A huge map of the world featuring 13 capitals as destination points was hand-drawn and affixed to the studio wall. Each student’s name was written on a little die cut figure and placed at the departure point – Derby, Kansas of course! In the front of each assignment book is a Mileage Chart and a list of ways to earn spending money. Daily practice earned students travel miles each week, with a special bonus for practicing all seven days. The goal was to travel to as many cities as possible. Along the way, spending money (a.k.a. Diligence Dollars) was be earned by completing extra projects, performing at events, or learning new pieces on their own. At the end of the year, I held an auction with items available from each of the representative countries. A former student of mine was working for an auction company, so I recruited him to come in and serve as the auctioneer for the event. Some of the students had racked up hundreds of dollars in spending money and went away with a huge stash of goods! Every student won the bidding on several items and left pleased with the outcome.
Traveling to Triumph (2003-2004)
