Freshman Connor Flanagan started his high school career as an entrepreneur. Flanagan (14) started his clothing line over the summer when looking for ways to make extra money. "I was already really into fashion and clothes and wanted to make some money as a summer job because I was too young to work a real job," Flanagan says.  The line, Vei8ht, is geared toward teenagers, with trendy designs and comfortable material in hats, shorts, and T-shirts. Flanagan designs the apparel himself using digital design platforms such as Canva and Kittl. Once a customer places an order at his online store, he sends the designs to his manufacturers who create the apparel and send it out to his customers.  "This business has been fun to manage," says Flanagan. "Updating my social media platforms every day and making designs is super fun." He wishes to carry on with his business and even make it a full-time job after high school if it's successful. Make sure to support him and his business at www.vei8ht.com or by checking out his Instagram @vei8ht_clothing!

With the financial support of the Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant, I was able to spend six weeks in mainland China this summer! I attended four weeks of language-learning classes at a Mandarin-language school in Beijing called That's Mandarin, where I was able to practice my speaking, listening, and reading skills for four hours a day. I have been studying Mandarin online with this same school for a few years, so it was exciting to see the campus in person! 

For the rest of my time there, I was able to go sightseeing around Beijing. A few of my favorite places to visit were the Palace Museum (also known as the Forbidden City, an imperial palace complex in the heart of Beijing), the Lama Temple, the Summer Palace, the Olympic Park where Beijing hosted the Olympics in 2008, the National Museum of China, and, of course, the Great Wall of China. At Mutianyu, I climbed the Great Wall to the highest watchtower that is available to visitors on that stretch of the wall, and when finished with my adventure atop the wall, I took a toboggan ride on a slide all the way down the mountain to get back to ground level-- certainly the most exciting five-minute ride of my life. Beyond sightseeing, I enjoyed eating the local cuisine (I sampled almost every hot pot restaurant in east Beijing, I imagine) and spent most of my evenings experiencing a variety of spectacular Beijing opera performances. 

For the last week of my trip, I left Beijing and traveled to Fort Wayne's sister city of Taizhou, in the south of China. While there I took a trip to the seaside, visited a waterfall, hiked mountains, and got to know the people and their customs there! Taizhou is known for its seafood, so I tried all sorts of seafood that I'd never even seen before. I was also able to meet again with artists from a landscape painting academy in Taizhou, who had come to Fort Wayne last fall to display their exhibition at the Fort Wayne Museum of Art and participate in painting demonstrations during our city's Taste of the Arts festival. Because of my work volunteering with Fort Wayne Sister Cities and the time I spent with them on their visit to America, we consider ourselves "old friends," and it was wonderful to see them again and to get a tour of their studios in Taizhou. 

I feel very lucky to have been able to experience Chinese culture and daily life throughout my whole experience! It's one thing to study a language and a country's customs, and entirely another thing to be able to see what you've heard and learned about firsthand. And I'm happy to report that my Mandarin skills are much improved after a full summer of practice! The Lilly Teacher Creativity Grant gave me a chance to dive into something that I'm very passionate about and come back to the classroom rested and refreshed and with my enthusiasm for learning greatly renewed. 

In June 2024 I had the opportunity to pursue a lifelong dream of traveling to see the great masterworks In France and Italy through receiving a Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellowship.  My grant proposal was called, “My Art Teacher: The Fraud.”  It centered around the idea that I have often felt like a ‘fraud’ - never having seen the many incredible artworks that I teach about, and emphasizing the importance of the creative process to my students, while not actively pursuing my own. I was feeling creatively tapped, outpouring my energy into my students’ ideas instead of my own.  I needed the mental headspace to daydream and pursue my passions and to be re-inspired. This grant gave me an opportunity for an unhurried sojourn to think, observe, connect, and create.  

My husband and I began our two-week journey traversing Paris and then all around Italy.  While our main focus was to admire the magnificent art and architecture in each city, we took time to discover hidden gems like local bookstores, artisan shops, and art supply stores.  We participated in walking tours led by locals in each city to gain an insider’s perspective.  One of the highlights and a dream come true was visiting Monet’s garden at Giverny. He was the first artist I ever fell in love with, so being in his home and garden, seeing the things that inspired his paintings, was truly magical.  I took so many photographs and have lots of ideas for future artwork. While in Florence, we took a cooking class and learned how to make homemade pizza and gelato.  During our time in Venice, we had a 1-on-1 lesson with a Venetian glass master on the island of Murano.  I typically consider myself a 2D artist, so this was definitely out of my comfort zone, but an art form that I’ve always been curious about and wanted to try.  The workshop certainly deepened my appreciation for glass as an art form, and the glassworks that I made, while very rudimentary, are such treasures.

Traveling to Paris and Italy was a transformative experience.  Immersing myself in their rich cultures of art and architecture, savoring exquisite cuisines and local delicacies, hearing the melodic languages and conversation of others, and observing people interacting and going about their daily lives, were all small simple moments that offered beauty and respite just as much as the artworks.  My spirit is overflowing with vibrant new ideas.  Now it is time to pour into my students and onto my canvas - the impact of this journey and my creative restoration. These vignettes of everyday rhythms were a reminder of the profound beauty awaiting us each day if we are intentional to put ourselves in the path of oncoming beauty.