Teaching a Kinder Class
Terri Webster Schrandt

Sunday Stills: The #Future Is Ours

Last week I hinted at the future as I looked back to 2021 and shared images of my events and life. Please join me as I look back again to the future to see where the journey might lead and how I might like to spend 2022.

But first, while researching this topic, I had to ask myself how does one take a photograph of the future? I admit to borrowing the idea for this challenge from the WordPress weekly photo challenge, April 2016, which many of you participated in back then including myself! I bet you didn’t know that you can go back and look at the thumbnails of the participants for additional inspiration (though many have stopped blogging).

Jen Hooks of WordPress, writes “One of the glorious things about photography is that it enables us to take a moment of our present, and make it available to look on in meticulous detail in the future.” This week, share an image that represents the potential of things to come.

The Future Begins

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

Peter F Drucker

Shortly before he died in 2005, Peter Drucker was celebrated by BusinessWeek magazine as “the man who invented management.”

In an interesting twist, university curricula often included Drucker’s writings in management courses, including those that I had the pleasure to teach. I taught a total of 10 full years at the university level, teaching and creating curricula for parks and recreation management students.

Thinking of the future for this week, I found several older posts that support this theme.

The Future Begins with Steps to Education (2016)

Steps to Education lead to the future.

Walking from my classroom on campus a few months ago, I was intrigued by the way the stairs looked on this overcast day. These stairs lead from the east edge of the university campus to the bike trail and onto the bridge that crosses the river. Every semester, I have the pleasure of seeing the eager faces of young adults nearing the completion of their university education.

The future is theirs.

Bloganuary Challenge

Many bloggers are being inspired by January’s daily prompts. I’d hoped to hop into this WordPress event more often, but I’ve been busy shoveling snow and dealing with things on the home front. I have enjoyed many folks’ posts on the daily prompts. I attempt to answer the prompts briefly with an image and simply include these in my Sunday Stills posts. Hope you don’t mind!

I responded to two that seem to fit the theme of future.

January 1 What advice would you give your teenage self?

Take heart, your braces will come off and all that teasing you endured for sporting the braces AND having curly red hair will leave you with resilience and amazing coping skills. And, an excellent idea to take four years of Mrs. Lee’s classes in high school. See below.

January 6 Who is someone that inspires you and why?

Excerpts from a previous post: Reconnecting with My High School Teacher (2017)

Who was your favorite high school teacher? Mine was Mrs. Myrra Lee, of Helix High School in La Mesa, California, a suburb of San Diego. I discovered Mrs. Lee was celebrating her 90th birthday in San Diego in July 2016, and her family posted an open invitation on Facebook to former students.

Initially, I declined the invitation due to distance, but we ended up in San Diego during that very week to assist my ailing mother. Mrs. Lee’s family asked for thoughts to be emailed and I had written a blog post with this thought:

“Now that I am an educator, I wish she knew how much her teaching influenced my life, personally and professionally.” I never believed that I would ever get the chance to tell her face to face after 38 years.

Meeting my high school teacher 38 years later

The day of Mrs. Lee’s luncheon brought me so much joy! I was told by the family that she had suffered a mild stroke a few months before. When I entered the restaurant, I walked up to where she sat and introduced myself. She noticed my name tag and smiled. I asked if she remembered me and she replied very softly that she did. I was elated and honored to get this photo with her.

During the luncheon, we had the opportunity to share the perspectives and experiences we had with her as our teacher.

Nervously I stood and thanked her for being such an inspiration to me. I’m sure I stumbled over a few more words, eloquent and otherwise, but more specifically, these: “I ended up becoming an educator, too, Mrs. Lee, and this has been the joy of my life.”

She smiled and applauded, along with the rest of the room. I sat down with tears shining in my eyes.

As I listened to more of my high school classmates share their stories of this 1977 National Teacher of Year, I watched Mrs. Lee and still saw that razor-sharp glint in her eye, as her educator mind drank in the memories and praise. Even her recent stroke at age 90 had not stopped those gears from turning. She went into eternity just two years later and I will be forever grateful that I got to see her again and for her “take-no-prisoners” educational style and her ability to challenge everything we understood within our teenage selves in the mid-1970s.

Mrs. Lee taught us the value of an education and challenged students to reach for the stars and to not take no for an answer.

Terri Webster Schrandt, Reconnecting with My High School Teacher

A Continuing Educator

Sad as I was to end my 10-year career as a university faculty lecturer, our move to Washington State provided an unexpected and welcomed opportunity. Last week I mentioned I am employed as a substitute teacher for Nine Mile Falls School District. My first day as a sub was for a kindergarten class. I snapped this pic during an UNUSUALLY quiet moment as the kiddos got down to business (for a few minutes, and I’m talking FEW!!). A big difference from teaching university students, although crying happens in both age groups!

Teaching a Kinder Class
A rare moment when the kinders were ALL engaged!

The future indeed!

Need More “Future” Inspiration?

In no particular order, I’ve chosen images that represent past and future trips. Mexico may be a far-future return excursion, but Hawaii, San Diego in Southern CA, and the Grand Canyon in Arizona are very doable in 2022. Fingers crossed!

South Rim of the Grand Canyon in snow
South Rim of the Grand Canyon
Watching Hans my first winter in Baja, Mexico
San-Diego-Skyline
Setting sun paints the buildings of downtown San Diego
SUPing the waves
Wave Paddling, Hilo

A few more images that depict the “future” from my perspective.

summer's end signs of autumn
Sunflower opening
American Beauty rosebud
Rosebud Potential
Expo ’74 in Spokane, WA was first world’s fair with an environmental theme.

Two years ago this was our future.

Boulder Home Compound
Our Boulder Way Compound in Eastern Washington

Photo Challenges this Week

Each week I am inspired by my fellow bloggers’ photo challenges. I find it fun to incorporate these into my Sunday Stills weekly themes.

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

Sunday Stills weekly challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post.

  • Please create a new post for the theme or link a recent one.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Title your blog post a little differently than mine.
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post. I also recommend adding your post’s URL into the comments.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.

Sunday Stills is a wonderful community of bloggers and photographers who desire to connect with one another. Below are this week’s links from bloggers who share photos that might represent the future.

Themes for the rest of January are ready to view on my Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Page. This page is updated monthly and I am open to YOUR theme ideas, too!

I hope you enjoyed my look back to the future. What does the future hold for you? Tell us in any creative way you would like! Join me next week for the monthly color challenge: white.

A future me this summer 2022!

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95 comments

  2. I thoroughly enjoyed your post this week Terri, especially the segment about your high school teacher’s influence on you. I had a similar experience in high school with one of the nuns who was our French teacher. It so influenced me I became a French major in college, taught for a year in junior high (hated it!) and did quite a few trips to France as part of my business career. My post this week is about participating in other challenges beyond our own Lens-Artists. I would hope the future would include a great deal more understanding and reaching out in cooperation with others, which is a great way for all of us to grow. My post is here https://travelsandtrifles.wordpress.com/2022/01/08/lens-artists-challenge-181-double-dipping/.

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  4. I enjoyed this post. Nice high school photo. It was special to visit with your high school teacher, Mrs. Lee, after all those years. It looks like you might have have your hands full with all those kids in your class. Hope you get to Hawaii, San Diego, and Grand Canyon – sounds like a busy 2022.

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  8. Terri, great topic for the week. I really enjoyed reading how you reconnected with your high school teacher who inspired you. Thanks for linking to the old WordPress photo challenge of Future. I remember participating in that one!

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  15. Terri,
    Your story of re-connecting with your high school teacher almost had ME in tears. Very touching. I’m certain that you were an excellent college instructor. Since we will be in San Diego in a few weeks, I’m posting a picture from our last visit when we camped at the Navy Base on Coronado.
    P.S. I endured red curly hair as a youngster. I hated it, it made me tough.

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    • Thank you, Joe! I had Mrs Lee for three years, taking various classes (US History- Minorites, Social Living and Women’s Studies!!), aced them, and was a TA for her my senior year. She coached me through a tough relationship issue back then and her former students cannot say enough about her. And I totally get the redhead curse, Joe! You are right. Now, people look at my hair and ask if it’s natural, etc, and I smile and say yep! Enjoy your excursion to San Diego. With all this snow here, we’re not sure when we can drive south. Too many miles of winter wonderland to get through 🙂

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  16. Thought pondering post. Since I won’t be doing all kinds of travel planning for 2022, my future is looking a little blurry but I’m up for a calm, uneventful year. Hope you make it back to AZ so we can catch up. Happy New Year!

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  19. This was a great way to tie in the Bloganuary prompts Terri and I must admit I was tempted to do the same as I’ve not even started with any of them yet, despite wanting to! I’ve been too busy with my visiting grandchildren to contemplate much of anything! You’ve addressed the future really well and I love your take on it all – so creative!
    My post is a bit more reflective but I’m not exactly sure if I have any answers. Thanks for the inclusion of my post already, it’s great waking up to seeing it in place.

    What does the future hold? #SundayStills

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    • Thank you so much, Debbie! Once I see a SS post published I’ll add it in, better time-saver and more relevant this way. I enjoyed your post and love the swim lessons picture! Being busy with your grandbabies is the best excuse to NOT do anything, in my book! Have a wonderful week!

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  22. That kindergartner class looks so ALIVE! Full of color and activity and learning and possibility. A great image for what the future is about, Terri. I wish we did a better job as a country investing in our collective children. Good for you for doing your part. Wishing you a new year full of dreams, adventures, and opportunities to build memories. 🙂

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  26. great theme, Terri
    and love the future you on that paddleboard – and the quotes and photos
    🙂
    one thing I did for my future was I addressed all of my Xmas cards (30 of them) for this December – so when that month arrives I will not have to keep dreading sitting down and doing it – hahah

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    • Thank you, Yvette 🙂 And wow on getting the jump on Christmas cards. I’m going to have to start sending them again. I still grumble about the cost of postage, but now that we moved it is nice to get a Christmas card as well as give. Better get this on my list sooner than later 🙂

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      • I didn’t send cards in 2020 – and so actually tis year when I finally sat down to write out the cards I was half done from what I started last year –
        but it was the way I kept putting it off – I dreaded it for some reason.
        So last week, while putting away the Christmas decor I went to the store – found discounted cards (not on purpose but it was a week after Xmas) – and wrote them out. I thought about doing a double batch but come on now – that is silly – lol
        and you know, maybe I should just print labels – hey – that could work – either way I am all set for this December
        And best wishes with what unfolds for you to give cards this year – it really can be a nice thing
        —
        oh and LOVE that photo of you with your HS teacher and the dear younger me about the braces – 🙂

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      • yes, I think I am going to go back to labels for cards – and I know some folks that order cards and you enter the address and they mail that way – hmmm
        also, here is my link for this week
        thanks again for hosting Terri

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  27. What a heartwarming post, Terri! How wonderful that you got to see your high school teacher and let her know how she influenced your life. I love your high school picture and your kindergarten class, too! Pretty amazing that you went from teaching adults to teaching 5 years olds! I am impressed! 🙂

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  31. A tricky topic that you handled very well! 🙂 Love the teenage portrait. So, are your red curls natural? I remember that blog post about your favorite high school teacher.

    Hey, if you can make it to San Diego, you are almost in Mexico! Never say never. 🙂

    Wishing you all the best for a leisure and exciting future, Terri!

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  43. What a great theme for this week’s challenge, Terri. I don’t recall it the first time around, but I wonder if I participated. Sadly, I deleted most of my posts from back then, but I’ve come up with some new ones for this theme which will appear in my first Wordless Wednesday post for 2022.

    You’ve given some great examples of how easy it is to predict the future. Your winter-themed photos appealed to me the most, but then they always do. Winter in your part of the world looks how winter should be.

    Enjoy the rest of the week.

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  47. Thank you for sharing, Terri. What a big change from university level teaching to kindergarten. The kindies are my daughters favorite grade to teach. She’s a fairly new teacher and right now she is teaching grades 5 and 6. Teachers can leave such an incredible impact on us. Thank you for sharing about Mrs. Myrra Lee. 🙏

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