Giddy as a school girl

I'm bubbling over with excitement feeling inspired, and seem to have a permanent smile plastered on my face. Yesterday's visit to Fremd High School's Writers Week is one of the most amazing experiences I have had in my professional life. I left wanting to write, and write, and write!

I first met Gary and Tony and heard about Writers Week at the annual NCTE (National Council of Teachers of English) Conference this past November. Their session, entitled Writers Week, caught my eye because I have really tried to focus more on writing in my classroom this school year. I was excited to hear their presentation, but I had absolutely no idea what I was in for.

The basic premise behind Writers Week is to celebrate the craft of writing, to focus on beautiful and heart-felt languague and the process of writing for an entire week. To do this, professional writers are contacted to share their writing, writing process, skill/gift with an auditorium full of students. In addition to professional writers, students and faculty members also take the stage to share their writing, their experiences, their lives. The list of authors/poets/journalists Fremd has brought in to their school over the past 15 years is nothing short of amazing: Gwendolyn Brooks, Billy Collins, Sharon Draper, Rick Bragg, Billy Lombardo (just to name a few). Leaving the session, I was inspired; I wanted to recreate this at my school!

I am excited to say that students will experience the First Annual Writers Week this April (2,3,6,9). Fremd can no longer say they are the only high school in the nation to host such an event (they are really excited about this too!). For the past few months a few of my colleagues (I will write another post about them!) and I have been diligently working to make this happen.

Throughout this process I have been in contact with Gary and Tony...they are amazing! There is nothing about Writers Week they aren't willing to share. They email me documents, have given me CDs from their previous years, shared fundraising ideas, and most importantly, they've always been supportive and encouraging. The greatest gift they have given me though, is an invite to experience their Writers Week (well, I may have invited myself, but they agreed).

I'm still not sure that I have the right words to express what Mr. Jameson and I experienced at Fremd's Writers Week. From the moment we stepped through the front doors, there was a buzz about the school. Both excited and anxious, we made our way to the hospitality room where we were warmly greeted by other teachers, asked if we were the visitors from St. Louis, and immediately treated like old friends. After handshakes and a quick hug from Gary, we made our way to the auditorium. Rounding the corner to the auditorium, it was evident that this is where the 'buzz' was generated; we could literally feel the energy in the room. Once in our seats, we sat riveted.

Wednesday's schedule looked like this:

1st period: A novelist by the name of M. Glenn Taylor read from his recently published book, The Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart, a story set in rural Virginia in the early 1900's. The presentation was really good, but most impressive were the students. A 3/4 full auditorium of high school students were actively listening. From where we were sitting, I didn't see a single cell phone or hear whispering (which we know are major feats in education these days!).

2nd period: A Fremd graduate, Dennis Florine. The podium was quickly moved to the side and Dennis walked to the front of the stage where he began playing an acoustic guitar and singing. The students went crazy for Dennis and after his session, there were at least 100 students on stage thanking him, asking for autographs, and/or purchasing CDs of his music.

3rd period: Cristina Henriquez, a short story writer who will have her first novel in stores next week talked about writing and perseverance. (We actually only caught the last part of this presentation because we were talking logistics with Gary and Tony.)

4th and 5th periods were both devoted to student presenters. We were blown away! One particular student presented a SLAM poem on Homophobia and intolerance. One word...WOW! Sitting there, I got goose bumps and teary-eyed and when she finished, I felt like jumping out of my seat and giving her a standing ovation. The best part of the student presentations was the reaction from the audience. When a student was introduced, there was screaming and yelling for him/her, some students held signs with the presenters' names on them and afterwards the presenters were all congratulated, hugged, and high-fived. It was also not uncommon to hear students in the hallway going up to one another and saying, "You presented that poem on Monday, I really liked that!"
Student presenters are as popular as any athlete in that school...how amazing is that!

6th period: Burt Constable, from the Daily Herald, shared previous columns he had written with the students. One that he shared was his prediction that Barack Obama would be President, written in 2005. He has participated in several Writers Weeks and is still awed by the fact that he shared the stage with Gwendolyn Brooks (what a lucky man!).

7th and 8th periods were scheduled with Billy Lombardo, author of The Logic of a Rose and the soon to be released How to Hold a Woman. Billy was phenomenal and he is an author that we really want at our Writers Week. He was high energy and we experienced the gamut of emotions with him, from laughing to crying.

After the final session, we made our way on stage to thank Billy and help clean up the stage area. I was literally sad for the day to be over. We chatted with Gary again afterwards, him asking most of the questions this time...wanting our advice and opinions on their Writers Week!

I got one more hug from Gary before Mr. Jameson and I began our journey back to St. Louis. We considered calling in sick today and staying for another day (we really wanted to see Fanboys...yet another post), but we were too excited to get back to our own students and begin creating the 'buzz' for our own Writers Week!

Honored as Teacher of the Year

This past Thursday evening was the Founder's Day Banquet, where I was honored for being the Teacher of the Year for my building. While I generally don't like having a fuss made over me, it was really nice being recognized for the time and energy I put in professionally. A few of my closest friends attended the banquet to show their support, as well as my building principal. Although a little lengthy at times, it was a great evening; and, having people I care about there made the evening even more special.