Every fall, at SAA, Lance strongly encouraged (classroom assignment) his students to nominate a teacher for KSL’s Teacher Feature award. https://www.ksl.com/?nid=191 Lance tells his students they may nominate any teacher from any time in their educational experience, kindergarten to present. Any teacher, that is, except him; he will not let them nominate him.
Students nominate their favorite teachers. Lance keeps copies of all the nominations and, in February, when the school year seems like it is dragging on forever and both students and teachers are experiencing the mid-winter doldrums, Lance puts copies of the nominations in the teacher’s boxes. The results are electric. One teacher told him, “I was at my desk crying, wondering why I ever went into education. I felt like I hadn’t made a difference to anyone, anywhere and I just wanted to quit. Then I opened the nomination. I found myself crying again but for a totally different reason.”
The mid-winter pickup is the main reasons Lance has his students fill out Teacher Feature nominations but as a bonus, over the years several SAA teachers have actually won the award. Winning teachers are honored with a plaque from Zions Bank, an overnight stay at Anniversary Inn, a gift certificate for dinner at the Roof Restaurant at Temple Square and a pair of season tickets from Hale Centre Theatre. Good stuff.
Last year Lance’s good friend Tara Stephens was a KSL winner. As a thank you to Lance and because she is a great person, she gave us her gift certificate for a night at Anniversary Inn. From their website:
The Anniversary Inn is the ideal hotel for your staycation. It's a total escape in the same city! Plan a little adventure, without the airfare, in the Mysteries of Egypt Suite or the Arabian Night's Suite. Sleep in a treehouse in our Swiss Family Robinson Suite or watch a movie on the big screen while lounging in back of a pick-up truck in Rich's Drive-In. Want to go all out with hearts and flowers? Pamper your loved one in our two story Juliet's Balcony and Romeo and Juliet's suites. Sweep your loved one off their feet in Sleeping Beauty's castle or Aphrodite's Court. If it is romance you are looking for, you can really impress your loved one in any one of our romantic suites. http://www.anniversaryinn.com/)
We chose the Swiss Family Robinson suite and Thursday was our night. GOOD STUFF!
Our 24-hour date began with 8 gallons of apricots, which we pitted and put on the food dryer. We progressed to Lucky Slice Pizza. Four slices and a drink later we went to the theater where we watched “Antman and the Wasp” from luxury loungers. (I stayed awake!) Finally we found our way to Anniversary Inn in SLC and though the hour was late (past 9 p.m…..) it was worth the wait.
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Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous from the front desk to the final departure. Fabulous!
When we checked in, they gave us scrumptious chocolate chip cookies---I ate one so I know they were good. Lance taste tested four of them and came to the same conclusion. They also told us there was a bottle of sparkling cider and two pieces of cheesecake waiting for us in our room. And, after showing us a menu, asked us what time we wanted breakfast delivered to our room.
The room was everything it promised to be and more. Cold cider, gourmet cheesecake, soft lights, background music, big screen T.V. (which we did not use), matching white robes, a ladder leading to a treehouse loft, a shower that spilt over a cliff edge into a large jacuzzi….. HOLY COW!
Life is the stories you can tell….
I will not be telling all of the stories associated with this adventure.
Just one….
With a twinkle in his eye, Lance said “I see that, like on our honeymoon, you brought a book to read. But I notice this book is not nearly as thick as the one you took on our honeymoon.” [I started and finished War and Peace on our honeymoon.] To which I wickedly responded “I bought two books, sweetheart.”