So, this is all Matt de la Peña's fault.
JK, Matt, jk. But when I look back on the events that led up to this visit, meeting Mr. de la Peña at NCTE in Boston may have been the catalyst. I fell in love with his book The Living while stranded at the airport, Mrs. Itzen, the teacher librarian at Holmes, suggested we have him come to Iowa, and through the beauty of Facebook, we had an agreement. A year later, after a lot of planning, we had a wonderful visit with him in Cedar Falls. Thanks, Matt, for getting the awesomeness rolling!
The simple power of an author visit lasts far beyond the initial event,especially with a writer and speaker of exceptional power such as Mr. de la Peña. Because I'll show up to listen to him anywhere, anytime, when I saw he was part of a panel "Empowering the Voice of the At-risk Learner" at NCTE in Minneapolis last November, it was a no-brainer that I would attend. Listening to this rockstar panel of authors including A.S. King, Ellen Hopkins, Meg Medina, e.E. Charlton-Trujillo, and C.G. Watson was inspiring and uplifting. You can see my terrible photo from high up in the auditorium. (And Mrs. Ralston, English teacher from Holmes, is in the bottom right front row with her walker from hip replacement surgery.) I kept this photo because it was the birth of an idea: What if we brought their idea of "creative revolution" to our students?
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Fig. 1. Mrs. Paulsen's bad cell phone photo of the author panel
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Fig. 2. Mrs. Hendrickson reads while Mrs. Paulsen, and C.G. Watson discuss navigating the landscape of loss.
Fig. 3. Kickin' it: e.E. and Mrs. P.
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The idea bloomed further that night at the screening of e.E. Charlton-Trujillo'sfilm At-Risk Summer, which features interviews with many of the above authors and details her unusual book tour for Fat Angie working with at-risk youth around the United States, empowering their voices through artistic expression. As Mrs. Hendrickson, the teacher librarian from Peet, and I visited with the authors at the reception, including C.G. Watson (pictured Fig. 2), the idea of a creative writing celebration, which I had already been tossing around in my head, formed in our conversation. We remained in touch with the authors over the winter and sought funding sources.
e.E. and C.G., the founders of Never Counted Out which is dedicated toempowering youth voice through the arts, worked with Mrs. Hendrickson and I to prepare a dream grant proposal: five authors meeting with all junior high students in Cedar Falls. I figured we could always scale it back. But the Max and Helen Guernsey Charitable Foundation in Waterloo generously granted full funding for the dream. We are so grateful to their executive board for seeing the power in our plan and providing this amazing experience for our students. With the all-school assembly followed by author sessions for each grade, EVERY student in grades 7-9 will have the opportunity to learn from some of the best authors writing literature for young adults today. All of the authors are passionate advocates for teen voice and empowerment. University of Northern Iowa students in the English teaching program will be on hand to assist at both junior high schools, and the Department of Language and Literature will sponsor the free screening of At-Risk Summer in the Communication Arts Center, Room 108 on Wednesday night. University Book and Supply will have books available for the author signing that evening as well. See link below for more information.
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