Hello Friends,

In this edition of WinkWorld, I am sharing a peek in a very busy August, with trips to Dripping Springs TX and the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Dawn shares a memorable moment in Pine Ridge. Lisa shares more of Austin's Baby Signs. We conclude with the continuing saga of searching for water on the prairies. If you are a new reader this month, the first part of this story can be found at : Baby Signs

Zoomerang
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Dripping Springs ISD TX
Dawn and I did the keynote for the opening convocation; we learned that 2 people doing 1 keynote for 500 people involves lots of careful coordination. We stayed at the spectacularly gorgeous Cabin on Barton Creek near the Hill Country. We were amazed and thrilled to learn of the various summer camps that Richard and Susan Stark operate for children. The overview of our presentation, Passionate Pedagogy or Poison Pedagogy, is available at http://www.joanwink.com/sched.php. The essence of the presentation, 100 Years in a 1000 Words, is available at the same link. This is a concept I am working on for my educational foundations class. I don't quite have the story down to 1000 words yet; please be patient with me. . .

While in TX, we met with Lisa Westbrook of OneBranch Interactive Library, http://www.OneBranch.org/. I continue to be so impressed with their newsletter, rich in library-centered reading resources, which they share with parents and teachers. OneBranch is a non-profit organization, initially conceptualized and operated by Lisa, a stay-at-home-mom with 3 pre-K children.

Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
Dawn and I loved our stay at Wakpamni Bed and Breakfast, http://www.wakpamni.com/index.html. If I understand correctly, Wakpamni historically referred to a central gathering place for food distribution. This present-day Wakpamni brings new meaning to food distribution, as each meal was gorgeous and delicious. The Pine Ridge event included all of the teachers from the BIA (Bureau of Indian Affairs) schools in the area.

One of the highlights of the Education Wide Conference at Pine Ridge for me was meeting author Delphine Red Shirt. Her book Turtle Lung Woman's Granddaughter (http://www.JoanWink.com/gifs/TurtleLungWoman.jpg) "is the story of several generations of Lakota women who grew up on the open plains of northern Nebraska and southern South Dakota. Red Shirt has delicately woven the life stories of her mother, Lone Woman, and Red Shirt's great-grandmother, Turtle Lung Woman, into a continuous narrative that succeeds triumphantly as a moving, epic saga of Lakota women from traditional times in the mid-nineteen century to the present." Her other books include: American Indian Lives and Beads on an Anthill: A Lakota Childhood.

I was honored to receive a gorgeous, hand-made star quilt. I am hoping in the future to share a picture of this and tell the story of the symbolism.