[Artemisia] Combined Collegium Thanks

[Dawn Tavares]

Sean, the Event Steward, said:  
> 
> I would like to offer my extreme gratitude to the people of Artemisia for making the Combined Collegium such a huge success this past weekend. 



I, too, would like to extend my thanks to everyone whose devoted efforts made the Youth track run so smoothly.  



The autocrat had the Youth Track area placed in large
center aisle of the classroom hall, so the kids had plenty of room
while adults could see them from the front of the building and the side
bays where the classrooms were delineated by canvas walls. All any
parent had to do to check their child was lean out and look. The
parents were quite good about giving their
time to help supervise. At all times we were compliant with the 2-Deep rule.




I was a bit concerned that the music for the kids' dance class and the
noise from combat tumbling would disrupt the adult classes around us,
but no one complained to me, the teachers, or the over-autocrat -- so I'm
assuming it was not a problem. If any adult who attended Collegium does have comments about any facet of the Youth track, please contact me off-line.





The classes were a good mix of lecture/Q&A, classroom hands-on, and
physical learning. Lady Onora, Loch Salann's most recent Youth Officer, deserves much thanks for laying the groundwork, as does Dame Ellisif for her scheduling expertise. On the whole I think this was a good framework for building future
Youth tracks. Certainly several of the classes
offered would fulfill the criteria for some of the tasks outlined in
the Page & Courtier handbooks. Warmer, drier weather will lend itself to teaching more
physical classes that can help parents & kids get up to speed with
the kingdom-wide boffer rules so we can have melees and other group scenarios at Uprising.

Lady Allegretza was my strong right hand throughout the day, even when she was nervous about teaching a class for adults.  ;)  She also started the classes off at the opening bell (being much more of a morning person than I am). 

Many, many thanks to the adults who stepped up to answer questions in the Ask-a-Peer class: Maitre Guillaume, his cadet THL Marten, Count Sir Ralph, Baron Sir Thorvald, Sir Raven, and Baron Morgan.  Also, Mistress
Tianna is *so* good at getting kids to open up. Her Khan-ness rocks!



If you ever have the chance to take a class from Dame Constance de la
Rose -- take it! She has a strong talent for breaking down complex
concepts and talking to students on their level without talking down to
them. The kids were just fascinated by all the different ways honey can
taste and beeswax candles can be formed.


Lord Padruig's class on shield building was informative -- and quite useful for adults who'd like to experiment with a different shield shape of their own. I hope to see lots more armed Pictsies on the Youth fighting fields. I also have Padruig & Allegretza to thank for giving me the breather I needed to take a class on my own. 


THL Elizabeth Carter's class on dancing was a lot of fun for both all ages.  Grade-schoolers just love tangling up adults.  Is that the reason it's pronounced "brawl?"  ;)


William Kyles stunt-falling class was a blast. Particular thanks go to Sir Raven, who helped demonstrate how a fall develops out of where you're hit. More than one adult came up to me afterward saying, "That looked like so much fun - if I hadn't been teaching/cooking/autocratting, I would have joined the kids!"  One of those adults was Don Christian de Launey. Heee.

Lady Una's stained "glass"  was a wonderful way to calm down the kids after all that exercise. I'm thinking some of her waxed-paper creations would make very cool decorations Children's Court...or maybe the Queen's Tea. (not too subtle a hint, is that?) 

All in all it was a wonderful day indoors. Baron Braden has already contacted me about setting up another Youth track at Kingdom Collegium, which Arn Hold will be hosting in November.
And, as you can tell, the Youth officers are already planning for Uprising.

One more word of thanks for all the adults who contributed to making the Combined Collegium Youth Track a success. The kids thank you, the parents thank you, and I personally thank you.



Aurora de Portugal

Kingdom Youth Officer
dtavares1 at hotmail.com


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