Today's Visit to St. Willibrord Elementary School

I'm all charged up after our visit this morning to St. Willibrord Elementary School in Chateauguay. I went with my friend, photographer Monique Dykstra. But we were part of a much bigger team -- Florence Allegrini, educational program coordinator for Blue Metropolis Literary Foundation was there, too; so was Louise Abbott, a writer/photographer who is making a documentary about Quebec Roots (that's the project Monique and I are involved in where photographers and authors help Quebec students produce a book about their community); Louise's husband, Niels Jensen, a filmmaker was there, too -- and so was McGill University prof Teresa Strong-Wilson, who has a special interest in stories and how narrative works.

We worked with Kelly Ryan's two grade six classes. Mrs. Ryan is a real dynamo -- and she knows how to keep her students in line. I was quite impressed! I was also impressed with the students. There were about 40 in all -- too many to mention everyone by name, but I wanted to share a few impressions and OBSERVATIONS (you know me by now, always noticing things like body language!!)

So, in no particular order, here are some of the neat things I noticed: There was a student named Journey. Great name, no? Journey, like about half the students in Mrs. Ryan's classes, is Mohawk. I would LOVE to name a character Journey since every story  is a journey, with a character ending up in a different place from where he or she started off. 

I also met a student named Mallory who has an interesting habit of pulling on the top of her ear when she is thinking. It must have been a day for ears since I also noticed how a student named Allie also plays with her ear -- though in her case, she runs her fingers along the bottom of her earlobe,  just under her butterfly stud earring.

Then there was Dalton, a young Mohawk man with a Mohawk haircut!I could tell  that Dalton is into stories. His sister invents scary stories and his grandma on his mum's side is an artist. I could feel he has stories of his own to tell, too.

I could tell from a short writing exercise I gave the students that a boy named Joey has a flare for poetry. Joey, if you're reading this blog, get yourself a good anthology of poetry at the school library and start reading. I'd advise you to especially pay attention to modern poetry that DOES NOT RHYME.

I met other students, too, like Jennifer and Josh, who are twins (even though Josh tries to deny it!) and Ryan, who has a great vocabulary and is a history buff. Ryan, once you guys settle on  a topic for your project, see if you can do some historical research. One of my favourite writers, British poet William Blake once said: "Dip him in the water who loves to swim." Of course, those words don't only apply to water and swimming -- they mean that we should all try to do the things we love. 

I love stories. EVERYONE HAS A STORY. That's what makes life so interesting. Hearing other people's stories makes me happy. What about you? If you can, go and find out someone's story TODAY. All you have to do is ask the right questions -- and then listen carefully (and take notes so you don't forget what you learn).

I'm off to work on the rewrite of my historical novel. Sophie posted a comment on the blog this morning asking if I get to keep the books I review for The Gazette. The answer is YES!! If you guys at Marianopolis ever want to borrow any, all you have to do is ask!