Blissfully Exhausted

I thought about blogging during the 100 hours of instruction that happened over 8 days in Luling, but I am not yet seasoned enough to be in the habit to make time. I was blissfully exhausted instead.

Kristina and I have just about gotten everything unpacked. While doing that I was starting to get anxious about how I was going to pay all the bills, when the letter from the Alice Kleberg- Reynolds Foundation arrived with a check in it for $10,000. What a blessing it was to see. That, plus the funding received from Humanities Texas, NEH, Luling ISD, Chamber and Economic Development Office, Salt Pipe & Supply and Texas Gas Service covered our out of pocket costs. We also had in-kind donations and discounts from Black Diamond Produce, GEAR Rental, Mopac Media, Natal’s Produce & Landscaping and Wush & B-Rad's Fruit Shack

As you can imagine there is a huge learning curve in this intensive workshop. But I am please to report that there was a huge curve in self-esteem as well. And it was as powerful for the 4 culinary students as it was for the 10 film students. The one thing that did impress me about these kids which I have witnessed in all of our small town workshops, is that we never heard any of the kids say bad things towards one another.

When we screened the premiere of their film to the community on Saturday night, I was in the back of the auditorium standing next to the principal, who after the first 30 seconds of the film, leaned over to me and confessed he was about to cry. Our first departing business with Luling will be to help them start a film club.

Once again we head off from a community with some new and dear friends…………I love my job.

What a perfect First Day……….Luling, Texas

Yesterday was our first day with a whole new crew. We were so lucky with our last crew, but they were busy. Laura Sobel has a new job and was also traveling out of town. Patrick Philips is in Ghana now in the Peace Corps and April Sanchez, I thought was going to still be out of town, but she is back and working hard I am sure, because that is what she does. They were responsible for helping take my vision and setting the tone for classroom instruction. They graciously helped us develop a solid program through our first 3 workshops. We have a whole new crew now that I am just as proud of lead by Keith Maitland and assisted by Elizabeth Adams and Cheryal Loosmore. They are of the same mind and have adopted our intuitively motivated instruction. We have a remarkable group of students and I am once again reminded of just why we are doing this.