The Rewards of Teaching

While growing up, I never recall considering teaching as a career.

The first time I remember teaching was long-long ago at the Allegany County Fair in western NY state. I had a booth demonstrating and teaching woodburning. I was nervous as all get-out and shaking like a leaf in a wind storm.

Other than teaching someone on the job, I didn't teach again until joining the family here. When I arrived, my sister Terri was pregnant with DragonBen. She was the teacher at the store, offering classes in rubber stamping. Then DragonBen was born. Instead of putting all classes on hold while she was out on maternity leave, I was asked to step in and begin teaching. I agreed.

That first class in Basic Rubber Stamping was an evening filled with fear and nervousness. This time, people were paying for me to teach them! We all survived and the students were very supportive during my first class. They even returned to take more classes...

These days I am teaching all the time. Terri and I can offer up to 9 or 10 classes each week. We share the load.

One of my new favorite classes to teach is Wire Wrapping Basics. The photo above is one that one of my students made in class. M loves angels and saw an angel in the wire as she was bending and curling it. She was so proud of herself. She actually did not plan to wire wrap anything, she had wanted me to help her make a wire angel. But when she saw the beautiful Sodalite stone, she changed her mind. Last I knew, she wanted to make some more.

That is why I love to teach. Yes, I sometimes still get nervous, especially when I am teaching a new project. But the rewards are worth it.