The industry lost an important leader, educator and author when Jean Leinhauser passed away in 2012. Though her first career was in public relations, her passion was education. She was one of the founders of Leisure Arts. After leaving Leisure, she started the America School of Needlework with business partner Rita Weiss. It started as a school but soon turned into one of the industry's leading publishing companies known by the acronym ASN. Always a strong promoter of the industry, Jean recognized the importance of education to its future. As a member of the Craft Yarn Council, she always challenged us to improve the ways we taught knit or crochet. While she was a stickler for providing clearly written and illustrated how-to instructions, she also believed that one-on-one teaching was just as important. This belief was the genesis for her program called Each One Teach Two. She figured if each current knitter or crocheter would teach just one other person, we'd have millions of new knitters and crocheters over time. Most importantly, having a teacher next to you to offer advice and encouragement would be invaluable to ensuring a novice's success. Jean designed an entire Each One Teach Two program for Craft Yarn Council's web site (http://www.craftyarncouncil.com/knitguide.html). On one page, she included clear how-to crochet illustrations, along with the answers to who, what, where, why and how to present the lesson, and instructions for a basic crocheted swatch. On another there was an attractive crocheted scarf pattern. Teachers also could download a Certificate of Achievement when their student had completed the program. The same information was provided for knitting. Finally, to encourage knitters and crocheters to share their love and talents, she instituted a Teachers' Award Program. Teachers complete a form at the web site noting the number of students taught and their ages. Periodic drawings are held and the winners sent a gift. Has Each One Teach Two been successful? We definitely think it has and our research supports that. The number of people that crocheters and knitters have taught over the past two years has increased 25%. The mean number of people taught is now 11.3! That's an impressive increase and we believe Jean's Each One Teach Two played a big part in that success. Can we count on you to share your love of knit and crochet?
