YAY!

So - our new unit is in full swing. We've got kids rotating through all four of us and we're working with ALL the kids. I've been really happy to meet the entire 7th grade and find out new things about all of these kids. We still have some things to work out and hopefully next year, it'll be even better when we do this.

Right now we have some good things coming through the building and school. From January 17th to the 30th, we are hosting a Holocaust exhibit addressing the group of Jehovah's Witnesses and their persecution in Nazi Germany. It's a cool panel exhibit and we may even have the capability to skype with one of the people the exhibit talks about. I've been able to get some publicity for this and have been really happy with the response from the media. I even had my 15 seconds of fame by being interviewed on tv.

We've had a student panel come in and talk to the students so these guys could practice interviewing skills. All of the panel were former students that had gone to Meredith and Hoover. The kids liked this because they could relate somewhat.

We just recently - this week - had two people (Adam and Mary) come in from our city paper, the Des Moines Register. The two journalists spoke about how to write a good feature story - leads, hooks, etc. The kids got to hear how these guys come up with stories and why they chose the career they did.

Next Tuesday - the 24th - we have another person coming in. Rami Even-Esh is a Jewish rapper and hip hop artist. He's going to work with the kids in 30 minute workshops and then do an assembly. We were even asked by another school if they could send some students and teachers to see what is going on.

I'm so excited about all the stuff we're doing together as a Literacy team. I've been really appreciative that I work with such a group of creative people. Yea, I'm pretty lucky.