Happy to Debut a Student Presenter This Afternoon at the YA Lit Summit Hosted by Oklahoma State University for Scholars and Teachers

Ah, this one isn't necessarily my gig. I was selected to take part in the Corrigan Scholars program which brings undergraduate students together with researchers on campus to mentor a two year project. The young man who approached me is a junior, Max Limric, and he was sent my way because of his interest in children's and young adult literature, but also teaching bilingual students. My expertise is not with Spanish-speaking populations, but I'm able to share all the work of Ubuntu Academy and the writing research I've been fortunate to lead with CWP-Fairfield. 

The project is still young, but he has a semester of YA Literature under his belt and is currently taking a children's literature course and several Spanish classes (his mentors are everywhere). When I was paired to be a mentor, I said, "Why not aim high early?" Lo and behold, his paper was accepted and he enters the world as a young scholar. 

His title is, "Spanish my first language, / bachata a reminder of the power of my body"; Exploring YA Texts for Spanish Speaking Students," and the bachata dance above is the perfect metaphor. He's at the beginning phase of the project (and trust me, I already contacted Tracey Flores about the work)(part of my mentoring). 

I actually have to prepare for another conference in the a.m. tomorrow, as I'm on for 40 minutes before I head to Syracuse for a week. Funny how digital spaces change what is possible in a given day. This will mean five national presentations in one week. Yes, I'm tired.

I'm excited about this one, however, as I'm channeling all who encouraged me to take chances early on...I mean, while I was entering the profession, I was already leading conference presentations in Kentucky (and I hadn't even entered the classroom). 

I'm paying it forward and it feels great. 

March on everyone. March March March. It's already the 1st of March.