Monday

Back in Wisconsin!

Last Week on Team 7

Here, There and Everywhere...in Central IL

After leaving St. Louis, I headed back into IL and North on I-55 for Springfield, where I am staying for the rest of the week. I arrived around dinnertime at the Baymont Inn on Toronto Rd., where I turned around and found...a Cracker Barrel Restaurant staring me in the face! All of the sudden, I was hungry...and proceeded to have the some of the best baked chicken I have ever had.

Tuesday I had nothing scheduled, and took the time to just be lazy. I actually hung out in the room most of the day- it was nice to just not do much!

Wednesday it was back in the saddle, with a nice, relaxed day- and my first stop was Waverly High School in Waverly IL. This is a small town with a population of around 1000- my audience at the HS was 118 as I made a presentation of "The Truth of Lies". I then headed back to the hotel for a change of clothes and lunch before heading North and West to Pleasant Plains Middle School. This was a nice drive out into the country (as most of the schools I will be visiting the rest of the week). PPMS is a little bigger with 430 students, but had a great group of 7th graders helping setup, and had some of the girls B-ball team helping takedown. Both of these showings were sponsored by Pepsi. Thanks Pepsi! Afterwords, I went back and enjoyed a quick dinner, some pool time and TV before hitting the sheets.

On Thursday, I headed for Blue Mound IL, pop. 1200 where I was presenting at Meridian Middle School. Blue Mound is about 45 Minutes W/SE of Springfield, and 30 minutes S/SW of Decatur. This school has 255 students, and I had a great group of guys helping me unload and setup, including 2 'veterans' from last year! But the best was yet to come...

Turns out Meridian Middle School has a State Champion! Before we started the assembly, Principal Andy Pygott took a moment to surprise Brock Snarski, who last year won 1st place in state for 7th grade 800 & 1600 meter events. They presented him with a banner that was hung in the gym, as well as road signs to be place at the town limits announcing his accomplishments. It was nest to be a witness to this, and to meet a great young man!

After a great assembly, I asked about restaurants in town and was directed to Linda's Diner, where I had the best Italian Beef I've had in awhile. It was followed up by an Apple Crisp a la mode, upon which I waddled back to the van and headed back to Springfield. All in all, a great day. Tomorrow, I'll finish up with shows in Pleasant Plains again (this time at the High School) and in Pawnee. Then, back home!

St. Louis MO...for the last time?

Prospect Heights and Oak Forest IL

Quad Cities II...Lincoln-Irving Elementary School

Still In The Quad Cities

Silvis, IL and screen cleaning

A Little Catch up...

In Town, Here and There...

Central Community Schools- Manly, IA

I left a little after 7 this morning and drove up US 65 to Manly IA, where I did 2 shows at Central Community Schools. This is an "all-in-one" school with about 280 students in the HS and about 130 in the K-4 grades in the elementary school. I presented both "Friends" and "The Truth of Lies" this morning. Setup went smoothly, due a great group of 5 Freshmen I had helping me. This was another "First Day of School" show...I have a feeling that I will be doing these for a couple of weeks now. :-) Next week, I will be doing local shows all week except for Friday when I'll be out near Freeport for the day.

1st Shows of the Year, A Day at Home, and on to Iowa

Arriving in Troy, and a Krumbly Burger!

Today I finished my journey back towards home (for the week) and arrived in Troy MO, where I will be doing my first assemblies at Troy Middle School tomorrow. I actually got in town early enough that I was able to unload and partially set up, so tomorrow morning will be a little bit more relaxed. This will give me time to play with the new Optoma projectors that I will be using on tour this year.

I probably would have been here sooner, except for 2 things...one, I followed my GPS and two, the "Welcome to Missouri" committee ordered a tremendously refreshing thunderstorms for me to wash the van with! (Just kidding...about the committee, not about the storm). As I was coming up Rt. 47 towards Washington, I was greeted with this picture. What you cannot see is the front stretching for a long ways left to right. It finally broke loose just as I entered Washington- it was a scary fun time going over the Missouri River bridge (which was down to one lane) in a DRIVING storm. And while I don't neccessarily mind taking a nice drive through the heartland of East Central Missouri, I'd rather not do it during a rainstorm. :-)

After getting set up at Troy Middle School, I went over and checked out the Luxury Inn and Suites (formerly Lexington Inn). I was pleasantly surprised, (as my luck with Independent hotels last tour season wasn't been the greatest). It is a VERY nice facility.

After that, I decided to get some dinner and went down to Krumbly Burger. What a unique idea! Take 2, 3 or 4 oz. of ground beef, add some special spices, cook well, then serve it on a bun with whatever addons you want and you have a great and different approach to the ordinary burger. I had a chance to talk for a bit with Matt, who with his wife owns this restaurant...and it was refreshing to talk with a brother in Christ who is trying to do The Right Thing.

Anyway, it's the first Midwest showing of 'The Truth of Lies' at 7:45am. Here's to a great tour season!

On The Road...

The 10th Annual MoPro Premiere...and leaving San Antonio

San Antonio Training- Day 4

LAST DAY!

San Antonio Training-Day 3

TIME TRIALS!

San Antonio Training- Day 2

As we are getting towards the middle of the 2nd week of training, it's really important that everyone feels comfortable with their set of equipment and that everything is in working order. So, today we continued with more setups- All of the new Tour Managers ran through another setup/take down cycle, and after lunch both Brad and myself got an opportunity to do a complete setup of our rigs and test everything out. (Lunch was interesting, as I got my first taste ever of a BIG thing here in this part of the country... Chick-Fil-A! It was delicious...)

Anyway, for the most part I has the same equipment as last year, including my same van, which will start this year with just under 81,000 miles on it. I only had one missing item (microphone) and had to replace one speaker bag and one screen fabric. One of the things I was really concentrating on this year was the fact that I got NEW projectors. And...I mean NEW! I spent the morning unpacking them from their boxes and putting them in road cases and inventoring them. They are one of Optoma's newest models, the TXR776. This is a 4100 lumen unit that can take DVI, S-Video, RGB, Computer AND composite inputs! I am hoping this will help in some of the schools that had situations where we had brightness issues in the rooms.

After an initial run, some pluses- Much brighter, and seemingly over just as sturdy as the Hitachi's I used last year. The minuses- the unit only has one adjustment and alignment option...a single adjustable foot in the front cent of the projector. This means any side-to-side adjustment will have to be done on the stand. The other is that is seems to not have as much of a zoom range as the Hitachi's. We will see how they do Friday night...as my projectors will be the ones used at the New Show Premiere at Journey Fellowship church!

After we finished up for the day, I stopped back at the office to take care of a few things, and got the honor of meeting in person the one and only Joey Knight, who was there for a short while with Chad getting his rig ready to go before taking off back to Kentucky. I then took off back to the hotel, and we proceeded to have Pan-fried Bratwurst, courtesy of yours truly (it was a bit scary, as I had to do something I do not normally do- grilling is my favorite method, but in order to use the hotel gas grill, you have to supply your own gas, I wasn't ready to cough up $20 for a cylinder). It still turned out well though, and then took in some TV and called it a night.

Tomorrow...the new Tour Managers do Time Trials! Should be good...

San Antonio Training-Day 1

Today, the "tour veterans" joined the rest of the new Tour Managers at MoPro training. We started out with the crew assembling for a nice breakfast at the Hawthorne Suites in San Antonio where we are staying, then made our way over the the Motivational Productions office in Garden Springs. After some introductions and an overview of the activities for the week, we went over to Paschal Elementary School in nearby Schertz for some practice setting up equipment by the new guys and checking/ inventoring equipment by the veterans.
Oh, did I mention? This was the 45th CONSECUTIVE day of 100 degree or higher heat they have had so far this summer. I am not complaining anymore about how hot it gets in Chicago!

Then...time for lunch! Our AWESOME office staff rounded up some great fried chicken, then back to the school we went for some more setup work. we finished up about 4pm, and called it a day! Tomorrow, I will be setting and inventorying my equipment, and we'll be looking at some more unusual setup situations.

The day today ended with some grocery shoppinh at the big supermarket here in Texas (HEB) and a great chicken dinner cooked by my suitemate Brad. Ummm good! It will be my turn for dinner tomorrow night- what do you think...pork chops or brats? Leave a response here and let me know...

The New Journey Begins!

Well, the journey for the 2009-2010- school year has begun! My wife and daughter took me to O'Hare Airport this morning for my trip to San Antonio. Unfortunately, I ran afoul of the (new?) rule that requires checked baggage to be taken care of 45 min before flight departure. (Whoops) By the grace of God (and a 4-1/2 hr wait), I was able to get on the next flight at 12:33pm (more on that later) and got to San Antonio without any further incident.

We are staying at the Hawthorne Suites-San Antonio for the week and will be getting into training tomorrow morning. In the meantime, I caught a shower, and settled in for a good nights sleep along with my 2 companions for this trip, who happen to be 2 of my daughter Sarah's Webkinz collection. Selena and Sandy will be keeping an eye on things at the suite while Brad and I are gone. :-)

This promises to be a fun and exciting week as I get back into the MoPro routine. We have a lot of new faces, 2 new shows and a lot of ground to cover. I hope you will enjoy looking "over my shoulder" while I embark on this journey.

A Contract Signed...and a New Tour Year Begins Soon!

Well, things are ramping up again...today I signed my contract for the 2009-10 year with Motivational Productions. I will be in San Antonio by August 3, and Territory 7's first show is August 18th in Missouri! I am getting excited, and looking forward to a new year of reaching kids with a positive message- that Character Counts, and that everyone makes choices...and it is OK to make GOOD ones! We have 2 new shows this year...one is done, and the other is almost 'in the can'. More on those later. In any case...look for daily updates on my travels, and I will be posting some information on how you can follow my travels in another way on the Internet!

What a Year...!

Well, the 2008-09 tour is over. This was my first tour- and I paused for a moment one day...wondering what have I done? Well...

279 shows...
in 170 schools...
in 140 cities.

Driving over 30,000 miles...
talking to over 20,000 students...
using 3 screens...
to deliver 1 message.

Overall it has been a great experience. I have learned a few things...

1. Blogging is a LOT harder than I thought. It takes discipline- almost as much discipline as staying on top of my walk with Christ! :-) I plan on being better as this next year.

2. Sleep is important...and a GOOD thing.

3. Make sure you fill up the gas tank BEFORE you leave Podunk- otherwise it may be a REAL nail-biter to the next town.

As time permits, I will try to post some more pics from this last years tour. Otherwise, before you know it, it will be time for the 2009-2010 tour!

Thanks for watching. :-)

Missouri Tour II, Day 3- Travel from Grain Valley, MO to Anderson, MO

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Missouri Tour II, Day 2- Brunswick R-II School District- Brunswick, MO

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The Missouri Tour II- Day 1...Iowa City, IA to Carrollton, MO

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The Detour...Dodgeville High School/Elementary School- Dodgeville, WI

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The Missouri Tour II Begins! (With a slight detour...)

This week, I begin my 2nd long tour in the "Show Me State"...I will be in Missouri for almost 3 weeks this time, with stops in the Central, Southwest, West, Southeast, and Northeast parts of the state. In other words...I'm gonna be all OVER the place!

But first, we have a bit of unfinished business up in the Dairyland State, Wisconsin. Schools in WI are quite fortunate as there are a number of state agencies that reaaly see the value of what we are doing in these shows. So much so, that I am being brought up into WI several times over the next month to help our Youth Speaker Tech up here cover them all. So today, I found myself crossing the Wisconsin state line on I-90 headed towards Dodgeville, a city of just over 4,000. I'll be presenting shows at the High School in the morning, and the Elementary School in the afternoon.

I love driving in Wisconsin, the topography is varied and diverse...so once you get off the Interstates, there are few dull moments. I found myself going up and down gentle rises, down state routes cut through rock hills, and even catching glimpses of...rainbows? It is not as visible in this photo, but if you look carefully in the center, you will see...well, a piece of a rainbow! I was driving West, the sun was at about 11 o'clock, and there in front of me, hanging in the sky- there it was. Only in Wisconsin- I love it. After about a 3 hour drive, I arrived in Dodgeville, and shortly after, the Super 8 on North Johns Street. I'll be hanging my hat here tonight- and it is a nice place to hang your hat if I do say so (well, the only place...but that's another story). No pool, but a fine whirlpool tub- so if you will excuse me, I am going to relax for a bit in the whirlpool before having my Girl Scout Cookie dessert (yes, they are in and if you ordered some, you'll be getting them soon) and hitting the hay for tonight...later!

Cushing Elementary School- Delafield, WI

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Germantown High School- Germantown, WI

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Lincoln Middle School- Schiller Park, IL

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Emerson Middle School- Niles, IL

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Tuesday school

Monday school

Friday School

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Kansas Unit School District #3- Kansas, IL

I said goodbye to Decatur this morning about 9:30am after spending 3 great days there. If you ever come to the area, be sure to stay at the Ramada Limited & Suites- it is a fantastic facility.

My 1-1/2 hour drive took me to the town of Kansas, IL (pop. 820), a little over an hour SW of Champaign. It is the home of the Kansas Unit School District #3, which is an all-in-one building for the area's K-12th grade. The total student body there is about 200-ish, 91 of which is 7th-12th! While the school may be small physically, they make up for it in spirit.

I had a great team of HS guys that helped me setup...it was a kind of unique setup as we placed the screens on the stage, and had the projectors behind seating chairs on the floor, which meant using the the projector stands fully extended. The result was kind of cool though as it gave the room a (kind of) movie theater-like feel. We showed Attitude of Gratitude to the K-6th graders, and Fearless to the 7th-12th graders. Both were received well, and a lot of thank-you's were received.

A little after 3pm, I was packed up and ready for the trip home. It was a long day, but satisfying. Tomorrow we go to a local show, in Plainfield, IL.

McGaughy Elementary School - Mt. Zion, IL

After a relaxing day off (where I turned the brain off for awhile and did something I don't get to do often, watch mind-numbing amounts of TV) it was time to get back in the groove. My travels today took me to a small community about 25 minutes Southeast of Decatur...Mt. Zion, IL. Admittedly, this was an easy day- 1 school, 1 show and I didn't have to be there until 12 noon! Life is SO hard sometimes. :-)

One of the most notable claims this community has is immediately evident on entering town- the PPG Works 14, a large glass plant that sits on the outskirts of Mt. Zion. The plant is probably a full city block long and then some!

This school was one that got canceled due to the cold and snowy weather that was had in Central IL a few weeks ago, so it was good to get here to finally present Attitude of Gratitude. After checking in at the office, I was met by my 5 squirrely but very eager helpers. Together, we got everything setup in about an hour or so (this was partially due to my having a not so weak headache that was not responding to the dose of Motrin I took before leaving the hotel.)

As I was finishing setup, I was approached by a photographer from the local Mt. Zion paper who wanted to ask a few questions about the show and what Motivational Productions does. Wow! Appearantly they like to heavily cover the school activities in town. I chatted with him for a bit while I finished...I can't wait to see if this results in an article for MoPro!

The show went great, and I got several compliments from staff members...and the kids! I was walking through the main hall from the office after getting a signature, and was having a great time time with the kids as I left...that 'rock star' treatment that you sometimes get- it felft good to get 'thank you's' and high fives from the kids. It's one of the things that makes the job worth it. :-)

Tomorrow, I move on to the last city in this swing through Central Illinois...Kansas (IL). See you then...

A Day Off!

Had a nice day off today...I normally don't get to watch a *lot* of TV, so I kinda vegged in front of the TV while I worked and played games on my laptop. After dinner, I took a swim. It was a nice relaxing day!

Catchup 4

catchup 3

Catchup 2

catchup 2

catchup 1

Snowstorm!

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January 26, 2009- Maryville/Collinsville, IL

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Orleans Junior/Senior High School- Orleans, IN

Paoli Junior/Senior High School- Paoli, IN

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January 21, 2008...Wea Ridge Middle School- Lafayette, IN

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Fortville Elementary School- Fortville, IN

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Watching the making of history...

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McCordsville Elementary School- McCordsville, IN

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Day 2009

No school today...due to the MLK, Jr. holiday. We are in Indianapolis, IN tonight...and will be back on the road tomorrow, in McCordsville and Fortville IN.

"Snow" Days- Mt. Zion/ Kansas, IL

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St. Bede School- Chicago, IL

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Princeville ES/JHS/SHS- Princeville, IN

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Fieldcrest HS/JHS/ES- Minonk, IL

More to come.

Prarie Knolls Middle School- Elgin, IL

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U of I Extension/ "Character College"- Sauk Valley CC, Dixon IL

Prarie Central Upper Elementary School, Forrest IL

After a restful night (and relaxed morning, which you can have when you don't have to be at the school until 11:30am for a 1pm show...) at the Super 8 in Chenoa, IL...we moved on down the road a bit (OK, more like 14 miles, but who's counting?) to Forrest, IL (pop. 1200) to the Prarie Central Upper Elementary School. This school is home to the 5th and 6th grade Prarie Central Hawks.

You gotta love the gyms with the old-time, REAL wood floors- they have character that you just don't find in a lot of the new ones these days (this school was once the Junior HS). , but they were hoping to have it refinshed soon. We were greeted by Principal Paula Crane and a member of their Janitorial staff, who along with my student Road Crew, helped me unload and setup in quck fashion.

Our show today was "Count On Me", which talks about responsibility. The kids seemed to enjoy it, and I think it also impacted them. Afterwards, I had another group of kids help with takedown...and once I had a signature for Principal Crane, moved up North on Rt 47 towards Dixon and the "Character College" being held at Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, IL. On the way, we did stop for a little early dinner at Pete's Restaurant, in Dwight, IL. I had their 1/2 lb. "Wisconsin Burger"...yikes! Homemade burgers with lots of Cheddar cheese. Good food, and good coffee!

Avery Coonley School, Downers Grove IL

You know, even though it's fun and exciting on the road...sometimes it's great to be home. That's what I was thinking as I left home this morning for the Avery Coonley School in Downers Grove IL. Now the construction on I-88 and I-355 is done, getting there was a breeze- in spite of the snow shower that hit while I was making my way down Maple Av. (no pictures of that- BOTH hands were FIRMLY on the steering wheel)...but I digress. :-)

The Avery Coonley School is a private, co-educational school for gifted children in grades K-8. It's secluded setting provides a unique learning experience for for everyone who calls Avery Coonley home. And, the buildings that the school calls home are also on the National Register of Historic Places!

So this was where I found myself on this suddenly snowy morning, offloading through the stage door. Yep, had to deal with a few steps here...but when I got inside, wow was it worth it- what a space! We were showing in the Theatre, which because of it's size would only allow us to do a 2-screen show. This is not normal for us, but we do it when we have to as we don't want to deny anyone the opportunity to experience the impact of our shows. I had 2 great members of the school's Janitorial staff helping me with setup- which we accomplished in under an hour! If I do say so myself, I don't think I have done a better 2-screen setup yet- it looked stunning. And the important thing...our customer agreed. :-)

We did 2 shows...Attitude of Gratitude for the K-4, and Fearless for 5-8. This was the first time I have shown Fearless to 5th graders- we did have considerable discussion about this, and in the end the school staff felt that the kids could handle it...and I think they did.

When I learned about what type of school Avery Coonley was, I was a little unsure about what the kids would be like, and what it would like to be around them. You know what? They're just like any other kids...they just have a higher appitite for learning, that's all. This show was a bit of a challenge- it was a unique setup ,and while I was a little fearful at first...when it came off well it was worth every moment. Of course, things like the little girl who came up to me after the first show and simply said "Thank you, I really enjoyed it!" didn't hurt either. :-) And I had a GREAT takedown crew- a good bunch of guys to work with.

After all was said (and shown) we loaded back up, and I headed for Panera Bread on Butterfield Rd to meet my friend Dan for lunch- nothing like a good bread bowl of Chicken Noodle soup to warm the heart on a cold day. :-)

Next stop...Forrest IL!

Happy New Year!

Well, it's time to start a new year...and with that, a new resolution- to blog, blog, blog! So let's get started...with the first school of the new year...

Today took me to Crown Point, IN- home of Jerry Ross Elementary School. This was a school originally scheduled for earlier in the fall but got moved to...today! The school is named after Col. Jerry Ross, who is a NASA astronaut and a member of a fairly recent Shuttle mission (and I believe a Space Station stay). It is a relatively new school, with a great gymnasium.

I arrived in the area (actually Merrillville) about 10:30am, and with a little time to kill, proceeded to one of my favorite places- Panera Bread on US 30, to get a snack while making a few calls and getting some email out. I headed over to the school about 11:40am, arriving there shortly after 12 noon. I was greeted by principal Jennifer Johannson, who in turn introduced me to my "Road Crew" for the afternoon, which were the 4 members of the Janitorial/Maintenance staff. Wow! With their help, we were set up in about 45 minutes!

The shows went great- as usual, I had the privilege of talking to some great students, and they really enjoyed "Count On Me". We did 2 showings- one for the 2nd and 3rd graders, and one for the 4th and 5th graders. It was really a great way to start the new year!

The drive home was fairly uneventful, except for the fact that I noticed just in time that my gas gauge was a bit south of the last red mark...uh oh! Good thing that there was a trusty Speedway on the way home. :-)

Tomorrow...the Avery Coonley school in Downers Grove- stay tuned...