Wednesday, March 8, 2017

Why my business is called OnPoint Learning

Ann Swan and Cathy
According to Wikipedia: Swans are birds of the family Anatidae within the genus Cygnus

A little south of the University of Missouri, on the south side of Columbia, there are a few small lakes. At one time one swan lived on one lake, and the other swan lived closely by on the other. One day they seemed to discover one another because I heard they were together.  I hadn't seen either swan for sometime, until today.  

Today there they were, drifting along on the water, next to each other in the 60-something degrees of sunshine. Seeing the two swans felt like a heart-warming sign of spring. And, I was reminded of something. While it wasn't a bird of the genus Cygnus that I remembered, it was a Swan, an Ann Swan!  I first met this Swan named Ann during the second week of my Davis training. It was the first of several training weeks we would have together in Plano, Texas. 

Training

The first day of the training began as I navigated my way into the building, up the elevator to the second floor, into the south-west lobby and then waited until the receptionist buzzed me into the private office area. I searched for the right conference room, finding a small room in this upscale office building. I opened the door and walked in where a few other trainees were already seated. Everyone in this training would be a new person to me as my very first week of training had been in San Francisco, California at the Davis Dyslexia International Association headquarters.  I really can't remember why I ended up transferring to Texas to continue my training, but I had. Truthfully, I had hoped to continue my Davis training in San Fran, where I could walk -morning, -noon and -night along the beautiful San Francisco Bay and hop on the Bart to travel into the city during the evenings and weekends. 

That was not meant to be, and here I was in the northern Dallas suburb of Plano, ready to continue learning. First, though, to meet the group. 

Like a Bird

I walked through the doorway and, well, from that moment on I felt at ease. One chair was between the tall slender lady with a short haircut, the edge of the table, and me.  She promptly stood up from her chair and welcomed me. 

"Hi, I'm Ann Swan, swan like the bird!" As her words presented her name, her hand motions gave me an analogy that I'll never forget. First she did a little flying bird-wing motion and then a heart like effect, like swans make when they put their heads together. 

That's how I remember it, but truly, I was not expecting such a greeting, warm and friendly. Absolutely my most treasured memory is of how she made me feel. Welcomed.  

Over the course of these first training weeks Ann and I became close friends. She was remarkably in-tune to the steps and procedures of the Davis Dyslexia methods and was a great resource in talking through and practicing these new ideas. Sometimes she'd walk over to my hotel, just across from where she stayed on the Parkway.  My 'room' included a convenience kitchen where we could cook a meal. 

Those two weeks of training quickly came to an end and we all went back to our homes, jobs, families and the beginning of the work on our first field study for our Davis licensing. By September it was time for us to go back to Plano for double weeks of learning.

Throughout this phase of our training Ann showed remarkable insight into the program.  Many thought she was a perfect candidate for a specialist role with the Davis Dyslexia international association. Her role as a professor teaching at the university level had clearly prepared her for the next steps in the Davis organization, yet she always managed to complement me on my intuitiveness with the program. One of the final days of that two-week workshop four or five of us decided to go to Macaroni Grill for a meal together. The reason it's important to mention it was a Macaroni Grill is because those restaurants (not sure any of them are even still open) but, their tables were covered with white butcher-paper, and crayons were provided for you to draw and write, to create! 

Each of us were excited, anticipating the possibilities of the differences we could make in our communities and in our own lives after we passed the requirements for our licensing. As I remember it was Ann who picked up a crayon and started jotting words down on the paper. Names began lining up across the table. The rest of us sat for a moment taking it all in when we realized what she was doing. 

Getting OnPoint

On the table in front of me I jotted some business names down, drawing a little picture to go with each of them. Someone said my business name sounded more like a church! I don't even remember what it was! But Ann, after making a few modifications to her ideas, penned the name On Point Learning to the center of the paper tablecloth. 

Three Months Later

Sadly, one important detail has been left out of this story.  During this year of training Ann had become ill and was diagnosed with cancer. Our time together in Plano would include me helping with her port, handling her medications, or other necessary tasks. September's training would be our last together. 

In November I was driving through Oklahoma, heading south to Texas, anticipating our two weeks of training workshops when I got the call. It was bad news. Her cancer was worse. Ann tried convincing me she might be able to rest one week at home in Florida, and with God's grace, she would have enough strength to head back to Texas for the second week

It was not to be. 


Her Name Continues
I'm not clear when the idea came about. I sent a note off to Ann with a proposal, asking permission to use the On Point name she had chosen, On Point Learning.  It would be in her honor. 

She agreed. In fact she had had the same idea. Thinking back it all seems so logical, even simple, but in Ann's final days these were important steps so our thinking was full of emotion. 


Those two birds on the lake today reminded me of a bird, rather a swan, a Swan named Ann. 



'On Point' = 
focusing,
 a point above and behind the head;
 when the mind's eye is mentally placed 
on that point our senses work in harmony. 


Cathy Henkle Cook, M. Ed.
OnPoint Learning Center, LLC
Columbia, Missouri
(573) 819-6010


Empower your life with the GIFT of Dyslexia! 










2 comments:

Appslure said...
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Unknown said...

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