A Room Full of Inspiration

In schools and libraries across the country, March is celebrated as "Reading Month," a time to focus on reading as a fun activity that helps foster a lifelong love of learning. A few weeks ago I was privileged to be invited to a local elementary school to make a presentation about reading and writing.

 

The K-4 students had been doing special activities and tracking their reading time all month long, earning one "mile" for each minute of reading. I was impressed to learn that they had collectively logged 79,000 miles in only four weeks. As the reading specialist explained, that's more than three times around the equator!

I was prepared but nervous as the kids started to file in. What if I couldn't hold their interest with my story about being a "writer" ever since I was their age? That thought was still in my head when a group of third graders marched in, proudly carrying a large plastic jar which they plunked down on the table in front of me. It was filled with pieces of food in various stages of decay, from just a little green around the edges to being completely covered in white fuzz. 

"Do you know what this is?" the teacher asked me as the students gathered around, grinning in anticipation. Know it? I'd imagined it about a hundred times--I would have recognized that jar anywhere.

"It's the mold terrarium from the book!" I said, just as excited as they were. Not only had they done the science experiment described in Cartoon Girl, they had brought it to show me. I told them I'd never seen such beautiful mold.

After that, talking about my journey from grade school student to published author was easy. The kids, many of whom had read Cartoon Girl or one of my short stories, listened attentively and asked great questions. They especially seemed to enjoy seeing some of my original drafts, with words, paragraphs, even whole pages crossed out as I worked to revise and sharpen my stories, trying to make them sparkle. In the end I explained that if they loved to read and write the way I did, they could find ways to keep doing that their whole lives. 

Later I received an envelope filled with thank you notes from some of the students. A boy named Evan wrote, "I learned to never give up on your goal no matter it is." Chloe's note said, "My birthday is coming up soon and the Anna Mei stories are now at the top of my wish list!" And a girl named Tanya shared this: "I learned that you can have dreams and they can come true."

Reading those notes, I realized that my visit had been as inspiring for me as I hoped it would be for them. So thank you, students and teachers at Donley, for the warm welcome and all your enthusiasm. Whenever I think about dreams 
coming true, I'll think of the lovely notes you sent, and all your smiling faces, and a jar full of beautiful green mold.