Teacher News: Abroad & Stateside

Abroad: New Zealand

Theda Gillespie writes: [In the spring] “I was interviewed, followed by a feature article (Healthy Living) appearing in a local [New Zealand] paper… This article triggered a request for me to appear on the Regional TV channel No. 51. I was interviewed on my life style and philosophy of life by David Pipe on the “Pipeline” program… Next was a request from Malcolm Cox, (Cox Partners — Real Estate Agents), to do a 1 1/2 hours workshop called “Wellness Workshop for Willing Workers.” Now I have been asked to be “videoed” showing some of the various breathing techniques, exercises and so forth! . . .

France

Marlene Brown writes: “Visited with TCC teacher Catherine Brieussel from France and Sr. Yolanda Tamcinco from Solothurn Switzerland. Catherine met me in Lausanne where we worked almost 4 hours to do TCC and make a few corrections. Catherine is taking her TCC very seriously and doing a fine job. . . . she plans to come back to next year’s Teachers’ Conference. Sr. Yolanda was glad to get some TCC help. It has been 3 years since she graduated and became a TCC teacher. She teachers the sisters in Solothurn. If all goes well she will be coming to the states . . .”

Stateside: California

Linda Braga of Castro Valley, CA presents TCC at the ongoing DayBook Retreats held at the Santa Sabina Center in San Rafael, CA. Carrie Kinsey of Concord, CA (who responded to a request in ‘Teacher News’ from TCC teacher Bonnie McKenzie of Saratoga, CA for a TCC teacher for the Metropolitan Adult Education Program (MAEP) in the San Jose area) is now teaching for MAEP on Tuesdays and Saturdays. Carrie has also assumed production and editorial responsibilities, helping with design, layout and content editing for VFJ. Sandy McAlister of Hayward, CA expands her Kaiser Permanente teaching responsibilities to include the Pleasanton, CA facility. Roberta Taggart of Cupertino, CA demonstrated TCC at the Kaiser Permanente Women’s Symposium in October, and made November TCC presentations to the Sunnyvale-Cupertino Branch of AAUW and Life’s Gardens (a large retirement community). She also went to Asilomar in Pacific Grove to teach TCC to a Jewish Marriage Enhancement group who enjoyed doing TCC as couples. In December she will speak to the San Jose-West Rotary and teach her first truly corporate class at Roche Bioscience in Palo Alto. She continues to teach at Kaiser Permanente (Santa Clara) and West Valley College in Saratoga.

Minnesota

J. Stephen Brown of Stillwater, MN writes: “I recently [took a class] in T’ai Chi Chih taught by Dennis Anderson (Inver Grove Heights, MN). My intention is to keep abreast of current events in the TCC community and seek out those who can assist me in this effort. I am currently a prison inmate. . . . I contacted Steven Ridley about a newsletter and other materials. He passed me your address [VFJ] as a source to obtain information. . . . I don’t mind telling you that, after nearly eleven years, and all my academic and behavioral modification achievements to date, TCC may be the only factor by itself that has brought me to the single most important turning point in my life. Neither my experience as a U. S. Marine Reservist [or] Active Duty U. S. Navy Fleet Sailor can rival the quickening I feel. . . . Thank you.”

New Jersey

Sr. Antonia Cooper (Mahwah, NJ) sponsored a ‘Group Practice and Refinements’ for TCC practitioners and teacher candidates on Saturday, November 1st at Villa Marrie, No. Plainford, NJ.

Paula Favorito of New Milford, NJ presented a TCC demonstration at Rosary Society of Ascension on Monday, November 3rd.

Virginia

Dale Buchanan of Great Falls, VA has opened the first TCC studio on the East Coast. He writes: “I am very excited because my Grand Opening [was] Thursday, September 18th and the response from the community has been wonderful. . . . I would love to have you visit sometime if you are ever out this way. . . .”

“You can see more pictures of the studio and a slide show of me doing “Bass Drum” on the web site at www.nvaweb.net/taichichih/.”