Robert Kennedy, Richard Nixon, Walter Mondale, Sargent Shriver, Nelson Rockefeller, Babe Winkelman, Andre Kirkwood and Liz Collin all share something in common. Do you know what it is?
If you grew up or live in or near Worthington, Minnesota, you might know they are some of the people who gave the keynote speech at Worthington's annual King Turkey Day celebration.
This Saturday, I get to add my name to the list! I will let you know how it goes in a post next week. And to think some people believe you cannot go home. I am going to do it twice in three days. Besides going to Worthington, I will be going home to Edgerton, Minnesota tomorrow.
Here is the link to the Worthington Daily Globe's article from today's paper: Just click here.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Showing posts with label keynote speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label keynote speaker. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Friday, August 31, 2012
I Have Started Another School Year
I got my 2012-2013 school year off to a wonderful start yesterday with a standing ovation after my staff development workshop for a great school district in Antigo, Wisconsin; so I guess they liked my presentation!
If you do not know where Antigo is, it is a nice little community of about 8,000 people in central Wisconsin located about a half hour north and east of Wausau. Everyone knows where Wausau is, right?
Geographically, they are a pretty large district where middle and high school students could live in homes as far as fifty miles apart! So, busing is a major issue for a district with about twenty-three hundred K-12 students. I spoke with their entire staff of about four hundred people. And there was only one Green Bay Packer uniform in the bunch!
I had fun teasing teachers about things like the physical education teachers not having a real job because all they do is play to getting a kindergarten teacher to stop giggling. I communicated several times before my visit with their Human Resources Director, Sarah Zelazoski about their specific objectives for my workshop and put together a fouteen-page handout together to meet those objectives. She told me afterwards my presentation was just what they needed. In fact, she said one teacher told her it was exactly what he needed to get him excited about the upcoming year!
Sarah also told me several teachers were already commenting on arranging to have me come back and spend a day with their secondary students! I love hearing stories like that.
My attendant, Kelly, and I got to eat a great lunch at Dixie's, a cool, little cafe which are my favorite eating places when I visit small towns. While we were there, a woman I met back in the middle nineties at the Wisconsin Teen Leadership Program (WTLP) came down for a quick visit before she went to pick up her seven-year-old son to bring him to my afternoon session for their athletes, coaches and several members of the community.
Please do not get me wrong, I loved my day with the staff in the morning, and teasing several football players in my afternoon session. We did a lot of laughing and hope they learned some things. I was in my element and feeding off the energy of my audience, like I always do; but the highlight of my trip was seeing my friend and getting to catch up a bit, Mary Meister, and meeting her son, Jacob! He was all excited because immediately after my presentation they were headed for his very first Packer game! Mary said he told her he would start to read his new, autographed book to his uncles and mom on their way to the game. That was cool!
Let me tell you why Mary made my day. The year after she attended WTLP as a participant, she came back as a counselor and did so for several years. At the same time, another Antigo student, Tara Wagner, was also attending our leadership program. We had great conversations at each camp and became great friends with these two wonderful young leaders.
We became such good friends, they both invited me to their weddings! An interesting note on that is, I was the only adult from those programs they invited. We formed a connection.
I love making or having longtime friends, not seeing them for a while and then when given the opportunity, reconnecting and picking up where we left off. That happened with Mary yesterday. We could have talked all afternoon.
After a two hundred forty mile drive home, I had a confirmation email for another school in Edgerton, Minnesota, where we lived from 1963 to 1966. I am going to visit the school, and the local paper is writing about my Edgerton history, memories and specifics about our time there. It will be published September fifth and have been given permission to put it in the Articles page on my website. I have read a draft and it promises to be a good article.
Yesterday was a Red Letter Day!
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
If you do not know where Antigo is, it is a nice little community of about 8,000 people in central Wisconsin located about a half hour north and east of Wausau. Everyone knows where Wausau is, right?
Geographically, they are a pretty large district where middle and high school students could live in homes as far as fifty miles apart! So, busing is a major issue for a district with about twenty-three hundred K-12 students. I spoke with their entire staff of about four hundred people. And there was only one Green Bay Packer uniform in the bunch!
I had fun teasing teachers about things like the physical education teachers not having a real job because all they do is play to getting a kindergarten teacher to stop giggling. I communicated several times before my visit with their Human Resources Director, Sarah Zelazoski about their specific objectives for my workshop and put together a fouteen-page handout together to meet those objectives. She told me afterwards my presentation was just what they needed. In fact, she said one teacher told her it was exactly what he needed to get him excited about the upcoming year!
Sarah also told me several teachers were already commenting on arranging to have me come back and spend a day with their secondary students! I love hearing stories like that.
My attendant, Kelly, and I got to eat a great lunch at Dixie's, a cool, little cafe which are my favorite eating places when I visit small towns. While we were there, a woman I met back in the middle nineties at the Wisconsin Teen Leadership Program (WTLP) came down for a quick visit before she went to pick up her seven-year-old son to bring him to my afternoon session for their athletes, coaches and several members of the community.
Please do not get me wrong, I loved my day with the staff in the morning, and teasing several football players in my afternoon session. We did a lot of laughing and hope they learned some things. I was in my element and feeding off the energy of my audience, like I always do; but the highlight of my trip was seeing my friend and getting to catch up a bit, Mary Meister, and meeting her son, Jacob! He was all excited because immediately after my presentation they were headed for his very first Packer game! Mary said he told her he would start to read his new, autographed book to his uncles and mom on their way to the game. That was cool!
Let me tell you why Mary made my day. The year after she attended WTLP as a participant, she came back as a counselor and did so for several years. At the same time, another Antigo student, Tara Wagner, was also attending our leadership program. We had great conversations at each camp and became great friends with these two wonderful young leaders.
We became such good friends, they both invited me to their weddings! An interesting note on that is, I was the only adult from those programs they invited. We formed a connection.
I love making or having longtime friends, not seeing them for a while and then when given the opportunity, reconnecting and picking up where we left off. That happened with Mary yesterday. We could have talked all afternoon.
After a two hundred forty mile drive home, I had a confirmation email for another school in Edgerton, Minnesota, where we lived from 1963 to 1966. I am going to visit the school, and the local paper is writing about my Edgerton history, memories and specifics about our time there. It will be published September fifth and have been given permission to put it in the Articles page on my website. I have read a draft and it promises to be a good article.
Yesterday was a Red Letter Day!
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Look Ma, No Hands!
In 1975, Bonnie Consolo won an Academy Award nomination for the documentary film A Day in the Life of Bonnie Consolo. I remember seeing it and being amazed at all the things she did without arms. She was truly amazing!
I was a newbie then at only four years post injury, and to watch this woman, drive a car, cut her boys hair, prepare the family dinner and do many other things with her feet was a real eye-opener for me! You can learn more about Bonnie's life and her accomplishments by clicking here. Bonnie passed away in 2005 at the age of 67. Naturally, she was a motivational speaker.
Now, we have another incredible young woman who is making a name for herself who, like Bonnie, was born with no arms. Young Jessica Cox has done Bonnie one better and has become a licensed pilot. Yes, she is the only licensed pilot in the United States who has no arms!
Check out this video from Inside Edition from about a year ago:
What do you suppose is her chosen career? You got it, another keynote speaker! Surprised? Neither am I. You can learn more about Jessica by clicking here. She is another example of a motivated young person making great strides to make the world a better place. I am sure we will hear a lot about her for many years to come. I wish her well.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
I was a newbie then at only four years post injury, and to watch this woman, drive a car, cut her boys hair, prepare the family dinner and do many other things with her feet was a real eye-opener for me! You can learn more about Bonnie's life and her accomplishments by clicking here. Bonnie passed away in 2005 at the age of 67. Naturally, she was a motivational speaker.
Now, we have another incredible young woman who is making a name for herself who, like Bonnie, was born with no arms. Young Jessica Cox has done Bonnie one better and has become a licensed pilot. Yes, she is the only licensed pilot in the United States who has no arms!
Check out this video from Inside Edition from about a year ago:
What do you suppose is her chosen career? You got it, another keynote speaker! Surprised? Neither am I. You can learn more about Jessica by clicking here. She is another example of a motivated young person making great strides to make the world a better place. I am sure we will hear a lot about her for many years to come. I wish her well.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Saturday, November 21, 2009
It's Up Time America!
Once again, my post just fell in my lap. A friend sent me this video the other day of keynote speaker Kimberly Alyn. It is a three-minute, high-energy flurry of her ideas of what we ought to be doing to make a difference in the world today. She makes a great point about personal responsibility and we are the ones in charge of our own destiny.
I find her energy contagious! If you like the video, you can learn more about her at her two websites by clicking here and here. Her other videos are full of good material as well. But, in my mind, they do not compare to this:
What do you think? Is she right? I think she hits it out of the park! Do you find yourself in any one of her "Up Time" situations? I certainly do. I believe we can all learn from her quick, little lesson.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
I find her energy contagious! If you like the video, you can learn more about her at her two websites by clicking here and here. Her other videos are full of good material as well. But, in my mind, they do not compare to this:
What do you think? Is she right? I think she hits it out of the park! Do you find yourself in any one of her "Up Time" situations? I certainly do. I believe we can all learn from her quick, little lesson.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Friday, November 28, 2008
The Problem Isn't The Issue ...
If you've ever heard me speak, you've heard me say, "The problem isn't the issue. The issue is how you deal with the problem." Well, I want to introduce you to a young man who is the living embodiment of that quote. His name is Nick Vujicic, and he is from Melbourne, Australia.
Nick is twenty-five and building a very successful speaking business. He travels the globe speaking to groups of all ages. One theme is his very strong Christian faith. From the looks of his schedule, he's really racking up the frequent flyer miles. You can check out more about him by going to one or both of his websites here:
Life Without Limbs
or
Attitude is Altitude
There's one more thing, he was born without arms or legs. A couple friends sent me a video of him recently, and when I went to play it today, it had been pulled off YouTube for some copyright infringement. No problem, I know how to Google! There are dozens of videos on Nick and I'd like to share this one with you. Enjoy, and be prepared to get inspired!
In this season of giving thanks, I hope Nick's story gives you pause to think about the reasons you have to be thankful.
Comments are always welcome.
Later,
Mike
Nick is twenty-five and building a very successful speaking business. He travels the globe speaking to groups of all ages. One theme is his very strong Christian faith. From the looks of his schedule, he's really racking up the frequent flyer miles. You can check out more about him by going to one or both of his websites here:
Life Without Limbs
or
Attitude is Altitude
There's one more thing, he was born without arms or legs. A couple friends sent me a video of him recently, and when I went to play it today, it had been pulled off YouTube for some copyright infringement. No problem, I know how to Google! There are dozens of videos on Nick and I'd like to share this one with you. Enjoy, and be prepared to get inspired!
In this season of giving thanks, I hope Nick's story gives you pause to think about the reasons you have to be thankful.
Comments are always welcome.
Later,
Mike
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
You Need To See This
Imagine you are standing on a small stage in the middle of an arena filled with over 20,000 teachers, staff and administrators, and you are the keynote speaker for the back-to-school convocation of the Dallas Independent School District. How do you feel? Oh, and there's one more thing, you are ten years old!
Your name is Dalton Sherman and this is what you said:
A friend sent me this video the other day and didn't suggest I post this, he said, "You have to post this."
He was right. This precocious young boy gave me shivers up my spine, and that's hard to do because I'm paralyzed! I certainly couldn't have done this at ten. I couldn't do this today!
He has a gift and I hope he is nurtured and taught well to enhance his gift so he reaches his fullest potential. In my opinion, he has a tremendous future as a professional speaker. I wish him well, and I plan to follow him as best I can. With YouTube, that should be fairly easy.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
Your name is Dalton Sherman and this is what you said:
A friend sent me this video the other day and didn't suggest I post this, he said, "You have to post this."
He was right. This precocious young boy gave me shivers up my spine, and that's hard to do because I'm paralyzed! I certainly couldn't have done this at ten. I couldn't do this today!
He has a gift and I hope he is nurtured and taught well to enhance his gift so he reaches his fullest potential. In my opinion, he has a tremendous future as a professional speaker. I wish him well, and I plan to follow him as best I can. With YouTube, that should be fairly easy.
I look forward to your comments.
Later,
Mike
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