Keep on learning...

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly - May 26, 2010


Though this column stops for the summer, lifelong learning never ends. To leave you with something to contemplate, here are tips, hints, ideas, and aphorisms I gleaned from our teachers. Keep learning...


Placing our hand over a hurt or painful area of our body is common. Why do we do that? To make it feel better!
Kevin VanRenterghem

Essential Oils not only smell good, they are antibacterial, antiviral, and they oxygenate the body.
Carol Krause

Never ever store your photos in the attic! The heat and humidity will quickly cause them to fade, crack or yellow.
Misty Nagy

To keep your mortar from setting up too quickly in hot weather, add a tablespoon of dish washing liquid to the mixture.
Ronny Rotge

If you buy a $2000 sofa, charge it, and make a minimum monthly pay at 19.8%, it will take you 31.2 years to pay it off. You will pay a total of $10,202 - $8,000 of it interest.
Peggy Grose

Did you know that over 100 million people speak French every day?
Laurel Pesez

Relax - imagine you are hanging from the stars like a marionette. Gravity becomes your friend and holds you up through your feet. Breathe in; breathe out.
Jean Murray

Your best shots will come when you hit in the center of the strings. Practice this at home with your racket by bouncing a tennis ball on the ground as if you were dribbling a basketball.
Ken Brown

Learn where government offices are in town and who manages them.
Ann Sullivan

For desert hiking, wear light colored clothes, hat, sturdy shoes, and long pants (for thorns). Carry and drink lots of water.
Dean Mitchell

Develop a critical eye through regular practice.
Frank Sant’Agata

When painting, stop wasting expensive paint; learn to mix colors right the first time.
Jim Black

If your average income over 40 workings years is just $25,000, you will have earned one million dollars.
Unattributed

In Blackjack, you don't have to make 21 to win, just beat the dealer.
Garry Willoughby

To make a great cup of coffee, important things you need are clean equipment, good water, and fresh ground coffee.
Unattributed

Your income can go up as you learn to stand up and speak up.
Unattributed

An old dog can learn new tricks, they just learn more slowly. There is no age limit to learning.
Yvonne Gerhard

The writer must keep writing even when he fears he is producing little of value.
Tom Romarm

And, finally... Practice makes perfect! Do something you really like to do everyday.

Like community education!

XXX

This summer Club Ed offers camps and classes for kids and adults. To sign up, visit www.clubed.net or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes with 3000 enrollments. The fall session begins in September. To sign up, ask a question, suggest a class, or apply to teach, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Lessons learned in a barber chair

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly - May 19, 2010

PHOTO: Lessons are learned everywhere, even sitting in George’s barber chair.

Sometimes the best lessons are learned when you are doing something else. Like when getting a haircut.

I thought I had given up the vinyl chairs and linoleum floors of the classic barbershop, those man caves of Sportsman magazines and Fitch hair tonic. Like most men in my generation, I had migrated my hair care duties to the scents and soft lights of the styling salon.

But one day I had a frustrating time getting my hairs clipped. I started at one of those quick cut joints that advertised “Walk-ins welcome.” I walked in, wrote my name on the list, watched three people come in after me get served first, and walked out.

Next stop was at a salon, where they promised to work me in. But the fussy big-haired lady before me wasn’t ready to be worked out. I left in consternation and roared down the road, ready to go to a dog trimmer just to get the job done.

That was when I saw the banner, tied on an old pickup truck. It read in white and blue: Barbershop.

Long on hair and short on time, I pulled in, walked in, and sat in the familiar upholstered chair, giving myself over to the no nonsense sensibility of George. Then George did an amazing thing - he cut my hair.

And I’ve gone back to George for over two years, even following him when he changed shops. After thoroughly hashing over every popular topic - music, politics, the economy, taxes, even a bit of religion - one day I asked George a simple question: What made him such a popular barber?

He stopped snipping and stared out the window. The fan buzzed. The radio played. Then, as if realizing it for the first time, he said this:

“I solve people’s hair problems.”

I hadn’t expected that answer.

He went on.

He told me how everyone has something they don’t like about their hair. His job is to figure out what that problem is, then fix it.

Some barbers learn one style of haircut, then give that same haircut to everyone who sits in their chair. George listens to what his clients say about their hair. Then he uses that information to guide his scissors.

How simple. How profound.

George’s philosophy is the foundation of success. It is the same thinking that drives business and personal relationships alike. Sears doesn’t sell drill bits; it sells holes. Southwest Airlines doesn’t sell plane tickets; it sells relationships and reunions. A nursery doesn’t sell trees; it sells shade.

And at Club Ed, we don’t sell classes. We offer creative solutions to your self-improvement desires. Club Ed helps you grow a Texas garden, sing a solo, dance the two-step, speak another language, or cook a 4-course meal, and more. We are filling that hole - that “yearning” for lifelong learning.

It’s about keeping the world open to learning, whenever and wherever it happens. Even in a barber chair on a clipping-covered linoleum floor.

XXX

Club Ed offers hundreds of classes to solve your learning desires. Right now our summer camps and classes for kids and adults are open. To sign up, visit www.clubed.net or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes with 3000 enrollments. The fall session begins in September. To sign up, ask a question, suggest a class, or apply to teach, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

Learning with passion

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly - May 12, 2010

PHOTO: Is there anything you can’t create with paper and paint? If there is, kids can use video, computers, legos, and clay in this summer’s adventure camps.


Looking for something for the kids to do this summer - something really different and engaging and interesting? That’s what Kathy Patterson was doing when she began offering Computer Explorer camps in the hill country four years ago.

Computer Explorers is a series of interactive science camps that lets kids literally get their hands on cameras, inventions, computers, legos, video equipment, and all sorts of cool tools to learn creatively and constructively.

"I have young kids, and was looking for things for them to do in the summer," the A&M graduate said. "I wanted to provide more educational activities. I had a passion for it. If we know even one child who decided to become an engineer because of these classes, it will be worth it."

So this summer, kids ages 6 to 12 can explore the world from the depths of the oceans to outer space. This year’s offerings are Multimedia Adventure Camp and the Science & Space Ca

At Science & Space Camp, Star Wars still rules. Patterson promises young space cadets might be the next George Lucas, by becoming the writers, directors, actors, animators, and special effects creators of a mini space movie. Then they switch to science, slipping on the white coat to become detectives who use forensics to solve crime scenes.

In Multimedia Adventure Camp, campers create their own animated cartoon strips while they explore the world around in three dimensions. This action-filled camp includes sections on building inventions, making up experiments, and writing stories.

The older youngsters take it a step further and add sound effects and music to create an original video game.

Patterson has operated this educational business for four years, and now has set up classes in Boerne, Kerrville, Fredericksburg, San Antonio, Dripping Springs, and New Braunfels. She has fulfilled her goal of offering learning with passion.

"Girls and boys get just as excited with these activities," Patterson said. "I have had kids crying because they didn't want the class to end."

Computer Explorers has been proven and field-tested nationally since 1983. The camps are taught by certified teachers and are based on sound educational practice, aligning with current curricular standards. Patterson is able to accommodate at-risk students and has seen students flourish "who don't always function well in a typical classroom."

But that is not why the kids love it.

"It is educational and fun," she said. "I think it challenges the kids, and they are learning in a fun way, solving problems that are challenging to them. You don't get to build things in many other school activities."

Just don’t tell the kids they’re learning - it might spoil the fun.

xxx

Science & Space Camp runs the week of August 2 in Kerrville and the week of June 7 in Boerne. Multimedia Adventure Camp meets the week of June 21 in Kerrville and the week of June 28 in Boerne. Club Ed offers summer camps and classes for kids and adults. To sign up, visit www.clubed.net or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes with 3000 enrollments. The fall session begins in September. To sign up, ask a question, suggest a class, or apply to teach, call 830-895-4386, or visit www.clubed.net. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.

When the travel bug bites

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly - May 5, 2010


PHOTO: Michael Sprute helps travelers across Texas put together their dream vacations.


Got the travel bug?

According to a leading travel company guide, so do a lot of people.

“Because of the economy, a lot people took the year off from travel and now are ready to go somewhere,” said Michael Sprute, District Manager for Collette Vacations. “Travel is definitely back.”

Where are they going? Sprute says he is booking “a little bit of everything.” People want to head out all over the globe - Asia, Europe, South America, Africa.

Collette Vacations is well positioned to get you there. For 91 years they have helped literally millions of travelers, arranging trips for large companies including the “free” vacations won on TV game shows, along with working with local nonprofit organizations like Club Ed. They offer 150 vacation packages on all seven continents.

With all the challenges of travel today, customers gravitate to the “one call does it all” service of travel companies. We are seeing many travelers who are seeking the fully-escorted trip. From booking the bus, through the plane connections, hotel accommodations, meals, site seeing, right up to pulling off that last bag back home, you are under the guidance of a trained agency employee.

“Our clients want to get on a fully-escorted trip,” Sprute said. “From the minute they step on the bus, we take care of everything. All they have to do is have a good time.”

That pampering includes staying at only 4-star hotels and all inclusive pricing - no “nickel and diming” add-ons.

Sprute will be in the Hill Country on Monday, May 17, at 3 p.m., to offer a Free Information Session. These informal and free sessions are a time for prospective travelers to come ask questions and gather details on the trips. Upcoming Club Ed/Collette offerings are Alpine Christmas, an 8-day trip through the traditional Christmas markets of Austria and Bavaria set for December 6, 2010; and New England Back Roads, a 7-day tour of the country store, covered bridges, and rugged coastlines of the Northeast starting October 1, 2010.

Over the years, Club Ed has traveled near and far and in between. We’ve helped families enjoy the fall foliage in Maine, the Calgary Stampede in Canada, the Olympics in China. We’ve filled buses to see the bats at Alamo Springs and ride the barges in San Antonio. A couple of times we sent groups on cruises in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the end, folks who like to travel, travel. According to Sprute, there are always good deals. And 80% of his clients come back to travel again, many year after year.

So next time the travel bug bites, go with it.

“You can’t force people to travel; you can entice them to travel,” he said. “If they go, they go. Our goal is to fulfill your vacation dreams.”

xxx

For information or to sign up, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Club Ed is the Community Education program of the Kerrville Independent School District. Each year, we offer more than 400 classes throughout the Texas Hill Country, along with online courses, business and individual training, and after-school and summer camps. Comment online at clubedcomments.blogspot.com, or follow us on Twitter @clubedtx.