Hello from St. Willibrord School

Hello, hello, blog readers. I'm writing to you today from St. Willibrord School in Chateauguay. I'm here today with photographer Joel Silverstein and we're working with students in Miss Small's Writing Club. These students (all girls in grades 4 to 6) are amazing. THEY LOVE TO WRITE!! And right now, it's lunch, and they're out snapping pics.

This morning, I did a little writing workshop and then Joel took over. He led an interesting discussion about the links between writing and photography. As Joel said, "Both are trying to get somebody somewhere." He advised students to take lots and lots of photos: "Take pics of what interests you. Take pics of what you don't understand. Take pics of what you do understand. Take pics of everything!" He also told the students they have some advantages over older photographers: "You see truths some of us may have dismissed." This thinking, Joel told me later, was inspired by Ernst Haas, one of the founders of the famous Magnum Photos.

Soon, we're going to try and get the students to FOCUS (another link between writing and photography!) on the topic they'll explore through words and pictures in their chapter of this year's Quebec Roots: The Place Where I Live. But so far, I'd say we're off to a fun and fruitful start!!

... me again, writing from home now. Just to report that our group is coming quite close to FOCUSING on a topic. And because I know you're eager to know what it is, here's how it looks, so far -- the girls want to explore how St. Willibrord brings together students from two communities: those who live in Chateauguay and those who are part of the Mohawk community in Kahnawake. Joel and I agree that we can't wait to see the stories this group comes up with using both words and photographs! Great work today, young women members of the St. Willibrord Writing Club -- and three cheers for your super smart and sensitive teacher Miss Small!