Students All in a Buzz

Nancy Evans is a teacher-librarian in London, Ontario. She sent me a thank you note recently that made my day and she’s given me permission to post it here, along with the accompanying photos.

I wanted to sincerely thank you for sharing time with us. Our students are all in a buzz this week as I follow-up with them. You truly connected with our children on many levels and the common thread that keeps coming through is that you cared, you listened, you truly answered their questions and you inspired the creative juices in the young minds of today and the creative thinkers of tomorrow.

One of the reasons this note meant so much to me is because my author visits with kids are just that – visits. I don’t sing or dance or do magic tricks. I have no high-tech visual aids. It’s just me and my books and a group of kids in a classroom or library. That’s the way it’s been for over 25 years now. With invitations to visit schools less plentiful than they used to be, I began wondering recently if I should be jazzing up my presentations. One writer-friend suggested I do up a power-point presentation. Nancy’s letter made me think maybe it’s just fine to keep doing what I do to inspire kids (or re-inspire them) to read more good stories and write some of their own, too.

The letter continues, referring to my signing her copy of Red Is Best from its first print run, artwork some of the students have been doing based on an unpublished story I read them, and eventually coming to:

Find attached a few photos of your visit with us for you to enjoy & re-live our morning together.

Thank you, Nancy Evans, for helping the teachers at Blessed Kateri prepare so well for my visit there. Thanks also to the B. K. students for giving me a morning I’m happy to remember. Read on!