On 6/1/15, I had the pleasure of closing out a busy, fulfilling school year of author visits with the enthusiastic, empathetic students of Lunsford Middle School in Chantilly, VA.
I spoke to three groups, each a grade comprising 500 kids. These kids were more liberal with their applause than at any other school I can recall, particularly after bittersweet revelations such as when I told the sad but true story of a family forced to move out of their home when they could no longer afford it. But that is not the part they clapped for, of course. This was: as that family was packing up, they discovered that their basement unknowingly hid a copy of Action Comics #1, the world’s most valuable comic book…and it saved their house.
Middle schoolers are in that sweet spot—old enough to have a more sophisticated sense of compassion for others, young enough not to be self-conscious about displaying that.
My kind host was Angela Couse; here we are with Angela’s fellow and also kind librarian, Katharina Reed (right):
After my first of three talks, I noticed that Katharina had modified her shirt as shown:
Speaking of zooming in, let’s also get closer to that very cool (and perhaps unprecedented) initials logo the school made for my visit. It appeared both as a screensaver before my presentation and as the centerpiece of a heartfelt thank you note Angela and the students prepared for me:
They meant business:
I particularly appreciated this comment:
“I never knew anything about the history of [superhero] creators, thanks! Now I’m going to annoyingly correct people who got it wrong.”
I am alright with that.
Schools, see you in September.
I spoke to three groups, each a grade comprising 500 kids. These kids were more liberal with their applause than at any other school I can recall, particularly after bittersweet revelations such as when I told the sad but true story of a family forced to move out of their home when they could no longer afford it. But that is not the part they clapped for, of course. This was: as that family was packing up, they discovered that their basement unknowingly hid a copy of Action Comics #1, the world’s most valuable comic book…and it saved their house.
Middle schoolers are in that sweet spot—old enough to have a more sophisticated sense of compassion for others, young enough not to be self-conscious about displaying that.
My kind host was Angela Couse; here we are with Angela’s fellow and also kind librarian, Katharina Reed (right):
I am alright with that.
Schools, see you in September.
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