Dr. Hopkins flew out of Springfield on Thursday, June 1. The views from an airplane, looking down over the clouds and the shadows they cast was the first of many views that reminded me of the beauty of God's creation. I was also inspired with lots of "math type" questions. Anyone besides me see pie charts, how much area is outside the big circle but inside the square, how much area is outside the four small circles but inside the big square, what is the coastline of a lake, etc.
Once at Denver, it was time for the drive to Fort Collins. The view of the mountains out the bus window were also beautiful.
I arrived at the Colorado State University campus and checked in. The view out my dorm room window each morning is below.
On Friday, June 2, my work began.
We met for our initial instructions in the Lory Student Center Theater. As usual, I was there early, before EVERY seat was filled. We learned that we have outgrown the facilities at Colorado State University and next year the reading will be in Louisville, KY at the Kentucky International Convention Center.
A view of the theater from the outside.
We had to walk about 10-15 minutes to a dorm for our meals. We created quite the line of people going at mealtimes.
Each morning, we had to be careful as we walked to breakfast. The sprinklers are quite large, but fortunately pretty predicable.
One of the highlights of the reading is the informal Christian worship service that is organized each week. There is something special about gathering with fellow believers as you are working professionally together at this larger event.
One of my daily activities was to visit the library to check my email.
This year provided me the opportunity to get together with a former student, Jeff Stevens. He graduated in 1991 and works at Hewlett Packard in Fort Collins. He took me out for pizza one evening.
I walked up to historic Old Fort Collins one evening after we were done grading. I took typical tourist pictures.
On the final evening, there is a stage show where some teachers get to show off their "talent". My pictures aren't very good (it was dark), but hopefully you get the idea of some of what went on. Many people write songs related to the reading each year. So, I guess I am not the only one interested in math songs. Nor am I the only one who likes to use analogies to try to get mathematical points across. The juggler seen below took up juggling as a way to motivate his students to work hard (and practice often) to improve their skill in mathematics.
On June 9, it was finally time to leave. Busses were to load starting at 6 am, so I was up early enough to see the sun rise and to take a few other pictures around campus before heading to the airport and finally boarding my plane to come back to Bolivar.
Go back to Dr. Hopkins' homepage. This page was written in June, 2006.