Falling in Love with the Yukon!

The Yukon is out-of-this-world gorgeous and every school I visit seems to bring a fresh adventure. Here's what I mean...

Have you ever walked into a school and been greeted by a hallway full of cross-country skis and boots, and snowshoes? That's what happened to me this morning at Golden Horn Elementary. Here's what I saw:

At Golden Horn, I told the students how I often feel frustrated when I am writing. I said that's when I'm in the "Grrrr stage." Then I asked them what I do next, and a young man named Wyatt answered, "You keep on trying!" Good answer, Wyatt -- and yes, that's exactly what I do... keep on working through the frustration until the writing starts to get a little better.

I had a special treat at Golden Horn. The school principal, Mrs. Close, attended my workshop. How cool is that? And what a great example for her students! Thanks, Mrs. Close, it was fun, and an honour to have you there!

My next stop was Whitehorse Elementary School, where I worked with Madame Crystal's grade seven class. These students were spunky. And they told me some super stories. One had to do with a sweatshirt a student named Sya was wearing. Here's a pic of the sweatshirt to introduce the story...

Being from Quebec, I was curious to learn about this sweatshirt (we writers tend to be curious folks). Well, one interesting detail I learned is that the sweatshirt is signed on the back by Madame Fabulous -- this is the name of a French tutor who worked at Whitehorse Elementary last year. (Could that really be the tutor's real name? In any case, I like it!) But Madame Fabulous didn't sign the sweatshirt for Sya; she signed it for Katie, who has since graduated from Whitehorse Elementary. Luckily for Sya, Katie outgrew the sweatshirt -- and passed it on to Sya, who is her neighbour. Who knew a sweatshirt could tell such an interesting story?

Today's last stop was Hidden Valley Elementary School, where I worked with Mr. Harms's grades six and seven class. Here, I met the funniest student I've run into so far during my trip -- Thomas. I always tell students how I get writing ideas in the shower. So I was saying, "What do you think I bring into the bathroom and put down on the bathroom ledge every time I take a shower?" Of course, I was expecting the answer "Paper and pen," so I had a good laugh when Thomas called out, "Soap!"

I also met a young man who seems to have a serious interest in writing. And when he told me his name, I decided on the spot that it was a very cool name and that I'd try to include it in my next story. Here it is: Tristan Snooks. Just saying it makes me happy. Don't you agree? And Tristan Snooks kindly gave me permission to borrow his name for a future character.

Okay, I gotta run. I'm going to have dinner in a few minutes with my long-lost friend Barbara Reid (see yesterday's blog entry for that story!).

Will try to post another blog entry tomorrow. Can you tell I am falling in love with the Yukon?