Career Day at Pennsylvania Avenue School in Atlantic City

Today, I had the wonderful opportunity of meeting with some of Atlantic City’s best and brightest students as part of a Career Day event at the state-of-the-art Pennsylvania Avenue School, one of the largest in Atlantic City. I was happy to talk with fifth and sixth graders and their teachers about being a writer of children’s books and about the many ways a writer today can make a living with words. 

The students and I talked about how the work of writers is all around them, in places they might not even realize:  on TV, in the movies, in advertising, on websites, in newspapers, on the radio, in magazines, on posters and, of course, in the books they read in class and in their libraries. We talked about advertising copywriting, screenwriting, and journalism as well as the ways writers can earn their livings working for companies in public relations and marketing. We talked about authors and agents and self-publishing. Students were eager to read from the script for the movie Toy Story, to see how stories are crafted on a page long before they become movies on the big screen. 

The students also enjoyed  hearing Rodney Robin’s story  and about the process of creating Rodney Robin as a fun, energetic character by working with an illustrator. Many shared their own ideas for stories and why they enjoy writing (or not). I definitely met some future poets and writers in these classes, and there was terrific enthusiasm for reading and writing from both boys and girls, which is excellent to see. 

Many thanks to Dr. La’Quetta S. Small,  Ms. Antoinette Gray, and Mr. Christopher O’Brien for making my visit possible. The staff and teachers at Pennsylvania Avenue School are doing great things with these students and it shows. 

A Fabulous All-Day Visit at Plymouth Meeting Friends School

The students, teachers and administrators at Plymouth Meeting Friends School enthusiastically welcomed me and Rodney to their campus on Thursday, April 10th for an all-day visit to the PreK, Kindergarten, Primary, and Grade 5 classes.  What a great school this is —full of wonderful, creative students who asked dozens of questions and even developed fabulous ideas for Rodney’s next adventure!

Little ones enjoyed acting out parts of Rodney’s story and older students brainstormed and came up with new characters and stories of their own.

Top 7 Highlights of the Day at Plymouth Meeting Friends School:

1. Witnessing the kindergartners spontaneously (and flawlessly!) sing  “Yellow Submarine” and “Nowhere Man” while coloring pages from Rodney’s adventure.

2. Two kindergartners, sitting side by side, each jiggled loose teeth as I read. One lost his tooth as I reached page five, the other at the very end of Rodney’s story.

3. Receiving special gift drawings from talented fifth grade artist, Genevieve; an awesome draft of Rodney’s next adventure from third grader, Macy; a super sketch of Rodney by Emily; and a marker masterpiece  from Zander.

4. Seeing Lily, a fifth grade illustrator, developing sketches and sharing her amazing art.

5. Comparing early versions of Rodney’s story with the finished product.

6. Discussing the importance of color, tone and mood with the third graders.

7. Being impressed by so many wonderful questions and observations:

• “Is Rodney really your boy, Will? Do they have the same personality?”
• “How do you decide what goes on the cover?”
• “I think the moral of the story is to not judge people by how they look…”
• “…all the unexpected surprises inside this story were like an adventure for me, too.”
• “I think Rodney should fly to Antarctica and get adopted by some penguins.”
• “Rodney should go to Baltimore and meet some orioles who treat him nice, and some ravens who treat him mean, but in the end they all become friends.”

Thanks to all the students, teachers and administrators at Plymouth Meeting Friends School, especially to Kathie Jackson, school librarian, who made my visit possible!