SAN LUIS OBISPO: The Graphic Communication Institute at Cal Poly (GrCI) provided two grant-funded workshops in August, funded by the Graphic Arts Education and Research Foundation (GAERF) specifically geared towards the teaching professional, as well as industry professionals. The first was an Introduction to Flexography course geared towards those who are new to the topic of flexographic and printing technology. This workshop enabled several printers and educators to attend an introductory class in flexography at reduced cost, providing high-quality flexographic instruction and hands-on training. Each participant studied from expert teachers and participated in hands-on production of film, plates, and printed pressure sensitive labels. A Mark Andy 2200 was used for producing individual projects. A banded roll test as well as a fingerprint target was printed to build a color profile. The second workshop was a Graphic Arts Teachers Workshop, which was open to full-time teachers at junior and senior high schools, community colleges, and universities. The Graphic Arts Teacher Workshop gave participants the opportunity to become current on many important technology transitions, developments, and management issues facing the graphic arts industry today and in the future. The workshop offered a hands-on approach to educating participants. The program served as a springboard for the future of graphic arts programs for those teachers who participated. These teachers took the information from the workshop back to their classrooms, providing a stronger foundation for prepress, digital printing, future technologies, and file preparation. Several of the participants were high school graphic arts teachers, with the responsibility of introducing graphic arts to this next generation, and preparing these students as the future leaders of the graphic arts industry. The information presented, and the hands-on experience during the workshop provided these teachers with the quality and in-depth knowledge from our university staff that will give them an edge in their teaching methods. This leading-edge instruction will allow the next generation of graphic arts professionals to be better prepared, whether they continue into higher education, or move directly into the graphic arts industry. Upon completion of the program, one participant stated, “The technology here is second to none! But the real strength of the GAERF workshop was the quality and in-depth knowledge that Cal Poly’s staff. They are exceptional individually, and collectively are the best!”