If I could be so bold as to be allowed to add my own words to Alfred Lord Tennyson's, I would add "...or anything else that doesn't involve being in a school building when the skies are blue and the world is beautiful." In other words, one of the most challenging tasks in the world, in my opinion, is to maintain focus and keep students moving forward in school when they are thinking so much about summertime and college, and a million other things. The good teachers just don't stop trying though. I have determined that my students will drive forward until the very last day. I don't plan to quit on them, so I strongly hope that they won't quit on me. I have planned some very challenging and dynamic projects for the end of this school year, and I am

Change. I sometimes get kind of cocky and think I have everything all figured out about life, and then I realize that no matter how long I live or how many experiences I have...I will never be able to safely say that I understand it completely. I get thrown a curve ball every now and then that surprises me at even my age, so it is very understandable that the students I teach are often struggling with many different things with regard to change. I think that is the single most fascinating thing about people. One day you think you are secure in the knowledge that things are going to work out the way you expect them to, and then...a big change happens. Change is actually potentially a really good thing if we can learn to deal with it. I have a perfect example. It happened to be in my late 30s as a young mom that I had to undergo a DRASTIC change that was completely unexpected and unpredictable that had to do with my health. I have talked about it before, but it still interests me t

We are officially now 3/4 of the way through the 2011-2012 school year. Seniors are now at the point where the "senioritis" is beginning to show its face. Most of the reason for this is the warmer weather. They now sense that it is nearing summertime, and that means college is nearly within their grasp. For a few, that is tremendously exciting. For most, it is slightly intimidating. They ask questions like "am I ready?" or "oh my gosh, how can I get more money at the last minute?" or "will I pass the last courses I need to graduate?" and they begin to feel the inevitable joy-killer at the end of the senior year...STRESS. For adults, this may seem kind of silly. After all, having successfully passed through these years, they know that it isn't as dramatic as it may seem to these students - but when you are at the age of 17 or 18, it is very stressful. This is the time of the year when social stress and performance stress seem to collide l

Thank goodness I am back at school. This past weekend was one of those very strange times when I felt like it started strange and kept getting stranger as the weekend went on. The way the weekend started, I should have known that I was gonna have a weird weekend. I had dinner at one of my regular favorite spots, Norma's Cafe. I thought it would be nice to have "breakfast for dinner" with a nice cup of coffee and some quiet time to sit in the booth and play "Words with Friends" and have some light conversation with my husband. It started that way, but it certainly ended differently. To make a long story tolerable, suffice it to say that I was "trapped" by the ABC show "What Would You Do?" http://abcnews.go.com/WhatWouldYouDo/ The scenario we were placed in was this: We were sitting in the booth and in walked a couple who were on a pleasant date. The man happened to be black, the young lady he was with - white. I didn't even notice th

Japan: 1. 9.0 earthquake. 2. 33 ft. Tsunami that sweeps away whole cities and kills tens of thousands, many swept out to sea to vanish forever. 3. Aftershocks leading to shutdown of nuclear power plants. 4. Explosions and release of radiation into the atmosphere. 5. No power for millions, snow begins, people freezing. Conclusion: be thankful to be alive, take NOTHING for granted, and don't complain about silly things. Your life is grand. Embrace it.

Sometimes, even as a 52 year old lady, I still feel like an 8 year old. Today was one of those times. The 3:00 dismissal bell just rang - letting us out of school for a week of Spring Break. Even though it is just a week, it felt so exciting to hear that bell. I still love to get out of school on vacation, there is a thrill in the air that is undeniable. I have students heading off to places like Italy, Hawaii, Boston, New York, Florida, Haiti, and the list goes on and on. I have no real plans to travel, but I can tell that everyone is excited for a change of pace. It is welcomed at this time of year. I just feel happy to know that I have no schedule for a week! Lazy breakfasts with my husband, reading in bed in the afternoon, lounging in my pajamas till 10 AM... these are things that I enjoy and I could stand more of in my life. So bring it on, Spring Break is here - and I can't wait to see what it brings!

I hit a little period of time in January and February when life just kind of "caught up with me", and I haven't been blogging as much as I would like. I am going to make a more concious effort to post more regularly, as I feel that it is therapeutic for me and informative for those of you who like to check in and keep up with the things that have been going on in my life lately. When you last heard from me, I was romping around in the snow with my daughter. That was a fun filled time but, man! Am I ready for sunshine, flowers, and green grass. Today the temp was excellent... it was in the 70s and felt ideal. I guess I have a bout of "spring fever". I don't know if I will ever tire of that feeling that "spring is in the air". I love the knowledge that we have just about successfully completed our first full year at the new school and that things are looking really positive for next year. I'm just feeling very happy and positive right now.

Wow, our area of north Texas has been hit by something so rare that we don't know what to do with it. We were basically knocked off right off the grid during the week that Dallas-Fort Worth is hosting the Super Bowl! A major ice storm came, and we had 5-6 inches of fresh snow on top of that storm. Driving was nearly impossible, and we were just socked in. Millions of people were just stuck at home, paralyzed. Stores were running out of dairy and produce, and it was just a little taste of what people up north probably go through all the time in winter. We just weren't ready for it. I know it came as a shock to us all when four out of five school days were cancelled last week. It is likely that we will only have to make up two of those days, but there goes our March 21 and June 8th! We owe it to Mr. Blizzard! I must say, after that many days of snow and storm, it is very nice to see the sunshine again. It is to be short lived though, because it is only a matter of days from now

I really feel like I have a great life. I get that fact brought back home to me periodically when I get to hear great things from some of my students. I heard some really nice comments from some of my students as last semester was wrapping up, and I have heard some more as this semester has gotten underway. I am a big fan of positivity in general, but I need to take a short pause today to thank a few of my former students for making my day the other day. I was on Facebook and noticed that a few of them were discussing that even though they were no longer in my class, they still found themselves reading the class blog. I was so happy to know that they had each taken a little piece of this class with them. When I was in high school, I was so relieved to see most of my classes end, but there were a few that left me with something special. A friend, maybe some tidbit of knowledge that actually was interesting and seemed valid to my life, or maybe it was merely warm feelings toward t

Texas is kind of a funny place (yee-haw.) I have come to appreciate its quirks, you know... tornado alley, the occasional over the top redneck, lackluster topography - at least in my area, Dallas. It's one big flat concrete ridden city for miles in all directions. One thing that has never gotten old though, is the fact that it can be 70 degrees one day and two days later, it'll be snowing. The weather just never gets old. It's full of surprises. This season's first snowfall of the year has been a really nice one though. It was warm a few days ago, then a front pushed through and dropped its gift of a slight dusting of snow, less than a couple of inches, and now - one day later - it is all but gone and soon to be sunny again. I feel like it was one of those snows that dusted off the landscape and did a similar thing with my attitude. It kind of put me in a fresh state of mind. Just in time too, because I am about to get a new set of students for the spring semester.

I feel like a bear who has been in hibernation... I can't say it's an entirely bad feeling, either. I unplugged completely from what I usually do during the breaks from school. I usually find myself working a lot. This year I granted myself a little break and decided to really use the time to recharge. I find that I am happy with that choice. Now it is time to get back to work, and I really feel ready to face what is ahead with enthusiasm and energy. Lazy isn't always bad. Sometimes it is just necessary. I had a great time with my family and enjoyed being around home. I got reacquainted with my dogs and my living room furniture, and I spent more time enjoying the Christmas decorations than I do most years. I remember a few years when I didn't even have time to put up any decorations, and I feel sad about those years. So it was a good break, but now it is worktime. These last few days of the semester will be hectic and busy, but I plan to enjoy these kids before th