As a former teacher, I would wake up eager to see what my day would bring. Between fire drills and runaway hamsters, my classroom was never boring. Now that I have moved into the role of an educational consultant, things have not changed. The life of a traveling consultant is always rewarding, sometimes hectic, sometimes frustrating, always busy, and NEVER boring. Just like a typical classroom, every day is different and full of surprises. I am often asked about the most unusual training session that I have conducted, and I never hesitate when I respond. This training took place a few years ago during the week of Thanksgiving in a small town in Alabama. I will recount a few of the details.

Because of rain, my flight from New York on Monday afternoon was delayed, causing me to miss my connecting flight from Atlanta to Montgomery, Alabama. When I arrived in Atlanta, it was already after 10:00 PM on Monday night, and there was no way to retrieve my luggage, which had been checked through to Montgomery. In addition to my clothing, all of my training materials were in my bag – books, handouts, demonstration materials, etc. Because I didn’t want to miss the session on Tuesday, I rented a car in Atlanta and drove to my hotel in Auburn, Alabama, arriving after 3:00 AM. It was so late that I wasn’t even charged for the hotel room that night!

Not having a change of clothing (I have since learned better), I rinsed out a few things so that I would at least be somewhat clean the next morning. Of course, everything was still soaking wet when I was ready to dress for the training at 7 AM, and I was still dripping when I arrived at the school. Fortunately, the school’s new materials had already been delivered, so I simply used their books for the reading demonstration lessons scheduled for that day. All went well, and I was thrilled that my missing suitcase had appeared at my hotel that afternoon. Clean, dry clothing never looked so good! All was right with the world.

On Wednesday morning, I went to the school to present an overview of their new materials to the staff.  Everything progressed smoothly until approximately 10 AM when the tornado sirens began to shriek! The training session was moved to the custodian’s closet for protection. I was grateful that the custodian had a spacious room for his tools, as there were thirty-two of us standing in there among the brooms and cleaning supplies for the two hours before lunch. The staff was delightful, and they insisted on hearing the complete training, in spite of the circumstances. Just as I was thinking that we would be able to return to our original meeting area in the media center after lunch, the tornado siren sounded again! Back to the custodian’s closet for the remainder of the day.

After saying my goodbyes to this wonderful staff on Wednesday afternoon, I began to walk to my car, thinking of spending Thanksgiving with my family the next day. Then my cell phone rang. All flights had been canceled because several tornadoes had been sighted in the area. Oh well. At least we were all safe, and there were Thanksgiving leftovers!