Adam in El Salvador Update

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted an update about my son Adam working as a Peace Corp Volunteer in El Salvador. What an amazing, eye opening and enriching experience for a young person to work in the trenches of a third world country. Based on his e-mails and photos it seems he’s found a niche and is enjoying and embracing the challenges of working in a very rural (non English speaking) environment. The following is an excerpt (with some photos) from his last e-mail update to his friends and family.

Adam Making Labels for the Homemade Shampoo

“It has been great here lately I’ve been getting involved in several different activities and my schedule stays full which is great. I’m teaching two English classes a week, one for teachers and one for ninth graders. I’m also teaching a health and life planning class for the 8th grade, but right now that is being put on hold till the 10th because school is closed b/c of the swine flue scare.

We are in the process of raising money to buy some discount computers right now and that has been a good time. we are also making homemade shampoo to sell in town and are planning on having a fair day with a bake sale and activities to raise money too. I’m also working with the mayor to form a new representative counsel in my town and we are looking forward to starting a trash and recycling project to clean up the area. I haven’t been traveling much, but I did catch some surf not too long ago which was a great break and I’m looking forward to getting back once I get some more free time.

Adam's New House in El Salvador

I also just moved into a new house, all mine, its nice to have a little room and feel comfortable around the house. It was nice living with a family but I needed my own place.”

All I can say is you GO Adam! I am really proud of him and the work he is doing.  What a life changing experience – one that I believe will benifit him for the rest of his life. I am looking forward to visiting him in El Salvador this coming Fall. The country looks absolutely beautiful and I can’t wait to do some traveling in that region with my camera in hand.

Road to the River - El Salvador Landscape

Post-Conference Thoughts, Rethinking Education

Journal Entry from July 24th 

Sitting in my hotel room with my bags packed and ready to head back to North Carolina, I have a few minutes to digest the varied issues that were addressed at this Noel-Levitz conference that dramatically impact and effect educational institutions from every state in the country.

The number one issue is the economic downturn and how it’s impacting educational institutions throughout America. I walk away from the conference more positive about this challenge than negative because of the way conference presenter’s framed it and turned it around to be an opportunity for positive change and growth rather than an insurmountable hurdle.

I also feel good about the presentation Title III Project Director Don Staub and I gave the first morning of the conference. We had very positive feedback and participation from our audience. Sharing the strides we’ve made at Carteret Community College made me realize that our efforts are paying off and the grant has been a catalyst for changing the culture of the college for the better when it comes to technology, distance learning, outcomes and assessment of all we do.

Considering I was out of my element at a conference that concerned marketing and retention rather than distance learning, I was pleasantly surprised at the excellent quality of the presentations and how I learned no matter what area of education your in, whether that be faculty, staff and/or administration we are all facing the same challenges and grappling with rapidly changing instructional delivery technologies and student demographics that no longer fit the mold we as educators created decades ago.

One thing is certain. We can no longer conduct business the same way with the same outdated models. We have to be willing to completely and totally rethink how we offer our instructional services to our students. These are students that are very VERY different than the students that attended our colleges 10, 15, 20 years ago. They communicate differently, socialize differently, learn differently and think about their education and careers very differently, and this reality in itself demands that we rethink how we serve and teach them.

I for one am excited about the challenges ahead, however as I consider some strategies for overcoming these hurdles I think about the bureaucratic road blocks and archaic mindsets we must break through in order to seriously compete and grow in this ever changing, dynamic global economy, where students shop for the best services and colleges online and no longer have to attend the institution in their geographical region thanks to online education. That seems to be one of our biggest challenges as educational institutions. To change the culture and attitudes about education and how we conduct business – because it is no longer business as usual.

Many colleges still use the outdated and archaic industrial revolution model to teach their students. This approach for the most part is no longer viable and one of the first things we must take a good hard look at when rethinking how we operate and deliver instruction. We should also take a hard look at the nine to five, Monday – Friday work week. Is this still viable? I walk away from this conference realizing that absolutely everything we do should be on the table for reevaluation. There should be no sacred cows during this process of self examination.

We have an excellent opportunity to rethink how we operate, streamline, and begin retooling all aspects of our college services and instructional modalities. Unfortunately instructional technologies (and our students) are changing at a must faster rate than we can change so their must be a sense of urgency about our ability to compete and remain viable in this dynamically digital and wired world we find ourselves in.

We should be soul searching and asking ourselves some questions. How are we communicating to our students? How are we marketing to them? How are we delivering our services to them? Do we go to them or expect them to come to us. Is our web site visually dynamic and interactive? Are we exploring the potential of social networks as a way to be more proactive in meeting our students needs? There are many questions to ask and we may not have all the answers and solutions right away, BUT if we don’t start seriously asking these questions at our institutions we are going to (in the not to distant future) find ourselves losing touch with the very market that sustains us.

Greetings from San Antonio, Noel-Levitz Conference

I made it to San Antonio, Texas last night after flying in and around thunderstorms. We experienced turbulence for most of the flight and I for one was very happy when the plane touch ground. I’m here at the Noel -Levitz Conference to give a presentation on how our Title III grant has been a catalyst for the great strides and Distance Learning has made at Carteret Community College, especially in professional development and online course methods. We’ve come a long way both technologically and in our online teaching methods in just a few short years thanks to the funding we received from the grant.

I went out to dinner at a great Mexican restaurant with my colleagues from CCC last night. It is nice when you can mix a little pleasure with business. That is what this trip is for me. There are some excellent workshops and presentations on student retention strategies as well as marketing and innovative ways to help our students succeed. I’ve been teaching for 25+ years. Things have changed radically during my career with the Community College System of North Carolina. To think I do a majority of my teaching online is mind boggling in itself. The communications tools at our disposal are very powerful and if used effectively enable me to connect with my students like never before. Its a two way street though. Even though many of our students (mostly younger demographic) are technologically savvy, we as online educators must not assume they will succeed as students in the online environment. As I’ve preached in many of my distance learning workshops; teaching online demands a very different approach (pedagogy) than working in the traditional classroom setting.

You can’t just transfer your classroom teaching style to the online environment and expect to be successful. Even though things have changed dramatically in education over past 25 years, some things will always remain relatively the same. Being able to effectively engage, communicate and connect with students, no matter what the environment or location is critical to our success as teachers and the success of our students. How can we expect to retain our students in our High Schools and Colleges if we can’t engage them? If we can’t motivate them? If we can’t challenge them? If we can’t excite them about learning and hold their attention. Educators must embrace and become proficient in all kinds of new technologies if they are going to remain viable in the digital age. Not only do we have to learn new skill sets in order to reach out and connect with our students, whether that be online or a combination of online and in the classroom – we also must channel our passion, enthusiasm and knowledge of our subject areas through various communication tools (platforms) like Blackboard, Moodle, Skype, Dim Dim, and Instant Messaging.

This to me is the real challenge for educators. We can no longer view technology as something to be feared, but as new dynamic tools to be embraced and harnessed to enable us to do what we do best and that is teach students. Engage our students, challenge our students and prepare our students to succeed in the highly competitive global marketplace. These are both exciting and challenging times for educators and college administrators. With budgets being slashed its time to truly rethink how we teach our students. I believe the online environment is the new frontier in education and we have only scratched the surface as to the potential of reaching (and teaching) students via the internet.

Ok…gotta go and give my talk – its all on my T3 Blog.

Andei’s got Wheels, Ireland Book Update and Taking Pictures

The past few weeks have been fun, a little hectic as well as productive.  I’m really enjoying summer due to my reduced teaching load.  I’ve been able work on some personal projects like getting my Ireland book designed and published. It came in the mail yesterday and I must say I’m very pleased with it. Just click the book icon in the post below and you can check it out at Blub.com.

Andei’s been working hard at her hostess job at Ruddy Duck’s restaurant.  Since she doesn’t have a drivers license yet I went ahead and bought her a cool Yamaha scooter to get back and forth to work on.  She loves it and and I must say looks very cute buzzing around wearing her pink helmet.

We’ve also gone shooting a few times the past few weeks which is always fun for me.  She had an assignment in her travel photography class to take photos with a 4th of July theme so we went out and photographed shop windows with lots of red, white and blue outfits, flags and Americana.

I’ve also been teaching her how to use a 4×5 view camera.  I could tell she enjoyed it and will want me to take her out to shoot with it again. I am amazed and pleased that she is so passionate about photography.

We are going to go the photo lab and develop the film this afternoon.  This is a shot she took of me with the view camera – I grabbed a digital version of it as she was composing it.

This summer semester is about wrapped up. I’m heading to San Antonio, Texas to give a Distance Learning presentation at a Title III conference next week.  Summer semester ends the week I return and then its time to start getting prepared for Fall o9.  Summer’s go by way to quickly. The older I get the faster they zoom by – just like the years.

Andei with View Camera

So far its been a great summer.  Getting to spend time with Andei has been extra special – especially when we can do some creative things like photography together.  Art Camp is the first week in August.  This will be the first Art Camp my daughter will actually be assisting me in teaching the children photography instead of attending the camp as a participant which she did for so many years.

Here are a few more images I took while just hanging out in the back yard – usually sipping on a beer and/or smoking a fine cigar.

Plastic Chair in Late Afternoon Light

My Favorite Spot in My Backyard

Chair detail and weed on shed

“Anything that excites me for any reason, I will photograph; not searching for unusual subject matter, but making the commonplace unusual. “
Edward Weston

Ireland Travel Photo Journal Published on Blurb!

Click on the Book Icon below (or Blurb Logo) to check out my latest Photo Book – you can also preview the first 16 pages by clicking on the actual book when you get to the Blurb web site – just click PREVIEW.   Enjoy!  This book was a labor of love.  Next one will be an Ireland Photographic Portfolio featuring my favorite (best) Ireland photos taken during 6 visits to the Emerald Isle since 1998.

A Photographic…

A Father / Daughte…

By Patrick Keough & A…

Book Preview

Relinquish Control

As much as true Americans want to make a difference and fix the problems of this crazy mixed up world (and our beloved country) we must all remember to keep things in proper perspective.  It’s important to make an effort to enjoy this short time God has given us here on earth. Enjoy your family, friends, and the blessings our creator has bestowed on us.

This revelation came to me while sitting in church today for a funeral of  friend and colleague who died on July 4th.  She was two years younger than me.  I won’t go into detail to reveal who she is, although I will say the church was standing room only and it was very evident that this very special woman touched many people during her life’s journey.

Even though many of us believe our country is going down the wrong road we must always remember that GOD is in CONTROL and this in itself gives me HOPE and peace of mind.

I spoke with my son Adam today who’s in the Peace Corp stationed in El Salvador and was relieved to hear he’s recovered from the parasites that invaded his body and made him deathly ill these past few weeks.

Yes…God is good! My daughter Andei is living with me now and I can’t put into words how special that is for me at this point in my life. My entire life right now is centered around family.

So even though it seems our great country is in chaos and turmoil we must all remember that God has the last say in what happens to each one of us, our nation and the world.

Make an effort to LET go and let GOD. When all the dust settles his divine plan will prevail and all will be sorted out.

We must ask ourselves HOW we are living our lives between the dash. I for one have some serious work to do – how about YOU?

MC July 4th Tea Party – The People are Coming!

“All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent. “ Thomas Jefferson

I just returned from the second Morehead City Tea Party Patriots rally. The first was on Tax Day, April 15th.  This event was only an hour long, but it was good to see so many concerned citizens making their voices of discontent heard.  Today is suppose to be an opportunity for all Americans to celebrate our precious freedoms and heritage in this great country of ours and many people around the nation are doing just that.  There are also many people who are very worried and concerned about the socialistic direction we are going in as a country.  I won’t go into that in depth here…I’ve stated my feelings about Obama’s road to socialism, the Cap and Trade nightmare, government take over of private industry and the redistribution of wealth going on in this county.  It’s time everyday Americans from all walks of life take a stand and that is what these Tea Party Protests are all about.  People are starting to wake up and see what the hell is really going on both at the state level and in Washington and they are angry.  I believe you are going to see a giant grassroots tsunami rise up in this country in the coming months.  Most Americans DON’T want socialism, don’t want government taking over American corporations,  don’t want amnesty for illegal immigrants, don’t want wasteful spending and stimulus bill after stimulus bill and they don’t want socialized health care.

Yes…I believe the “regular” hard working people are going to take their country back and elect people who are like minded.  Here are some photos I took at the rally.  Have a great and safe 4th of July and remember we still have a voice in this country, we still have the right to peacefully gather and protest and we MUST educate ourselves to the issues at hand and make our voices heard load and clear no matter how you do it.  Blog it! Send e-mails to your representatives, call them, support organizations like Americans for Prosperity.

You and I can make a difference!

God Bless America! (Yes…I know – not very politically correct here)

“A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned – this is the sum of good government.“ Thomas Jefferson

Morehead City Tea Party Protest Photos

Here are some web sites to help you learn more about these important issues.

Heritage Foundation

Americans for Tax Reform

Civitas Institute

Morehead City Tea Party Web Site

4TH OF JULY

Have you ever wondered what happened to the 56 men who signed
the Declaration of Independence ?

Five signers were captured by the British as traitors, and
tortured before they died.

Twelve had their homes ransacked and burned. Two lost their sons
serving in the Revolutionary Army; another had two sons captured.

Nine of the 56 fought and died from wounds or hardships of the
Revolutionary War.

They signed and they pledged their lives, their fortunes, and their
sacred honor.

What kind of men were they?
Twenty-four were lawyers and jurists.. Eleven were merchants,
nine were farmers and large plantation owners; men of means, well
educated, but they signed the Declaration of Independence knowing full well
that the penalty would be death if they were captured.

Carter Braxton of Virginia, a wealthy planter and trader, saw
his Ships swept from the seas by the British Navy. He sold his home and
properties to pay his debts, and died in rags.

Thomas McKeam was so hounded by the British that he was forced to move
his family almost constantly. He served in the Congress without pay,
and his family was kept in hiding. His possessions were taken from
him, and poverty was his reward.

Vandals or soldiers looted the properties of Dillery, Hall, Clymer,
Walton, Gwinnett, Heyward, Ruttledge, and Middleton..

At the battle of Yorktown , Thomas Nelson, Jr., noted that the British
General Cornwallis had taken over the Nelson home for his
headquarters.
He quietly urged General George Washington to open fire. The
home was destroyed, and Nelson died bankrupt.

Francis Lewis had his home and properties destroyed. The enemy
jailed his wife, and she died within a few months.

John Hart was driven from his wife’s bedside as she was dying. Their
13 children fled for their lives. His fields and his gristmill were laid to waste.

For more than a year he lived in forests and caves, returning home to
find his wife dead and his children vanished.

Some of us take these liberties so much for granted, but we shouldn’t.

So, take a few minutes while enjoying your 4th of July holiday
and silently thank these patriots.

It’s not much to ask for the price they paid.
Remember: freedom is never free!

It’s time we get the word out that patriotism is NOT a sin, and the

Fourth of July has more to it than beer, picnics, and baseball.

July 4th Freedom Rally – Freedom isn’t Free!

The Morehead Tea Party Patriots will be holding a Re-Declare Your Independence rally on Saturday, July 4 from 8AM to 9 AM in front of Carteret Community College. The rally is a continuation of the movement which held its most recent rally on Tax Day at the Parkway Shopping Center.

Read more about it here at the Morehead Tea Part Blog

This great country of ours is in serious trouble thanks to the radical leftists and spineless Republicans in Washington. We are on a fast track towards Socialism and dismantling everything that’s made America great over the past 200+ years.

We must do what we can to let our voices of opposition be heard no matter how small or seemingly insignificant.  Come out and show your support for America, Freedom, our Troops and discontent over the radical socialistic policies being implemented in Washington.

Cap and Trade,  Government bail outs to industry, Demise of capitalism, Socialized health care, same sex marraige…..what’s next??? Prison camps for those who don’t buy in to the Obama Socialistic agenda for America??? Blink and it can happen before you know it. Our tax dollars pay these radical polititians to literally destroy the moral fabric (and economy) of this great nation.  Now that’s insanity. See you at the rally!