Editorial Welcome

By Mona Pelkey

Welcome to The Learning Center Exchange (LCE) and another issue chock full of information I am lucky enough to have some pumpkins growing in my yard. They were planted through serendipity; I dropped last year's mushy, rotten jack-o-lantern on my way to the compost pile, and some of the seeds sprouted right where they fell. The emerging vines were a novel surprise, and I eagerly watched as the vines stretched from six to twelve, to twenty, to thirty or more feet in length. It was as though a giant green octopus from a sci-fi movie was taking over my lawn. This "octopus," however, was adorned with multitudes of large yellow blossoms, only a few of which eventually developed into pumpkins. Watching the growth process was exciting, though. I kept asking myself, "How long can these vines get?," "Which flowers will set on fruit?," and "How much does that thing WEIGH?"

As learning center professionals, we are constantly planting seeds in our students, whether we are conscious of them or not: seeds of knowledge, seeds of motivation, seeds of self-confidence, seeds of pride. The rewards of helping students are many, but watching students grow in their academic skills, and sharing their joy (and sometimes amazement) when their hard work pays off, is priceless.

We hope you enjoy our articles, and as always, please be sure to check out www.learningassistance.com/forums for more goodies! Happy Halloween!

Mona

Questions or comments? Contact the author at edpelkey@juno.com.