Feedback

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 9, 2011



I never tire of bragging about Club Ed. So this week I decided to do something different. I dug through our evaluations to let our students brag instead.

Every single student in every single class receives a simple Evaluation form. They are invited to answer two questions: 1) What did you like most? 2) What could we improve? (We also have them draw smiley - or frowny - faces for quick feedback.)

The responses are always interesting.

Some are concise:
“Great Class! Great Price! Great Teacher”

“I enjoyed the presentation - fast-paced, packed with information that was very useful.”

"FUN, FUN, FUN!!"

Some embarrass us:
"You have hit a home run with this catalog. I haven't heard of any program like this anywhere in the country!"

Many are grateful:
"Easy to understand for us technically challenged types."

Sometimes grateful beyond the normal classroom relationship:
"Great teacher - he's adorable!"

"Marsha, I'll follow you anywhere!"

One student wrote a three-page letter extolling the virtues of her instructor. That made us a little nervous.

Some are bald-faced lies:
“After taking dulcimer, my family is very encouraging and likes to listen to me practice.”

Many evaluations are uplifting:
"Grinning from ear to ear!!!"

"My husband agreed to take this class as a favor to me. He ended up enjoying it more than I and he ever expected."

"Great quality time together away from the kids!"

"If you can't learn to dance with this instructor, it's impossible!

Some we just don’t understand:

"This is where I wanted to be - learning the mouse as if I was 5 years old at St. Peters School."

Some are profound:

“Found my inner self from hypnosis techniques.”

Some are just weird:

“Experience time through geology! Feel young through geological time! I'll never look at a rock the same way again!"

We even had one from French theologian John Calvin:
“While all men seek after happiness, scarcely one in a hundred looks for it from God.”

Oh, it’s not all peaches and cream. We’ve had our share of negative reviews:

"Probably could be longer and with padded chairs!"

One lady sent me a handwritten letter complaining about finding a cigarette butt on the floor - she even taped the butt to her letter!

Some of these negative feedback courses hold the most interest to us. One bus tour was such a comedy of errors - late departure, missed connection, squeaky wheel bearings, extortionist driver - that half the group wrote full page letters complaining. What was fascinating were those who turned in smiley faces and said it was a great experience and the driver did “a super job!” You have to wonder if they were actually on the same bus.

My favorite complaint story was the recent Hill Country transplant who stormed out of a class within the first 20 minutes. She stood in our lobby and ran down the litany of how the instructor was ill-informed, confrontational, meandering, unprepared, and just rude. We of course refunded her money and thanked her - for we really do want to hear how to improve our courses.

The lady sat down and was still in our lobby an hour later. I politely informed her that she did not have to wait around - her money would be refunded automatically.

“Oh, no, it’s not that,” she replied. “I have to wait because my husband is in there and he loves this class.”

Another student signed up for three writing courses. The next day she called to excoriate the instructor, telling me the day was “a disappointment.” The first class was “a lie,” and that the materials were filled with grammatical errors and redundancies.

I humbly asked why, if she so detested the first class, she stayed and signed up for classes two and three. Her answer: “I just kept thinking it would get better.”

But even the rare negative ones hold a grain of fun:
“I have one complaint about your Spanish class... that I didn’t learn about it sooner!”

We love to hear every type of feedback. But we especially love this kind:
“This is my first class with Club Ed, but it won’t be my last.”

xxx

Summer is coming! If you offer an activity or camp for kids, put it in our Hill Country Kids catalog of great things to do. For information or to sign up for a class, email club.ed@kerrvilleisd.net, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Picking from 0 to 60: Acoustic Music Workshop

by Phil Houseal, 1/19/2011


He’s played at Merle Fest and the Kerrville Folk Festival, written guitar instruction books and magazine articles, played folk, bluegrass, jazz, and blues, and toured with artists such as Joan Baez.

And on Saturday, January 29, you can sit in the same room with David Hamburger while he teaches everything from music theory to fingerpicking styles to hot blues riffs.

It is one strand of the new one-day January Acoustic Music Workshop sponsored by Kerrville ISD’s Club Ed and Bob Miller’s Hill Country Acoustic Music Camp.

Hamburger is a renown guitarist who has performed with the great string players, and whose guitar, slide guitar and dobro playing can be heard on many albums. For the Kerrville workshop, he will teach Guitar Workshop - Theory; 6 degrees of Travis Picking; and Fingerpicking Blues.

If you attend, be ready for a ride.

“I designed this class as a ‘blitz,’” he explained. “We will go from zero to 60. The first 15 minutes might bore the experienced guitar player, and the last 15 minutes will terrify the beginner, but everything in the middle will be just right for everyone.”

He will take students from the simplest fingerpicking style to the most complicated, based on his own Acoustic Guitar Fingerstyle Method instruction booklet. He promises that students will leave class with handouts and enough to work on for months.

The workshop will also feature world-class banjo player Alan Munde and ukulele expert Pops Bayless.

This is the first time Club Ed has offered such a workshop and enrollments have been brisk.

One innovation is offering the added “house-style” concert on Saturday evening at the Union Church on the Schreiner University campus. It features all three artists playing “unplugged” joined by local bassist Gary Hatch. It is open to the public, even if not attending the classes.

While teaching his workshops across the country, Hamburger sees a neverending stream of people who continue to be fascinated with the stringed instruments.

“A lot of Baby Boomers want to finally learn to play the way they were never able to do,” he said. “At the same time the younger players are discovering that playing country, blues, and traditional guitar is just as interesting to them as it was to boomers 30 years ago.”

While he used to teach and play full time, Hamburger now spends most of his time working in his own recording studio in Austin, composing music for television, commercials, and documentaries. But he still likes teaching and enjoys getting out to the Hill Country.

“I love coming to Kerrville,” he said. “I have friends there, have done house concerts, been to the Folk Festival, and I teach at the Acoustic Music Camps. This is really adding to the music scene there.”

XXX

For information or to sign up for the Acoustic Music Workshop on Jan 29, click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Workshops meet at the Kerr Arts & Cultural Center, 228 Earl Garrett St, Kerrville. Class Times are: 10:00am to 11:15am; 1:00pm to 2:15pm; 2:30pm to 3:45pm. Fee is $40 per class, or students can sign up for all three workshops by one instructor for a discount price of $100.

The Saturday evening “House Concert” will be from 6 - 8 p.m. at Union Church at the corner of Broadway, Water, and Travis Streets in Kerrville. Concert admission is $20, and guests are welcome to bring a snack and beverage to share.

Breathe... and other holiday tips

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly - Dec 15, 2010



The holiday season (and New Year) approach. Time to share hits, tips, and tricks that come from what we learn in the more than 400 Club Ed classes we offer each year.

Enjoy!

Collect the rain.
Thinking of installing a rainwater collection system? Wondering how much water you can collect? Amazingly, a 1-inch rain on a 1000 square foot roof will produce over 600 gallons of water. (Master Gardener Ann Brown notes that you can fill a 55-gallon barrel with just 1/4 inch of rain.)
The Hill Country averages 30 inches of rainfall annually, so with sufficient storage capacity, the average home should collect sufficient water for household use.

Sharpen your tools.
“A dull tool is a dangerous tool.”
So says Dr. Tom Harris, gardening wizard.
"You have to work harder to make a dull tool work," he noted. "If the blade is sharp, it will do what it is supposed to do, easily. If it is dull, that's when you make a mistake."
No matter how you do it, keep your spades, scissors, knives and shears sharp.
"It is just fascinating," Harris said, "when you can get something sharp enough to shave with, whether it is a shovel or a razor."

Dance!
According to Nursel Conrad of Kerrville School of Dance, dancing is like taking a vacation. Benefits include improved coordination and flexibility, increased strength and conditioning, plus it raises your awareness of rhythm and balance, and raises your creativity and self-confidence. So move!

Misdirect.
When performing magic, the point is not to “trick” or audience. Playing a trick on someone makes them appear the fool.
Magic instructor Alan Fox always made the point that you are creating an “illusion.” The more you draw in your audience’s help in creating that illusion, the more they appreciate the performance.
Tricks are for Halloween; magic is timeless.

Change yourself.
Life Coach Leia Francisco knows no one can change you except you.
"We are not advice givers. Coaches believe you - the client - have the answers. Our real power is helping you clarify the issues, understand the possibilities, then help you take action."
Like the proverb, it's not just feeding you fish; it is teaching you how to fish.
“You are never too old to develop your life purpose and goals."

Keep your scroll up.
When playing the violin, keeping the scroll up will help your bowstick go straighter. (Cathy Learoyd will teach a complete course in fiddling in the spring.)

Back up your computer.
The three rules of preserving computer data:
1) Back it up
2) Back it up often.
3) Back it up in three different places.

Be a clown.
When appearing in clown, you typically get three types of reactions.
1) Total belief. These people rush up for a hug or photograph.
2) Discomfort. These people keep their distance or walk away.
3) No reaction.
These are common responses, according to entertainer Shannon Anderson, aka Sunshine the Clown. “It is often their own insecurities that keep them from playing with you. But they will usually come around if you leave them alone and just keep playing.”

Write a song.
When writing a song, start with the words, then add music. Or, start with the music, then come up with the words. Or, start with an idea, then combine words and music.
(Obviously, there is no rule for writing songs.)

Finally, the most important rule of all...

Breathe!
Pat Labeda, Hypnotherapist, learned this basic of relaxation while working at a trauma center. She noticed that people under stress stop breathing deeply. Simply taking several deep, cleansing breaths can lower the heart rate, freshen the mind, and induce calm.

See you in class!

XXX

The new Spring 2011 Club Ed catalog is now online! Printed editions will be mailed after Christmas, but all courses are open for signup at www.clube.net.

There is still time to get an eGift card - in any amount. Click www.clubed.net, or call 830-895-4386.

Handy Man

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

“Excuse me.”

I looked up from my computer and saw a lovely lady standing in my doorway. She held some wood in her hand - three pieces of 3 1/2 inch rough pine, in lengths of 4 to 6 inches.

Mary Louise held them up. “I am looking for someone to saw these into 3 1/2 inch squares. Do you know anyone that can do that?”

This is Club Ed, I thought, not a handyman referral service. But then I started mentally running through our list of several hundred instructors, and quickly came up with three or four who could take on this project. I picked up the phone, and called Ed Fournier, retired sea captain, stained glass maker, electrician, plumber, carpenter, and proverbial jack-of-all-trades.

Ed loves projects. Whenever we need a picture hung, a door unstuck, a display put together, we call Ed. He comes right over with the right tool, and - after at least one trip to Gibson’s - he has fixed our problem. The man knows how to do everything. He is a walking Time-Life How-To book.

Ed is our MacGyver.

He figured out how to mount a neon sculpture in our window, then hooked it up to a timer so it would come on at night. There is no limit to his skill or endurance. When we needed an extra room, he built an entire wall in our building. When we worried about spam coming over our Internet, he came up with a clever device to manually disable the connection. When we needed to run electricity outside for a project, he built a heavy-duty extension cord with multiple grounded outlets.

Once he even built a walking armadillo. When his daughter needed a float for a company parade, Ed put together a model of an armadillo that she could pull, with feet that flapped and tail that wagged. It won first prize.

Back to Mary Louise...

Even though he had sold most of his woodworking tools, Ed came right over and managed to make the cuts, just right, then sand them smooth as an armadillo’s snout.

This story has two morals. One. Even while Mary Louise was wrong about the purpose of Club Ed; she was right to come to Club Ed for help. After all, this is community education. Where else would you find such a large resource of talented people with expertise in areas from aerospace to scuba diving, from weaving to woodworking? We have literally hundreds of instructors, hobbyists, and experts who are passionate about learning and teaching.

Second moral: If you ever need anything done, call Ed.

The secret of the donut

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

My favorite bakery turned off its ovens and locked its doors this summer.

The legendary Dietz Bakery graced Fredericksburg’s Main Street for 100 years, sending the irresistible aroma of fresh-baked donuts, cinnamon rolls and homemade bread through its screen door, drawing in generations of tourists and locals.

It was a tradition after my Saturday morning workout to head over to the bakery to stand in line for the first rolls out of the oven at 8 a.m. You had to get there early; they always sold out by 10.

On their last day in business, I was lamenting the loss with a buddy. We got to discussing whether the donuts were really that tasty, or whether we were facing the old “you don’t know what you got until it’s gone” syndrome.

I wondered aloud why the owners didn’t just bake more rolls, bread and donuts, since it was obvious they could sell twice as many every day.

My buddy said something profound. “Maybe if they had made more, they wouldn’t have been as popular.”

He went on. “Look at Krispy Kreme donuts. They were fanatically popular. Then the company went public, and started selling them in on every corner and gas station in every town. People lost interest, the stock fell, and nobody gets excited about Krispy Kreme anymore.”

So maybe the value of a product has less to do with its quality than with its availability. I remembered the tale of a new restaurant opening. From day one, the owners turned down every other reservation, telling would-be customers they were booked up. That was not true. But soon word spread that the new restaurant was so popular, customers began making reservations in earnest. Within three months, the place was completely booked up.

People are such fickle creatures. Tell us we can no longer have something, and we clamor for more of it.

This is a roundabout way of saying Club Ed is back! After a summer with no classes, our lifelong learning courses are now open for signup.

We are not 100 years old, but we’ve been around for 35 years.

We don’t bake thousands of pastries, but we do offer several hundred classes each spring and fall, held in Kerrville, Boerne, and Bandera, with hundreds more you can take online from anywhere.

But don’t hesitate to sign up for your favorite classes. It won’t be long before they are gone. And while not quite as sweet as a Dietz donut, our Club Ed classes are just as delicious!

===

The Fall 2010 Club Ed catalogs have been mailed to all hill country residents, and are available at area libraries and chambers. 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 session, we offer hundreds of enrichment classes and individual training throughout the Texas Hill Country and online. Follow us at ClubEdComments.blogspot.com, on Twitter @clubedtx, and on Facebook at Club Ed!

Print On Demand

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Feb 3, 2010

Do you have a book in you? Dumb question. Who doesn’t? Ron Williamson wants to help get it out of your head and onto the page. He is teaching a new class for the first time - How to Publish Your First Book: The Print on Demand Revolution.

“This is a type of new technology that allows literally one book to be printed at a time,” the writer and Hill Country resident explained. “You can print small runs of books and get them in a rapid fashion.”

Williamson has had success doing this with his most recent and best-selling work - “The Texas Pistoleers.” The book on Wild West history was published completely using print-on-demand (POD) technology and is now available online around the world.

“If someone in Arkansas, London, New York, or Winnipeg wants a copy, they can buy it through Amazon. This has been a terrific boon to online book sales.”

The key difference with this technology is that an aspiring author can print as few as one book at a time. Gone are the days when a new author had to buy a thousand books that ended up sitting in the garage. Williamson calls POD technology one of the greatest boons to publishing since the Gutenberg press.

In addition to saving large print runs, POD saves time.

“Using traditional publishing, the time from submitting a manuscript until the book comes out in print can be one to three years. With POD you can be up and running in two to three months. I know, because I’ve done it.”

Another advantage is that your work can become an “ebook” giving you instant online access to the growing market on personal reader devices like the Kindle (Club Ed also has a class on that!). Williamson cited the example of a woman who wrote a book on Alzheimer’s. No publisher wanted it, so she got it printed-on-demand, then picked up so many online sales the publishers came to her.

Of course, no matter how you publish it, you must still write your book. Williamson notes that his is not a “how to write” class (Club Ed offers that, too). This class is more about “how to format.”

“You have to have it in a format ready for online printers,” he said. “That is quite different than formatting for traditional publishers.”

Another advantage - or disadvantage - with POD is it allows the writer to bypass that bane of the creative - the editor.

“The way you print it is the way you wrote it,” Williamson said. “That could be good or bad, but either way, editing slows the process of taking the book from your pen to the reader.”

Williamson notes that POD is a good way to get information out there, even if you don’t plan to write the Great American Novel. It might be your personal memoirs, a family history, your own cookbook. Those topics have an audience that doesn’t require printing thousands of copies.

So no matter where you are in the writing process - a seasoned pro, working on your first book, or a dreamer with an idea in your head - Williamson estimates this 3-hour class will save attendees 30-40 man hours in the process.

Best of all, with print-on-demand, every book is a first edition!

xxx

Print On Demand is offered on Feb 13 and Feb 27. Information on other writing classes and Kindle is available at www.clubed.net or 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.

Knowers vs Learners

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly Jan 20, 2010

Are you a “knower” or a “learner?”

Here’s how to tell the difference. A “knower” lives in the past. A “learner” is moving into the future. Another way to portray it is that “knowers” talk, “learners” listen.

We all are familiar with someone who “knows” it all. No matter the topic - from world geography to political nuance - they chime in with facts, opinions and trivia that leave no room for conversation. One buddy described it as if people carry around scripts in their head on every topic, ready to unleash one at the even the most tangential moment.

“Knowers” show up in all walks of life. The stereotype is the old fellow who remembers how it was in the good old days, when he walked to school in the snow, uphill both ways. A more insidious type is the quintessential salesman who won’t stop talking. Back in my selling days, I have been in meetings with account executives afraid to appear not to know everything. They filibuster the conversation, drowning everyone with all they can do to serve the clients.

I learned something on one of my first sales visits. We went into a meeting with a large potential client. After listening to their marketing director describe the company’s current campaign, I stood up and announced, “I’m not sure you really need us. You have a perfectly adequate situation.”

I can’t say who was more startled - my account executive or the client. After a pause, the client said two things: 1) I’ve never had a vendor say that before, and 2) You get the account.

She was impressed by my honesty, but more important, by my ability to listen. We sat back down, probed deeper, and came up with award-winning campaigns and a relationship that went on for years.

The point is that I was willing to learn - to learn more about my client’s needs. Those types of learners are the people I meet walking into our doors day after day. They come in all ages. We had the 80-something retired engineer who decided to learn how to weld. I am just as impressed by the 18-year-old college student who enrolled in a Spanish conversation class to supplement her language studies at Schreiner University. Now that’s a learner.

So now is the time to ask yourself what type of person you are - a knower or a learner?

If you are a learner, we have a class for you.

If you are a knower... well... maybe you can teach a class.

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.

Ride with the wind

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

Nov 11, 2009

Karen Dampeer wants everyone to feel what she felt the first time she straddled her Yamaha Stratoliner 1900cc motorcycle.

“I got hooked,” said the Boerne resident. “Since I started riding, I dress the way I want, and I’m always ready to ride when I want.”

Dampeer, who works as a financial planner by day, racked up 12,000 miles the first year she had her bike. One of her trips was a solo journey to Colorado Spring. She made many impressions along the way. “Women came out of diners, amazed that I was traveling this way. It meant different things to different people, but to most it was liberating to see someone doing something like that.”

Dampeer and Robert Allen are the Rider Coaches, teaching the new Course for Motorcycle Riders being offered every weekend through Club Ed in Kerrville. The course is sanctioned by the Department of Public Safety, and qualifies new riders for the Class M endorsement, along with reducing insurance premiums.

Bob Kee, owner of Destination:Cyclesports, provided six Suzuki 250 bikes when saw the need for safety training in the Hill Country.

“We see guys returning to this sport thinking that riding a motorcycle is like riding a bicycle - you never forget. But 25 years off the machine, plus the change in physical conditioning, results in overconfidence. Offering this course in the Hill Country means a better chance of preventing future accidents.”

In the basic course, students learn how to operate a motorcycle, the best protective clothing to wear, how to avoid and react to dangerous situations. By the end of the course, riders will have skills at the two-year rider level.

“The course is user friendly and a safe place to ride and learn,” Dampeer said. “We go step by step, and don’t ask you to do anything we haven’t prepared you for. There is a gradually building up of experience. Anyone can pass the course and build their confidence.”

At the same time, the course is not easy. In fact, Dampeer calls it “strenuous.”

“It is not hard, it just takes different muscles than you are used to using.”

Still, they have trained riders from as young as 15 on up to 79 years old. In the past few years they are seeing more and more women taking their seats at the front of the saddle.

What is the appeal? Romance? Rebellion? Freedom? Thrills?

“It is all of those,” Dampeer said. “I like the sense of being outside and being part of the outdoors. All day, I work in an office, with tons of responsibility, and I’m a good citizen. But sometimes, I like putting aside my normal personality, taking off the mask, and being myself.”

Ride, Karen, ride.

xxx

Club Ed now offers the Basic Rider Course for Motorcycle Riders in Kerrville, at Peterson Middle School on Sidney Baker Street next to IHOP. A new class starts every weekend, between 8 a.m. and 5: 30 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday. Riders must register in advance by calling 830-895-4386, or by stopping by the Auld Center, 1121 Second Street, Kerrville TX 78028.

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.

Take a trip; Make a memory

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly
Oct 21, 2009

When you travel with Ardie Dixon, you not only are going to have a great time, you might learn something and come away with a new friend.

Dixon has owned Hill Country Coordinators since 1995 and serves as host on many Club Ed excursions. She will guide two upcoming trips - A Night Out in Fredericksburg (which includes a trip to the Rockbox Theater) and our popular San Antonio Holiday River Parade and dinner.

For Dixon, the actual trip is just one part of the travel experience.

"For me, it is all about creating a happy memory - that's what it is about."

She prides herself on customizing her tours and events, and anticipating every contingency that might put a kink in the escapade. She can provide any kind of group service, whether a trip, wedding, reunion, or corporate event.

"I like to provide the service that guarantees everything goes well, and that the sponsors look good when it is all over with."

Dixon draws on years of experience doing catering and convention work in the hotel industry, from La Mansion del Rio in San Antonio to the Inn of the Hills in Kerrville. She also worked with travel planners.

Even for someone of Dixon's skill, she is first to admit not every detail can be controlled.

"There are always little things that come up," she said, recalling the couple from Houston who held their wedding down by the riverside. "They asked seriously to have two white swans swim by while they were exchanging vows. Needless to say, we did not get that done!"

But she can usually find a resource for every request. And when that rare contretemps occurs, she is philosophical. "I always tell brides when something happens, not to get excited - that's what you are going to laugh about years later."

So how is a tour with Ardie Dixon going to be different from any other tour?

"I am going to be a little more informed about Texas Hill Country heritage," she said. "We'll have some good chuckles and laughs, and probably eat some good, unhealthy food. People will feel like they met a new best friend - it could be me or other people on the tour."

Ultimately it is all about the people.

"God puts people in my path, and I know he does," she said. "I know I need to do my best to help some people have a good time or to put at ease. That's one of my missions I am supposed to do."

xxx

Club Ed travels to the San Antonio River Lighting Parade on Nov 27, and takes a Holiday Night Out in Fredericksburg on Dec 12. Signup deadlines are approaching. For information, 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.

Shooting for fun

by Phil Houseal
Oct 14, 2009
As published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

When it comes to recreation, Americans spend the most money on exercise equipment. Do you know which sport comes in second?

Shooting.

"In 2006 spending on firearms and shooting gear overtook golf for second on the list," said Larry Arnold, one of two instructors teaching the Texas Concealed Handgun License Course in Kerrville and Boerne for Club Ed (details at end of article).

At clubs like the Buck & Bull Club, hunters can practice target shooting, skeet, trap, sporting clays. They have a hunting game where they shoot steel silhouettes of game in a realistic setting.

Larry Arnold started his own infatuation with shooting at age 11.

"I was kind of a nerd, and it was something I could do rather than play football," he recalled. "Besides, it was fun."

It was also a lot safer.

"The shooting sports rank below ping pong in injuries sustained as a sport."

Arnold - who recently won a national award for his course curriculum - has been a National Rifle Association instructor since 1982, and has taught hunter safety education since 1984. Arnold was involved in the long effort to have Texas adopt the concealed carry laws, working with six legislatures over 12 years.

Arnold actually taught his first concealed carry course on the very first day it was legally allowed to be taught in Texas, back in September 1995.

In the years since he has seen a parade of people from all professions who have their own reasons for taking this gun safety course. In the early days of the new law, he trained lots of professionals who traveled in their jobs, such as real estate salespeople. Students have been both young and old, and quite often whole families have taken the class together.

Regardless of background, their reasons are the same.

"A lot of it is just to be able to protect yourself," he said. He also gets students who want help navigating the national background check system. While protection is the reason many take the class, for Arnold, guns are just fun.

"It is a lifetime sport. We have people in their 80s who have won trophies. Shooting is one of the few sports that are completely coed. It's where soccer moms can take their kids and watch."

XXX

Club Ed offers monthly courses in the Texas Concealed Handgun Course in Boerne and Kerrville. Constable Don White is instructor in the Boerne course. 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.

First Impressions

by Phil Houseal
October 7, 2009
As published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal & Boerne TX Hill Country Weekly

Ever wonder why your painfully written article about your organization's event didn't make it into the newspaper? You can find out why, and how to get it into print, at the new Club Ed class "Impressions."

Bonnie and Larry Arnold have worked for many newspapers in the Hill Country for three decades, and they have plenty of advice for people when it comes to submitting material for their clubs, businesses and organizations.

"This may be a new class for here, but it's not a new concept," said Larry Arnold, noting they have taught it several times in the past 25 years. "But when Bonnie notices the quality of press releases she receives at her newspaper job starts to slip, she knows it is time to teach the class again."

The Arnolds plan to hit the basics of what it takes to get your news in front of readers. Points covered will include:

- how to submit news

- how to work with the press

- electronic submissions

- what needs to go in to a press release

- what to leave out

- the importance of deadlines

- how to get better publicity

- ways to avoid the "grip and grin" photo

The Arnolds will point out the differences between writing for dailies, weeklies, radio, and television. They also will have advice on how to handle bad publicity - or, as Larry puts it, "What to do when your secretary goes to Acapulco with the funds."

They promise lots of practice, and all students will write a press release as part of the class.

Everyone is aware how news distribution has changed over the last 25 years, or even the past five years. Even though news now goes out through the web, blogs, and "tweeting," the rules of the road are timeless.

"All media still use the 5 Ws, you still need to put a date on your submission, and always include your contact info."

On the other hand, the most common errors editors encounter are also timeless:

- submitting too late

- failure to plan ahead

- sending the wrong stuff to wrong media

The very best thing you can do is to "make contact" with your local media. According to the Arnolds, that works both ways.

"You know who to take stuff to, and if you are the expert on widgets, every time that reporter thinks about widgets, he ought to think about you."

Bonnie sees this class as essential for the volunteer in a nonprofit organization who ends up being named the public relations person.

"PR is a specific job, it's not something you just know how to do."

But this class will teach you how to make a better "Impression."

XXX

"Impressions" meets Saturday, Oct 10. 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.

Everyone in the act

On Thursday Aug 6, 2009 I was a guest on The Ranch FM 92 in Kerrville TX. Calamity Jane could not resist putting on her Elvis and posing. Too bad it wasn't TV so fans could see the mugging. CJ and DJ had a hoot with the new Club Ed classes and catalog, and we hope to see them (and you) in class this fall!

Thankyewverymuch.

Kerrville ISD delivers Fall Club Ed catalogs

Online signup underway

PHIL HOUSEAL, DIRECTOR, KERRVILLE ISD, 830-257-2218

phil.houseal@kerrvilleisd.net

Lifelong learners can soon begin signing up for their favorite Club Ed classes, as 70,000 64-page catalogs arrive in mailboxes throughout the Texas Hill Country this week (Aug 3-14).

Club Ed, the Kerrville Independent School District's Community Education program - offers hundreds of courses held in local communities and offered online from the convenience of home. Areas cover computers, travel, recreation, cooking, art, self-improvement, business, training and much more.

Among the new offerings this fall are Canning, Cooking Italian, Candle Making, Teaching art to a child, Horsemanship, Social Networking, Kindle, Hypnosis, Wine Appreciation, and Storytelling.

Local flintknapper Jim Morris is bringing in Woody Blackwell, the best-known flintknapper in the U.S. to teach a one-day workshop. Kurt Shirer will teach how to build and play a washtub bass.

Travel guide Ardie Dixon is hosting trips to a Holiday Night Out in Fredericksburg, and to the San Antonio Holiday River Lighting Parade. Travelers can also sign up for trips to the South Pacific, Bavaria, New England, or the Canadian Rockies.

Popular returning courses include Welding, Web Design, Coaching, Spanish, Writing, Dog Obedience, Travel for Free, a complete set of gardening how-to's, and all types of dance.

Those not wanting to wait for the catalog to arrive can sign up online now at www.clubed.net.

Complete information and registration is also available by calling 830-895-4386, or by visiting the Auld Center, 1121 Second Street, Kerrville. Weekly articles appear at clubedcomments.blogspot.com.

Link to article in Kerrville Daily Times:
http://dailytimes.com/story.lasso?ewcd=946f297afebc3360

Mugging for customers

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal May 20, 2009

I picked up my Club Ed notepad and grabbed a KVHC pen from the Kee Motors mug I use as a pen holder. I wrote out my grocery list and stuck it to the refrigerator with the A-1 Transmissions magnet.

I was late for an appointment, so I grabbed the A&M key ring, my UT travel mug, and my UNT gimme cap and dashed for the car.

Welcome to the world of advertising specialties.

Putting ads on common items began back in1845, when an enterprising insurance agent printed his business message on calendars he gave as gifts. Over 150 years later, we still are suckers for freebies.

Just gazing at my desk, I see a Zurich letter opener, Office Max jump drive, and several calendars from printers, insurance companies, and LP gas suppliers. I even use a Fredericksburg Community Education screen cleaner to wipe off my computer monitor!

Could we make it through a day without using these handy gadgets? More important, why would we want to?

I asked Betty Braswell, owner of ADCO Advertising for 27 years.

"Everybody uses them," Braswell said. "People do like to get free things. We hope the items we sell will stay with the customers as advertisements for business."

Braswell noted that pens are perennially popular, along with caps, T-shirts and trophies. Drink mugs for cars are big, and "koozies" to keep bottles and cans cool still stand out. Braswell noted that couples are now giving away custom koozies as wedding favors.

The tchotchke doesn't even have to be useful or functional to be effective. One of my favorite pickups was an inch-long triangular plastic gadget that flashed intermittent red LEDs when you pushed on it. I still have no idea of its purpose. For all I know it's a universal homing device and an alien race will soon land on my lawn.

At Club Ed, we are not immune from using ad specialties to keep our name in front of customers. Our little logo (the Club Ed guy getting conked on the head by a coconut) graces notepads, calendars, T-shirts, banners, and the crowd favorite - pink flamingo-shaped writing pens.

It is silly to think that getting a free wooden yardstick will sway our decision on which real estate agent to use, but it happens. One salesman swore he closed million-dollar deals by giving the buyer a pair of cowboy boots. I am among those who feel a sense of elation all out of proportion to getting a free screen cleaner.

A question for the ages, I decide, as I sip coffee from my Club Ed mug.

XXX

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.

An artist at any age

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal - May 6, 2009

We always say folks can learn at any age, but it is still a good surprise when someone comes in to sign up their 86-year-old mother for an art class.

Why would someone put an octogenarian in a beginning art class?

“Because she raised seven kids and never had the time to do any fun stuff,” her daughter - whom I’ll call Alice - replied. “Our daddy was in the military so we moved all the time, and she had to be a homemaker until her oldest girl started college.”

Alice’s mother’s yearnings for something deeper started early in her life. Her father died when she was only 9, so she went to work as a secretary at 15 in order to help support her large family.

“She didn’t get to do any fun stuff in school,” she said, “Just typing and shorthand. She just wanted to know how to draw.”

While her mom lacked experience, she did not want for confidence. Maybe it was a trait she picked up from her hard early life.

“She would look at the work of a grand master painting and say, ‘I can do that!” Alice said. “She always just wanted a chance to draw.”

Her mom started drawing on her own, putting pen to any paper she had handy, even using the backs of used postcards. She would make intricate drawings, sign them and sometimes frame them, telling friends and family, “See, I can do this.”

So now her daughters were getting her into an art class. Still, their mother didn’t go without protest.

“I saw it there in your catalog and said she is going to love to draw,” Alice said. “She would not ask to take a course, because she felt guilty asking us to drive her to class.”

“Our mother thought taking a drawing class was a waste of time,” she added. “After all, a child of the depression just didn't do that stuff.”

Thanks to her daughters, one child of the depression is proving again that it is never too late to learn.

XXX

No matter your age, for information or on signing up for any class, 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.

Shooting for the Stars

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal April 22, 2009


Calling all future astronauts and rocket scientists. You might get your ticket to outer space by launching your very own rocket right here in Kerrville.

The Shoot for the Stars Rocket Camp is our best-attended summer program. Every year, we offer several four-day workshops where kids ages 8 to 13 get their hands on model rockets. This camp was developed by Brett Williams at Fredericksburg High School, as an offshoot of his nationally-recognized aeroscience course. It is offered throughout the hill country and is taught by Williams' current and former students.

While the camp is great fun, the youngsters cannot get their hands on their rockets until they learn some basics of flight. They must take notes as the instructor introduces them to Newton's Laws, the laws of thermodynamics, and the Bernoulli Principle (any of you grownups want to take a stab at reciting those?). It's tough training, but soon they will see these scientific concepts applied to the real world.

That is the fun part. Under two instructors' guidance, the students soon are selecting body tubes, gluing on fins, and mounting recovery systems. Over the next four days, they determine the center of mass and the center of pressure, then weight the nose cone with BBs to compensate. The final step is adding the engine mount, making their rockets launch-ready.

Launch day is a big event. Families are there, as short kids and tall kids carry tall rockets and short rockets out to the football field behind the Auld Center. All are hand-built with care and pride.

That drilling on laws earlier in the week pays off, as each student must answer a few basic questions on the principles of flight before they are cleared to launch. They then take their rocket to the launch pad and connect the wires that will ignite the engine.

The countdown begins, as the crowd takes up the chant: 3... 2... 1! The young rocketeer punches the launch button.

Every bird goes up. Some ride the plume straight and true, some corkscrew and wobble. More than we like end up in trees or on top of school buildings. The best descend gracefully within the bounds of the football field.

But when you look in the eyes of the young man or woman who has just watched his or her creation ascend to the clouds, there is no doubt this rocket camp has ignited something straight and true.

XXX

Shoot for the Stars Rocket Camp will be held in Kerrville and at Ingram Middle School the week of June 8. Details on these and all other summer programs can be found in the Hill Country Kids catalog being sent home with area students. Information also available online at www.hillcountrykids.com or www.clubed.net, or by calling 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.

My Club Ed Day

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal, Apr 1, 2009


In 1986 there was a movie called Ferris Bueller's Day Off. In it, Matthew Broderick took the day off from school. The movie details his adventures eluding authorities and avoiding responsibilities.

Not long ago, I took a day on to school.

This day started at 5 a.m., when I rolled out of bed and headed to the Fredericksburg High School gymnasium. For an hour, I joined a group of marginally-in-shape yet enthusiastic men in our morning basketball game. That activity is community education - part of Fredericksburg ISD's program.

I showered and drove on to the Kerrville ISD Club Ed office. During lunchtime, I sat in on a new Conversational Spanish course. Monica Happ led our band of merry men and women through an hour of brushing up on our Spanish speaking skills. Esta es community education.

That afternoon, 30 dedicated dulcimer players descended on the Auld Center for their weekly jam session. For two hours, they practiced in preparation for a performance at one of our Kerrville ISD elementary schools. Of course, I had to tune up my mandolin and strum along on a few numbers. That is community education.

After work, I had just enough time to get across town and grab a chair in our adult beginner Take-A-Bow orchestra rehearsal. It is one of the many lifelong learning opportunities the United Methodist Church offers. Yes, that is community education.

At 6:30, it was time to zoom over to the dance studio, where I waltzed in and changed shoes for my adult tap and ballet classes. You guessed it - that is community education.

Whew!

I was describing my day to Emily Cale, who many of you meet as she takes your registrations and plans your courses for Club Ed. As I finished, she said, "Write that down. That is community education!"

For 20 years I have tried to come up with a 25-word description of community education. The concept is so all-encompassing and ever-changing that I have never succeeded (the other day I answered the phone and someone asked, "Is this the department of other things?"). But after my "Club Ed day," I realized Emily was right. What I did that day is community education.

Look around at how you spend your time when you are doing something you don't have to do. I'll bet you will be surprised at how many activities involve learning something new or stretching yourself beyond that stuffy comfort zone.

What's that? You're not doing those things? Well I happen to know a place where you can get started.

Unlike Ferris Bueller, we'll see you in class.

XXX

Plan your "day on" with our Spring 2009 Club Ed catalog! Visit www.clubed.net to sign up, 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.

Coaching the game of life

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal. Mar 25, 2009


We all have had coaches help us along - soccer coaches, baseball coaches, coaches as gym teachers, even birthing coaches.

Wouldn't it be great to find someone to coach us through life?

Meet your Life Coach.

"A life coach is a highly-trained professional who helps you gain greater satisfaction and well-being in your life and work," said Leia Francisca, life and executive coach accredited by the International Coach Federation.

Life coaching is as far from the stereotypical sports coach as a life goal is from a field goal. Life coaches do not stand on the sidelines and tell you what to do.

"Coaching is a guided journey to your own answers," Francisca explained. "We are not advice givers. Coaches believe you - the client - have the answers. Our real power is helping you clarify the issues, understand the possibilities, then help you take action."

The most common reason people approach her is that they are "seeking change."

"Every individual wants to change something in their workplace or life, but most are not sure what that is," said Francisca. "The majority say something isn't working in life - not that I'm sick and need therapy - I'm just simply lost and not clear on what to do next."

The real power of a coach is helping them clarify their situation, consider the possibilities, then take action. An effective coach helps people truly understand what they need to change.

Francisca calls it "coaching to the gap."

"My job is to see the disconnects, and work with people in transition. I help them understand what it is like to let go of the old and embrace the new."

Francisca went through a similar process along her journey to becoming a coach. She was successfully teaching at a college, but felt she wanted to do more with her life. She taught because she loved to communicate with people, and wanted to help people find out who they were, to discover that sense of purpose and strength inside themselves. She had an opportunity to try coaching, and now pursues it as her own career.

Today, through Club Ed, she wants to help others become coaches.

"There are not enough of us to go around," explained the instructor, who holds a Master of Arts in Bus Administration. "There are so many specialties to coach that there is room for everyone. And today, 90% of our work is by phone."

Francisco offers both life coaching and "how to become a life coach" sessions at Club Ed. The meetings are set up on an individual basis.

"People wonder where do I start, where do I go," she said, explaining her "how to coach" sessions. "Before they spend money, I want them to test drive this, to understand what is ahead of you."

Francisco emphasizes that coaching - life coaching - applies to anyone of any age.

"It is well documented that being coached enhances training and develops performance. Personally, people are more focused and more likely to carry out plans to reach goals. This also creates such a sense of self-discovery and centeredness. It's not just feeding you fish; it teaches you how to fish. You are never too old to develop your life purpose and goals."

XXX

To set up your one-to-one coaching session, 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.

Drawing out the inner artist

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal Mar 11, 2009

What reaction do a bunch of grown-ups have when they get together to chip rock, mix cement, and dye shirts?

"Fun!" said Ann Witherwax, who teaches classes on Mosaics and Tie Dye for club Ed. "That is almost always the response I see and hear - Wow, I actually did this. Sometimes you draw out an artistic ability you didn't know was there."

Drawing out that inner artist is a mission for Witherwax. The Hunt resident is trained as an art teacher and graphic artist. She teaches children through adults. When I asked about her favorite medium, she hesitated.

"I'm not sure how to answer that - I teach lot of mediums," she said. "But my purpose is to establish creative thinking skills. That is more than making artists - I want them to learn to think creatively."

Witherwax accomplishes this by using art to show there is more than one way to tackle a problem. Her art classes go beyond creating art for art's sake.

"I believe that through teaching art we can train our brains to find many avenues to solve a problem, to build something, to create a piece of art," she said. "As adults, we tend not to do that. Anybody is capable of doing anything. There is more than one way to solve a problem. Using our creative thinking skills, we can tackle anything."

This spring Witherwax is teaching classes in tie dying, mosaics, and garden pavers. These diverse mediums require the student to make choices that draw out the inner person. Creating a tie dye shirt, for example, requires the student to select from a palette of color. With garden pavers, students can embed tiles or stones or even bottle caps, or write words and phrases on polished stone. The finished paver can be one of several in a garden path, or sit alone as a decoration inside or out.

Every piece comes out completely different, which is fine with Witherwax.

"You cannot mass produce tie dye or pavers," she said. "There are a lot of techniques that get different results, and in each project you end up with a wearable or usable piece of art."

For Witherwax, art is more about process than product.

"That letting out of energy that comes with doing art is very healthy, it is relaxing and a release of creativity. There are so many positive results when people allow themselves to go there."

"Going there" requires no artistic ability.

"I feel like God has blessed me with the ability to inspire people to be creative and do their art in very non-judgmental way," she said. "I want everyone's art to be theirs, not like mine."

XXX

Ann Witherwax will teach classes on Tie Dye on March 28 and April 4, and a class on Garden Pavers on April 18. 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.

Writing a Romance

by Phil Houseal as published in the Kerrville TX Community Journal
Jan 7, 2009

Did you ever yearn to write your own romance novel? Students in a recent Club Ed class learned what it really takes to top the bestseller list from successful novelist Mara Fox.

The Harlequin Romance writer lives in Fredericksburg, and spent a few sessions unveiling the secrets behind her first novel I Shocked The Sheriff.

Unlike the faces of many romance heroines, Fox's basic message was unvarnished and stark.

"If you are writing for yourself, self publishing is fairly easy and inexpensive, and you can have a stack of beautiful books for family and friends," Fox said. "But if you want your book in bookshops, you have to do what the publisher wants."

In other words, you have to compromise the "book of your heart" so it "their book."

Fox has had students disagree strongly with that advice, but she points out that her message has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. It is all about creating a saleable product, and to achieve that you must follow certain guidelines.

"The publishers have to be as happy with your product as you are," she said.

At the same time, Fox counsels that authors stand up for their beliefs when dealing with the book market. In her first novel, her heroine was a recovering alcoholic. The editor questioned having that character trait in the main character, but Fox convinced her that the entire book was based on it. There were other details she ended up changing, but she held firm on what became the key to the novel.

Over the years at Club Ed we have noticed a passionate interest in writing among students. Fox believes that is because writing is "closer to thought" than music or art.

"Writing is so personal," she said. "Everything I write involve issues I am dealing with. I think writers are the most vulnerable people in the world, because they want people to know them but don't know how to let people know them."

As a result, she believes the most successful authors are those unafraid to reveal the truth about themselves.

"A great author's book is so gripping because she puts so much of herself in it," she said. "That what makes it fabulous, but it also makes it so risky for the writer."

I have heard the quote that writing is easy - you just sit down and open a vein. Fox would agree.

"Writing," said Fox, "is one of most personal things we do as human beings."


XXX

Club Ed is offering a series of courses on How to Write, Market, and Publish your book in Boerne and Fredericksburg in April. Our Spring 2009 catalog is now online! Visit www.clubed.net to sign up, or call 830-895-4386. Catalogs will be mailed by January 1.

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.