Thanks to all the teachers and students who took part in last Thursday’s assembly at Bell View Elementary in Sandy.  Thanks, in particular, to Principal Webb and to Ms. Chilcutt, who, I believe, has the impressive title of Literacy Specialist.  As for the event itself, it went about as well as I could imagine for a first time presentation.  

Grades 4 through 6 attended, and they were excited and eager from the moment they entered the auditorium.  (This enthusiasm was helped along by the really cool images of dragons I had cycling on the projector.  I know they were very cool because each class that entered the room did so with choruses of “Oh, Wow!” which is always good.)  The students were well-behaved and participated eagerly.  Together we learned about the secret pieces of a story, told a great tale about a hero and best friend searching for Captain Kidd’s lost treasure while being chased by Evil Tyler (who used a giant eggbeater to create a whirlpool and, when that didn’t work, sicked his trained attack swordfish on our heroes), and made a lot of noise in general.  Then I talked a little bit about GDC, answered a few questions, and signed books for kids who had bought copies.  A few others asked if Barnes and Noble carried them for Christmas.  I assured them that my book would be the single greatest Christmas present that any kid ever received in the history of the world.  I think they were too smart for that, but some still said they’d ask for it on their Christmas lists.

It was a good learning experience for me, and I’m looking forward to more school visits in the future.  I’m confident it was an entertaining and useful experience for the students and teachers as well.  What I covered should give the teachers a platform from which to address reading, writing, narrative, and media overall, and I hope the students now have a new appreciation for how capable they are at storytelling, and know that is important. 

If none of that happened, well, at least they’ll always have me as Superwoman.  (Just a photoshopped image.  I thought that showing up at the school in a red miniskirt and cape, while interesting, might send the wrong message.  I’m not certain just what message that might have been, but I suspect it would have been wrong on a multitude of levels.)