Last year I offered a free school visit raffle for participants in International Coastal Cleanup events in Massachusetts. There were 2900 entrants (hooray for the Bay State and its dedicated ocean lovers!) and the grand prize winner was Emily, a seventh grader from Brookline. Yesterday I visited her school.
As it turns out, I have been to the William Lincoln School once before. But if ever there was a school that I wanted to visit again, this was it. First of all, last year’s trip was a bit unsettling for me. Somehow I managed to leave my computer bag (with my laptop inside!) sitting on the floor of my garage when I left for the visit. Once I recovered from the shock and embarrassment of this oversight, I did my presentations sans slideshow. All went well, and the Lincoln students and staff were amazingly kind about my gaffe. Even still, I was more than thrilled to go back this year and show them my best.
A highlight of this year’s visit was the opportunity to speak with Mrs. Zobel’s eight grade science students, who have spent a good deal of this year exploring ecosystems and sharing them in book format with younger students. What a treat to talk about the process of writing nonfiction for young people with writers in the thick of that very process! I look forward to reading some of these books when they are finished.
Many thanks to Emily, COASTSWEEPer extraordinaire, and Sue Zobel, who coordinated my visit. In honor of Emily and Sue and the entire Lincoln community, I’m going to officially kick off the International Coastsweet Get-The-Word-Out season:
This year’s International Coastal Cleanup will be held worldwide on September 19, 2009; you can find an event near you at the ICC website. Massachusetts residents can visit the COASTSWEEP website, where 2009 ICC events in the Bay State will soon be listed.