in the MENC building. We are located in a wooded area of northern Virginia with many beautiful spring-flowering trees, and it’s a pleasure to drive up the road to the building in the morning when those trees are blooming. Daffodils, crocuses, Virginia bluebells are already making appearances. If you’ve never been here, here’s a photo of springtime at MENC. We should be seeing these blooms soon.Now check out these recent photos of our front lobby. You may wonder why there appears to be a Christmas tree in the front lobby in March. Well, thanks to a particularly enthusiastic MENC staff member, we had a lovely tree in December -- and then everyone was too busy to take it down and put it away, so we decided to make it a year round tree. In February it was bursting with Valentines, and this month it’s full of green decorations for St. Patrick’s Day. Next month it will be dedicated
to our Centennial (the official date, in case you’ve forgotten, is April 12!). MENC staff members have taken their own time to produce special ornaments for the tree – I’ve seen a few handknitted items among the many creative paper cutouts. It is certainly a friendly conversation-starter for our visitors.Speaking of which, tomorrow Kent Summers of the National Federation of State High School Associations will be here meeting with John Mahlmann. I’m going to try to catch him for a quick interview for MENC’s podcast, Notes from the Clef. Meanwhile, the week will be full of Web projects, membership promotions, press outreach, and member communications, plus I need to record new messages for our “music on hold,” so I better get moving on all that.
One more thing though -- something different that might interest you: 2007 Toyota International Teacher Program to the Galapagos Islands. A special chance for educators to visit these remote islands, the inspiration for Darwin and home to unique ecosystems found nowhere else on Earth! Open to grade 7-12 classroom teachers of all disciplines who teach full time in all 50 st
ates and the District of Columbia. Twenty eligible applicants will be selected in May to participate on this fully funded program. Application deadline is April 23, 2007.EWL
PS Around the Water Cooler -- American Idol British Invasion night last week was a blast. That’s one of my favorite eras in pop music. Some of my colleagues are talking about “Dancing with the Stars” but I refuse to get sucked into another reality show … though I do find myself intrigued by the “stars” appearing on the aforementioned show … must resist.
