Hi, my name is Sylvia Anderson. When I was in high school in the early 1970s, my Mom taught me to macrame. Together we made elegant plant hangers, some wall hangings, and a wine holder. Some of our work was entered in the Manatee County Fair and won ribbons.
In June 2020, my daughter moved into her custom-built home and the decorating began. She sent me a picture of a macrame wall hanging and asked if I could make that. I told her I could and in my spare time over 2 months, I finished a huge art piece (5’x3.5′) that required 2 different colors of dye that resembled the water and sunset. Thanks to her request I got back into macrame and have enjoyed it so much since. This gallery of pictures is only a sampling of some of the things I have made.
It’s official – effective June 1, 2022 I have retired after 33 years in education.
In 1989, I started working in the Stafford County Public School system and spent 8 years at Ferry Farm Elementary. In 1995, Apple computers were brought into the school and therefore a new position was created. I was offered that new position and served 3 of the 8 years in technology. The money wasn’t good for a field that was high in demand. I then joined Caroline County Public Schools as the Technology Specialist where I served the entire division of 6 schools as the network admin, pc technician, and instructional trainer.
To date where I started in the late ’90s, Caroline brought in its first 700 PC computers running Windows 95 and 7 servers running Novell. I trained teachers right away on Microsoft Works and Office 97. Caroline became a 1:1 division (student:device) with Chromebooks (3-12) and iPads for PreK-2 at the time of the pandemic in 2020. Prior to covid, classrooms had stations of Windows desktops.
Times have changed as technology progresses. Who knew technology was my niche and teaching people to use computers was something I seemed to have patience for? I’ve been proud of my work over the years and the marks I’ve left on teachers, students, and administrators who swore they couldn’t learn technology. The shift in technology in education now includes STEM. I predict STEM will soon become a cross-curricular class that teaches necessary life skills in critical thinking, collaboration, creativity, and communication. I hope to remain current in retirement and keep my Instructional Technology/Innovation site resourceful.
LEE’S RETIREMENT
My brother retired on November 1, 2024. I planned the party and flew to Florida for the special occasion. It was great having everyone together – family, friends, old high school buddies, and guests who attended virtually to congratulate the retiree. For me, I got to see my niece since her wedding in 2019 and meet my grand nephew for the first time. What a handsome little man!