Workshop at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School

Many thanks to Rosemary Zingaro and her class of 24 French teachers enrolled in York University's Faculty of Education FSL Course for Core, Extended, and Immersion teachers. Rosemary invited me to make a presentation to the teachers last Tuesday evening at St. Thomas Aquinas Secondary School, in Brampton.

We all had a great time and the students were very flexible when it turned out we didn't have access to CD players for small group presentations. Everyone agreed to climb into each other's cars to practise. Just imagine several teachers crowded into cars (in the school parking lot) singing along with the CDs.  I'm sure it probably reminded them of their high school days.

I was able to snap a photo of one of the groups making their presentation. Each group of teachers wrote a totally new song which they performed with the help of the 'music accompaniment tracks'. What could have easily turned into a disasterous situation became a night of fun and laughter.

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One group of teachers performing their song.

Thank you once again to everyone involved.

A Weekend Away

Last weekend, Wil and I had the pleasure of driving to Stratford to hear a good friend of mine sing an evening of jazz tunes. It was great. Of course Stratford, home of the "Shakespearean Festival", is always a beautiful place to visit.

My friend, Gail Selkirk, sang at a venue on Ontario Street, known as The Wandering Minstrel. Gail's performance was fabulous. You can hear her for yourself by visiting her site: www.SongBirdofSwing.com.

Gail and I were members of a touring rock band three decades ago. She was an amazing singer then and she is a dynamite singer now.

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The Wandering Minstrel, and Gail Selkirk.

En route, we had a chance to stop in to visit Beth O'Connell at Fundamentals Books and Toys on Albert Street in Stratford. Beth and her husband Gary, carry our titles in their store. I'm glad we had the time to stop in.

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Fundamentals Books and Toys, and Beth O'Connell, the owner.

New and Exciting Things Happening in South Korea

Dae seon Lee wrote to us this week from South Korea and proudly enclosed photos of her class. These kids (ages 4-6) use "Songs and Activities for Early Learners" and "Thematic Songs for Learning Language" to learn English. Here they are performing a song about opposites for their parents during a big festival on July 23rd. Dae seon reports that the kids are using the books to learn to read 'letter sounds' and that the accompanying CDs are helping their pronunciation. What a cute bunch!

Retailer of the Month

Did you know that Canada is the world's second largest country (after Russia)? That's right!

Finding proper distribution for our audio/book kits could seem a daunting task if it weren't for the Chapters/Indigo chain. We celebrate Chapters/Indigo as our "Retailer of the Month".

The Chapters/Indigo chain (of approx. 200 stores) can be found across the country from coast to coast. Click here to see a display of our titles in the local store. If you are searching for one of our titles in a Chapters/Indigo store, it's a smart idea to look up the ISBN of the title you'd like to order. ISBNs make searching for titles a lot easier in "Bookland". Click here to find a Chapters store near you (if you live in Canada)!