Great Week in Habersham County

I had a terrific 4 days in scenic Habersham County last week.   I gave presentations to both Sixth Grade Academies.   I don’t usually talk to sixth graders so late in the year, (because they SCARE me!!) but this went great.   The students were very polite, attentive, AND receptive!   Nancy Simmons and Dianne Parrish are super librarians, and it’s obvious they love their jobs, and know the importance of READING and WRITING!!  They couldn’t say enough about how my Poetry Party! presentation, which covers all different types of figurative speech, was perfect for the upcoming writing assessment test.     Wooo-hooo!

Helen O’Brien and Karen Hinson at Level Grove went all out last Wednesday.  I knew it was going to be a great day when I saw the bulletin board right outside the library.  Karen had the the bulletin board decorated in a movie premier theme and I was the star attraction!  It was soooo cool!

A also had the privilege of  having lunch with the Georgia Young Author winners from Level Grove.  What great writers!  I even  read their stories, so creative!

Lots of talent up there in Habersham!    Glad I had the chance to be a part of it!

Back to South Carolina

Whew!  What a whirlwind three days in North Augusta, Aiken and Orangeburg, South Carolina.

First stop was Mossy Creek Elementary where media specialist extraordinare, Liz Knapp and parent volunteer  extraordinaire, Charlene Miller planned an author visit in three days!!!  (I had met Charlene the prior week at the SCIRA conference)  Mossy Creek is a  great school with great kids AND super teachers and parents.  I had forgotten my power cord to my laptop, and amazingly, Liz had one that was compatible with my computer!  She saved the day!    But that’s Liz.  You should see her library.  It was filled with costumes and props from back during the Civil War.  Oh, you can tell the kids have a fun time during library time with Liz.

Next stop, Chukker Creek in Aiken, where I did three lively sessions (lots of kids packed in the gymnasium!)     Debbie Sessions had the kids and teachers well prepared for the visit.  The teacher who played Mrs. Stein during my Poetry Pary! presentation had the kids howling!  She did a terrific (or should I say horrific job!)

Next stop was Orangeburg Prep School.  Orangeburg is very close to Bamburg which I visited back in November and found a wonderful friend, Harriet Coker, who invited me to stay with her.   I took her out to dinner at the new restuarant in town.  Now mind you, Bamburg only had one other restuarant!   At one of the tables sat a family where the boy and girl kept looking over at our table.  After dinner they came over to our table and asked for my autograph.  They had remembered me from the school visit back in November.   I had signed books for them both, so they already had my autograph, but I signed their napkins anyway!  Then another family came in and the father asked if I was the person who dressed up like the pilgrim for the presentation back in November.  They remembered too!  I felt like a celebrity!

On Thursday it was on to Orangeburg Prep School, where Celia Richardson had everything ready to go.   And boy did she have the kids well prepared. I ran out of both How to Drive Your Sister Crazy AND Bus-A-Saurus Bop!

It was a wonderful 3 days in South Carolina!