If CWTI was an Incomplete List

The 2022 sessions at the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute were rich and zesty!  I recall many experiences over the course of a single week that enliven my future as an educator and inform my life as an American and a human being.  The 105-point list below cannot possibly adequately portray the experience, the relationships, and the education I received from being on location in Virginia's Historic Triangle.

The Crew (Seriously)

1. Viewed the sunrise from the car on the way to the airport
2. Was on flight with Jeff Hubbard, big game hunter who bagged the largest caribou since 1966
3. Flew over the Appalachians
4. Watched Ghostbusters Afterlife
5. Lived in North Carolina for the first time
6. Saw Miss Teen Maine in the Charlotte airport
7. Was annoyed by a Slavic mom who sat beside me and endlessly gooed and gaaed with her child on Facetime (in both English and another language)
8. Finally found my luggage which was delivered on a flight before mine
9. Ate a hamburger at the Precarious Beer Project
10. Traveled through a 1,190 foot tunnel on the Colonial Parkway built in 1942
11. Witnessed rare whitecaps on the James River
12. Spotted a deer in the Powhatan hunting ground
13. Stood on Grebe Land, set aside for ministerial purposes
14. Met Mark Summers
15. Gazed upon a 104’ tall obelisk (104 men originally arrived to establish Jamestowne)
16. Walked on building foundations left from the 17th century
17. Studied skeletons of JR, Jane, and others
18. Touched 17th Century church tower
19. Pondered John Smith’s map
20. Stood inside a yehakin
21. Understood that rope is important for survival
22. Made a perfect rope
23. Wondered how a black family felt looking at slavery displays
24. Crewed the ropes on the Discovery (replica ship from the 1600s)
25. Sat in replica 17th Century church building
26. Spotted another deer in the woods
27. Convicted a witch
28. Noticed that a busload of teachers is just as loud as a bus load of fourth graders
29. Evacuated hotel at 3:00 in the morning for an alarm
30. Walked a street named after Queen Anne’s son, the Duke of Gloucester
31. Tried to mentally navigate Indian-English and Indian-American politics, past and present
32. Watched an engraver and a carpenter at work
33. Ate pizza, pasta, salad, steak strips, fried chicken, turkey and dressing, a coldcut sandwich, and a smoked chicken sandwich
34. Learned about Rockefeller’s early 20th Century investment in restoration
35. Toured the Matthew Ashby house
36. Leaned about jumping the broom
37. ​Saw figs growing
38. Cried uncontrollably after a first-person interpreter’s presentation of Nanny Jones, and while walking up DoG
39. Played a patriot in Voices of the Revolution
40. Used the restroom in the Powell House:  Powell was a building contractor and built the first mental health facility in the colonies
41. Strolled through 18th century gardens
42. Heard the Bruton church bell ring (cast in same foundry as Liberty Bell; the same chimes called founders to church)
43. Learned that “In Dutch way” means something was prepared with butter and onions
44. Captured lightning in a photograph of DoG Street
45. Delivered Patrick Henry’s Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech from the exact location that Patrick Henry delivered his Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death speech
46. Enjoyed fife and drum performances
47. Saw silversmith, blacksmith, printer demonstrations
48. Appreciated Lord Dunmore’s clock and candlesticks
49. Visited a very large collection of folk art in the art museum
50. Stood backstage at Jimmy Buffett tribute band concert
51. Purchased souvenirs with a provided Colonial Williamsburg gift card
52. Sat in the jury area (across the bar in the courthouse) to try Israel Hands, Blackbeard’s first mate
53. Sat in the jury area (across the bar in the courthouse) to try Israel Hands, Blackbeard’s first mate, and watched as he was sentenced to hang (but later turned King’s Evidence to save himself)
54. Stood up in the bus
55. Photographed the sunset
56. Was serenaded by frogs, cicadas, and crickets
57. Pilfered through a lady’s pocket
58. Found a five dollar
59. Photographed a giant oak tree with long limbs extending to the ground
60. Walked by the archaeological site of the First Baptist Church
61. Removed suckers from tobacco plants
62. Considered the process of cotton growth
63. Recognized a person I met four years ago
64. Solved a History Mystery in Wetherburn’s Tavern
65. Bought a tobacco pipe
66. Got a closer look at brickmaking, carpentry, joinery, blacksmithing, shoemaking while hearing more about trade economy
67. Cried over a sandwich with another participant about the loss of our dads
68. Listened to a fellow participant playing “Wrecking Ball” and “Linus and Lucy” on the spinet
69. Looked for ghosts
70. Saw a pizza being delivered by young lady in a bikini top
71. Walked to the visitor center from the historic area
72. Was introduced to A Society of Polite Ladies
73. Rode with a bus driver who thought he was in a sequel to Speed
74. Met Robert Carter who owned the most slaves in Virginia, converted to Baptist in 1778, and in 1791, began to manumit slaves (single-largest manumission of slaves in history; Carter is known as the “First Emancipator”)
75. Heard the word shenaniganry
76. Received gift of a brick fragment from the Curtis archaeological site (Martha Washington’s first husband was a Custis)
77. Met Rochambeau
78. Stood inside George Washington’s tent
79. Observed a cannon that caused the Marquis de Lafayette’s to become emotional
80. Learned that “Molly Pitcher” was a camp follower because her family didnot own a house; she had no other place to live while her husband served
81. Saw a photograph Sarah Osborn Benjamin, who was with Washington at the Yorktown surrender
82. Learned that the black spy, James Armistead, was present at surrender in prominent, visible location
83. Learned that Jackie, Martha Washington’s son contracted “camp fever” and died near Yorktown.
84. Drove past Dale House, the building in which surrender documents were sealed after the decisive battle of Yorktown
85. Spotted two deer at Yorktown in a sprinkling rain
86. Sat at Surrender Field and pondered the emotions of British, American, and undecided people
87. Traveled past Busch Gardens
88. Rode past Cheatham Annex Naval Base, which has a rich, interesting history of its own
89. Rode by the Colonial Church Of Christ
90. Quoted Scripture in my own courthouse speech; was told it was a “mic-drop” moment that no one wanted to follow
91. Met George Wythe, who  tutored Thomas Jefferson, introduced judicial review, was the only founder/Declaration signer to free his slaves during his lifetime, was the first professor of law at William and Mary, and the second professor of law in English-speaking world
92. Traveled in the Pocahontas Trail
93. Received a reproduction of Patrick Henry’s speech as an extra gift
94. Graduated from the Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute
95. Was recognized for being a gentleman throughout the week
96. Spent an extended time in the 15th largest city in the U.S.
97. Flight delayed two hours in Charlotte due to lightning
98. Sat on plane for another two hours with a child behind me (who would not stop talking, asking questions, and making sound effects) before lightning stopped in area and the plane could take off
99. Landed in Springfield, Missouri, at 1:11am
100. Got home at 2:39am
101. Took over 1,000 photographs
102. Walked approximately 44.1 miles (112, 956 steps) in 7 days
103. Built enduring relationships with educators from across the nation
104. ​Avoided COVID
     
105. Drove 90 minutes to preach in Washburn, Missouri, the next morning

The Crew (Not So Seriously)

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Find more about the anticipation, the journey, and the reflection
on my Colonial Williamsburg Teacher Institute page.