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Ooey Gooey® Resources: Articles

Dallas 1996 Conference

NAEYC.org
January 1, 2001

MY STORY FOR NAEYC
By Lisa Murphy
Carlsbad, California

When I turned to page 62 of the November 2000 issue of Young Children and read the request for stories; especially stories from our most memorable national conference, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to take pen to paper and submit what has become known simply as “The Dallas Story.”

In 1996, I attended the annual conference in Dallas. A workshop called something like, Ooozey Runny Drip: Messy Ideas for your Sensory Table, was being presented, and the description in the conference program said to come and experience messy gooey things for your sensory table tub, handouts and recipes will be provided! OH MY GOSH! HANDOUTS with recipes!! I was running through the convention center because I knew that everyone attending the conference that morning was going to attempt to squeeze into this workshop! You know that any workshop at a conference that has to do with art, hands-on activities, sensory recipes, messy play, and especially any workshop that has a description stating, “handouts and recipes will be provided” is enough to cause a small stampede. This conference was no exception.

The room was packed, I worked my way to the front row and . . BINGO! Actually found an empty chair right in the front! I sat down and introduced myself to the people around me. The room was buzzing with excitement – you could feel the energy! Everyone was anxiously awaiting the handout that was sure to be filled with tons of new ideas.

We were so jazzed up for this workshop that no one seemed to notice that the tables in front of us were empty. But then, as the minutes ticked away, one by one we began to realize that a hand-on workshop with activity demos would probably have something on the tables!! And, wait a minute, what time is it?? “Hey! Where’s the presenter?” someone hollered.

Just then, a NAEYC representative approached the podium. “Umm,” she said, tapping the mike, “Hi, I’m one of the conference volunteers and I’m sorry to say that we don’t know where the presenter is. We knew that this was going to be a popular workshop, and, well, since there are so many of you here, let’s give her a few more minutes.”

She left the riser. People started whispering, they were getting restless. Where was she? Where was her stuff? Where were the activity demos? Where was the hands-on stuff? Where were our HANDOUTS?? I half jokingly tapped the arm of the woman sitting to my left, “Geez,” I said, “I could talk about this kind of stuff. I do it every day with my day care kids”. She looked at me, “Well, why don’t you get up there then.” I looked back. I was silent. I paused, then said, “Alright, I think I will!!”

So I did. I got up on the riser, took the mike and said, “HELLO, my name is Lisa Murphy, and I am NOT the presenter (I didn’t have the handouts). I was expecting a workshop filled with new ideas for messy, squishy stuff for my sensory tub – is that what most of you were expecting?”

500 heads nod up and down followed by a resounding “YES!”

“Well,” I continued, “I am a family childcare provider in California,“ at this point a woman sitting in the front, who I later found out was from Colorado, stood up and cheered, “Yeah! Yahoo for family child care!”

“And..” I smiled as I continued, “I do a lot of hands-on stuff everyday with my kids. So, since the presenter isn’t here, I thought I could share with you some my favorite hands-on, messy activity ideas. Sound good?”

Again with the nodding.

“I know, though, that there are lots of other workshop choices right now, so if you want to leave that’s fine, we’ll start in a minute to give you a few minutes to exit.”

A few people left. There was a minute of chaos and then we started. And, to be honest, the next hour is really a blur – I don’t really remember what I said, or what I told them. But, based on the dozens of letters I received from family childcare providers, preschool teachers and directors all over the USA for four months after the conference, I think it’s safe to say that it was informative and fun! I know I shared some of my favorite messy things to do. I’m sure I told a few stories, shared some things that worked and some things that didn’t. I solicited ideas from the crowd and everyone who wanted to say something did.

Workshop participants were asking questions, laughing and frantically writing down all the ideas that were being shared. The energy was great. The time flew by and as we wrapped things up I thanked them all. Thanked them for sticking with me, for sharing their stories, suggestions and activity ideas and, most of all, thanked them for allowing me such an amazing opportunity. Then with no prompting or signal or anything, they all stood up. They clapped, they cheered, they offered me jobs, and even asked if they could come see my school! They stayed after and asked me questions, and a few people yelled out, “DO YOU HAVE A BOOK???” I was awe-struck, amazed and about six feet off the ground.

Throughout the rest of the conference as I walked through the halls of the convention center to get to my workshop choices, I heard, “There she is, there she is!!! That’s the girl who just got up and did it when the presenter didn’t show up!”

A few people told me that they wrote on their conference evaluation form that it was the “greatest workshop they’d ever been to.” I don’t know about that, but I do know is that the whole thing was simply amazing. The ironic ending is that it was actually the beginning. Since that morning in Dallas I have gone on to form a company, write two books, present workshops and keynotes at child development conferences, and conduct in-service seminars to over 10,000 parents, family childcare providers, preschool teachers, playgroup leaders, kindergarten teachers and school district administrators. And, to share a secret, am affectionately referred to by colleagues as “the ooey gooey lady.”

I must close by saying that if I am ever so blessed as to have the chance to meet the woman who was supposed to have conducted that workshop at the NAEYC Conference in Dallas in 1996, I will shake her hand, give her a hug and say thank you, unknowingly, for providing me the opportunity and chance of a lifetime.

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