We have ignition. We have liftoff. Yahoo!

Wow. Or, if you’re reading this upside down, Mom.

We held the first (and far from last) MHL Workshop on Saturday. This stemmed from discussion on the NDCA listserver about costs and whatnot, and I foolishly jumped in and said, okay, we’ll throw a free one-day institute in the Fall for younger students. Sure. Why not? How hard can it be?

Last spring we quickly laid down a broad outline of modules. Then Kaz and JV and O’C and I sat down one hot summer night at the chez and polished it up. Then O’C went off to get instructors. As the VCA knows, I was a little wary of how long it was taking him to do this, but the man ultimately came through with some spectacular folks who did an amazing job for no other reason than that they’re good people. Cruz will shortly list them over on VBD (which I will call for once by its correct name, so that you know what I’m talking about and you go check it out). He’ll also post some pictures (of course).

We had attendees of every persuasion despite the earliness of the event. (We’ll do it later next year.) There were new coaches, parents, novices, JV, Pfffters, Policians, whatever. The hallways between modules were abuzz with people on their cell phones (and in real life communication) talking about the topics and whatnot. Engagement was full-on. Imagine what that would have been like a couple of weeks later!

I participated in the new coaches’ discussion, answering questions and helping folks out with stuff, and then I did second chair on PF case-writing with CP. He’s got a solid scholarly approach to content, so I took the position of filling up the blank sheet of paper, the one where I tell people I’m an editor so I know about writing. (I don’t tell them I’m a blogger because then they wouldn’t believe the claim that I know about writing.) What I enjoyed most, though, was the last session, brainstorming ModNov with these absolutely raw newbies. Sacre bleu (as no one in France has ever said, other than in the comic book “Scrooge McDuck on the Riviera”)! This was late in the day, and these people wouldn’t shut up! We covered all sorts of stuff at a very broad level, like right and wrong and rights in general and civil rights and what-have-you, and it was exciting. I can’t wait to do it with some Sailors. There is now no doubt in my mind that ModNov was a good idea, and that this was a good topic to choose. School tests, while relevant to students, doesn’t connect to anything. Civil disobedience, on the other hand, connects to everything (especially when half your class is African-American or Indian).

So I’ll start playing with next year’s calendar and get this where it belongs. I’ve already talked to O’C about where he’ll place the Vassar RR.

I can’t wait for September 2010!