Wednesday blog prompt: Sometimes two great things get together and make something even better! Name some things that you think go great together.
1. Hubby and me
2. Hiking boots and backpack
3. Tent and campfire
4. Dresses and heels
5. Toyota Prius and GPS
6. Teachers and students
7. Me and computer
8. Friends and food
9. Diet pepsi and a bathroom nearby
10. Peanut butter and jelly
Thursday blog prompt: Is there someone famous and living today that you find particularly interesting?
This is so easy because yesterday I was fortunate to hear Henry Winkler give our keynote address at the CEC conference. Henry suffers from dyslexia but still graduated from Emerson College and got a graduate degree from Yale University. His speech was extremely motivating and inspiring. Since I am on the board of directors for CEC, we were able to meet with him before the general session for a small reception. I was awestruck and when I went up to introduce myself, I got tongue tied and he immediately hugged me! He met and talked with everyone in the room without acting like it was an imposition. When asked if he would take a picture with the whole board, he readily agreed. In fact, he took control and positioned all of the board members in the right spots, and took a picture with half the board and then the other.
During the keynote address, he even read from book 2 of his Hank Zipzer books. He talked about his school life with his dyslexia and how family and educators dealt with him. It is amazing that he never gave up. He states that he has no idea how he coped and when asked what his “strategy” was, he said he had no strategy except the will to get out of school. He compares himself to a punching bag with sand in the bottom that when punched, it pops back up.
After the general session, there was a president’s reception. Every year the keynote speaker is invited, but they never come to this. Henry Winkler did and talked to everyone as well as voluntarily took a gazillion more pictures. He mingled with everyone there and did not even have an entourage with him. He acted like an everyday person and treated teachers as if we were something he was impressed with meeting. He is the kind of celebrity that didn’t push his celebrity status in your face and seemed truly sincere when talking to you.
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3 comments:
I had your list pegged, lol.
I am so glad you had such a wonderful experience meeting Henry Winkler.
Henry Winkler was the keynote speaker at our Bookwise convention in SLC Utah last October. When he came out on the stage everyone stood up and whistled and cheered for a long time. He was quite overcome and surprised. It sounds like he gave a similar speech at your convention. I loved hearing the story about how he got the part of Fonz and the stories he told about growing up with his parents. He stayed afterward and gave autographs although he didn't have time to make them personal. I was glad I got to be a part of that.
You got hugged by the Fonz?? Lucky girl :) I've seen him interviewed and his really an inspiring story. Thanks for sharing1
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