The Ultimate School Trip: Maine - Part 1

Maine is a beautiful state...great coastline, wonderful people...but compared to Rhode Island, it's HUGE!

I have to get a new mindset in my travels. It takes a lot longer between schools that I thought...especially in a state like Maine. I drove Thursday to Belfast Maine, a town on the coast about 5 hours north. I chose to go to schools in that area first for two reason - better to get the colder and more distant schools before winter and I knew tha area because my best friend who passed away last year had a house there. So I was familiar with the area which I thought would be advantageous.

I stay overnight of course because of the distance and got out early enough on Friday morning...but it took such a long time between schools that I only ended up visiting a fraction of the ones I had planned on. But the ones I visited were good visits as all my visits to date have been and I'm grateful for that.

I have to also remember to note the time frame of my visits. Friday was the beginning of the Columbus Day weekend, a big weekend for people visiting Northern New England. That meant extra construction work on Thursday, and heavy traffic coming home on Friday. It wasn't as bad as the traffic going north to be sure which was bumper to bumper for easily 40 miles but it was nothing like the trips I remember coming home from Maine all the years visiting with my best friend.

But I have to also give myself a bit of a break. I'm new to this. I'm not a seasoned sales person, not used to driving almost 1000 miles in 3 days, not used to this new kind of planning. But every trip teaches me something new, something that I need to modify. Every trip brings beautiful scenery at some point, a chance to see our amazing country and a chance that maybe one more school will be able to benefit from a program that can really help them.

This coming week has only 4 possible travel days with Monday being a holiday and Tuesday being a day filled with meetings. I see a bit more of Massachusetts on the horizon...and maybe back to Maine the following week...if I can see 10 schools a week, that's 500 schools a year...if I can double that...well, let me just make it to 10 schools a week for now...

The Rest of the Cape

Back on the road again but not as early as I would have liked. This is taking much longer than I thought...the searching for the schools and their principals, the directions, the actual travel between schools. I have to streamline this procedure. It's already a daunting task - to visit the high schools of America. But the more schools I see, the better the chance that I can help change the lives of teachers and teens for the better. I'm hoping the principals of the schools I do make it to tell their fellow principal friends...

So what changes do I need to make?
*I need to stop revising everything I'm giving out. I'm only going to revise if I learn something that tells me that what I have needs tweaking. I'm printing in relatively small quantities from home so I can make changes as needed.
*I need to get the candy bags together sooner and keep them in a big box in the trunk. Same with the outside of the bags. I can combine them with the letter to the principal last minute which makes storage much easier.
* I need to get a GPS. I'm good at directions...in fact, it's one of the things I'm best at. But I'm wasting valuable time looking up the directions to each school...time that could be spent on the rest of what I'm doing with my life...web design (which will pay the bills for now) and of course regular life.
* I need to leave much earlier. As much as I don't miss getting up early like I did when I was teaching, I either need to be on the road by 7 from home or stay overnight in the area i'm trying to reach so I can be on the road by 7 there.

So I'm done for the day because high schools close early but I did make it to Falmouth HS, Mashpee HS, Rochester Regional High School in Mattapoisett, Dartmouth High School and one other.

I haven't decided where I'll go tomorrow...it's either middle Maine (near where my friend Annie has a house) or western Mass. Better to do far away now while the weather is still good...and the foliage is beautiful!

Another day on the road

A beautiful day on Cape Cod!

Today I got to deliver all the packets that I had not given out last week. This time I had all the necessary parts and knowing exactly where the schools were really helped!

I have to admit I was nervous last week but this week was a lot easier. All of the office staff who greeted me were very pleased to be receiving something positive. I know many of the people who come visiting the front office are not there with good news!

I basically tell them I'm visiting high schools to "make their day" and that I want to thank them for all they do to educate our students. The office staff are pleased that I thought of them and most seem a bit amused when I turn the bag around and they see the little 'magic wand' attached to the bag.

Hopefully someone on the staff will take the time to check out the web site and take advantage of at least the free things I've offered - a newsletter for educators and free download of the book my students wrote. And ultimately, I hope they offer the Strategies of Success course I wrote next year.


All in all a good day! How could it not? Beautiful scenery, a gorgeous late summer day (although officially it's autumn), a chance to visit 5 high schools (Chatham, Harwich, Dennis-Yarmouth, Barnstable...and one more which I can't remember right now). I ran out of bags and time to visit the 3 I have left on the Cape proper - Falmouth, Bourne and Mashpee. I'll catch them on the next visit which will take in Plymouth and whatever other schools I can put together in Eastern Massachusetts!

This sure is fun! Good Fairy...over and out!

Day one...not as I expected but a beginning nonetheless

Well I was on the road by 8 am as planned. I headed out towards Provincetown, the point the furthest east in this part of the country (I think Maine is further east in general). It was a lot farther away than I thought but it was a beautiful ride.

I promised myself that I wouldn't miss any scenic stops on my journeys because who knew when I'd be in the area again. I saw a sign for the Nauset Light House so being a water aficionado, I had to check it out. I ended up on a back road which I thought was going nowhere. Instead, it not only went to the lighthouse and beach, it passed right by Nauset High School, which I had labeled the second stop on my list. Am I meant to take this journey or what?

So they became my first visit and what a good one it was! The secretary was very pleased to receive the 'goodies' I had for her and welcomed me warmly. I think her name was Wendy. She was delightful though and understood the nervousness I felt as this was the true beginning. I'm feeling very encouraged.

I did make it to Provincetown which I hadn't been to in years (the last time was when I was sharing weekly flying expeditions with my flying buddy Johannes). I found the school but when I went to the door, I couldn't get in. I knocked, looked for a buzzer...nothing. No cars, no visible people. I'm not sure what was going on today but I couldn't find a way in. I know how security has changed at shcools so I've got to keep that in mind as I visit. So I'll mail them the packet. Too far to go back.

The rest of the schools I just scouted out. When I got to Chatham, I had to see the coast near the famed light house. I was looking through a sample bag again and realized that I had omitted one item. Thought it would be better to have everything complete than to give them a packet with something obviouly missing. Need to get a better system in place...that's the lesson to be learned here.

All in all, a positive day though. I'll be back to them next Wednesday. Between now and then, I'll drop a few more off at local schools. Need to set myself a goal per week...in between all the other projects I'm working on.

Over and out...day one done!