Funny What a Piece of Art Can Do...Peter Anton's JUST DESSERTS Exhibit on Campus Serves as One of Our Writing Workshops Yesterday

I took the teacher-leaders to the Walsh Gallery yesterday to see the exhibit of gigantic, hand-crafted desserts and told them to sketch one and start writing...see where it takes you. They all got to work and I became fixated on this one Pop Tart. I don't recall eating Pop Tarts as a kid, but I saw the commercials. I've always been an a.m. cereal guy. I like oats in milk. 

What I started writing about was something that I never have written about...a memory from Junior year that came quickly and faded fast, but really punched me in the stomach. It doesn't really have to do with Pop Tarts, but it does, because we were adolescent, young, set free, and stupid. Actually, I was...with a few of the other guys. We were asked to be student ambassadors for the Northstars marching band because they were competing in a national show that didn't let adults bring equipment onto the field. They needed to recruit a bunch of guys and they did...most of them on lacrosse teams, football teams, baseball teams, etc. who were dating girls in the Dance Ensemble. I roomed with three of them and, for the most part, while the band practiced we were told we could stay in our rooms, which we did, but also where the mischief began. I noticed several coolers the adults had were full of alcohol and they left them outside of their room without supervision. I took one, and the guys and I were set for evening fun while we played Pitch and smoked cigars (nasty things those are...but there was a store around the corner and we bought some). We also bought a couple of dirty magazines, one of them called Cherry Poptart. We pretended we were grown ups for the weekend, did what we were supposed to for the band, but when left to our own disposal, we were idiots, including taping pictures from the magazine all over the shared elevator. We laughed our asses off. 

We were never caught. It was a fun trip...part of the stupidity of adolescence and it was fun. It was a group of guys in their senior year and I had my incidence in 9th grade, and stuck to the straight and narrow afterwards. This was a rare, spontaneous weekend, because at that time I always worked and I took off for the long weekend to do the band gig. Because I was a year younger, I guess I wanted to seem cool so when the cooler presented itself without parental policing, it was a no-brainer. And I was hit. 

I think I put the story out of my mind because of the luck thing - we really did get away with it all - but one of the guys was this lacrosse player....super popular and a twin whose sister was equally as popular. We bonded briefly that weekend and I figured when we returned I'd probably never see him again. A year's difference makes all the difference....and I was right. Two weeks later, he, his twin sister, and another brother died in a house fire. It devastated the school, so much they shut it down for the day. We were sent home.

I was sort of numb, because I knew the kid, but I didn't really know the kid...just briefly...a blip on the radar. I learned more about him when we returned and he lost his life. He was so loved and cherished by the senior class. 

When the year ended, yearbooks came out, and at my school that was always a big deal...there were closet 2,500 kids in the building, 10th-12th grade. One of the highlights, always, was to read senior memories, and figure out if you could decipher any the secrets shared scripted, brief notes. In Josh's memories...this kid I only knew for a weekend...he wrote, "Crazy Crandall - Cherry Poptarts Forever," or something like that. 

I think I packaged the story up and tucked it away without really sharing it with anyone. It was a memory with older kids, who weren't necessarily my friends, but were stuck with me in their hotel room. I had the weekend off and was bored. The history followed.

Then the tragedy. 

I think of that often. 18 years old...an age I taught for many, many years, and I definitely never shared this story with my students (unless the Michigan hotel party and porn was left out). 35 years later, I'm thinking of all the life that has come my way, but he and his siblings were denied. It is something, Private Ryan. I hope the life I live makes up for the many lives that we cut too short.

Yup. Art. It can trigger stories out of nowhere.

Now time for Day 3.

And the Summer CWP Programs Have Begun...Always Wonderful to Kick Things Off with the Teachers

It was a successful first day, 11 of us...writing. Elementary, Middle, High School, ESL, and even sports teachers and coaches. Ralph Fletcher is always a wonderful first-day friend, and planting seeds in the power of writer's notebooks is a gift...as is pedagogy (Luke, 2008). It's a democratic collective and I was impressed on the willingness of all to take chances, share, participate, and tend to whatever they hope my germinate this summer. 

A highlight, of course, was author Sonya Huber, who can lead a workshop like no other. She is a Queen of taking a small idea and exploding it into all the brilliant ways it can be turned into an essay and exploration of communication and life. 

Six hours of workshops and sharing, belonging and care (as William and Jessica provided in a workshop they led in the morning). 

My writer's notebook has already been loaded with 20 pages of thinking, and I'm ready to add more to it today...that is the power of teachers teaching teachers and the National Writing Project way. 

At night, I also hosted Stefania and Max for dinner to begin cooking up ideas for two weeks of Little Lab for Big Imaginations. The best part of the work is the willingness to find absolute joy in everything we do. My intention was to share all the writing that was plugged onto paper today, but there's too much other work needing to get done so I have to be brief. 

Here's to all the educators of the world who give up their summers to return to school for more learning. Teaching is a profession that is lifelong...a commitment to the work of the next generation that is immeasurable. I'm so excited to be part of it where I can. 

Gambled Some Upon My Return with Campus Life, Teacher Institutes, and Young Adult Literacy Labs...Much Needed to be Done To Be Ready

Returning from CNY seems non-eventful, except I hit storms from Binghamton to Liberty, drove out of them, then learned storms were coming to Stratford and southern Connecticut. When I got out of the car it was super hot...oppressive air...and then Alexa and my phone were going nuts with storm warnings. I looked at the radar and decided I could chance a campus visit to get things set up.

Before I left for Syracuse, I knew I had to be super organized so when I returned I could instantly drive things to campus classrooms. Everything was lined by the door and in the dining room. I also spent extra hours on campus getting everything organized in my office, so when I returned from Syracuse I could easily move things from that space to the summer classrooms. 

That saying, "Your lack of planning doesn't constitute my emergency," is not how I operate. I wanted to attend my nephew's graduation and to see my family, so I worked extra hard before I left knowing the chaos I would return to. But I had a plan. 

What I didn't plan on were the storms. It was a downpour in Stratford when I left, but I saw this crazy lull in the clouds over Fairfield from 3 to 3:30 so I packed up my car and drove it to campus and got everything indoors before it let lose....I set it up for an hour, and then knew there'd be another lull for 20 minutes and drove and packed up my office. Needed an umbrella when entering, but it was dry on the way out. I got all those materials into the building. I unpacked for another hour....

....ah, but when I left the building it was monsoon and I was drenched walking to my car. The good news is all the materials are stored in the building for tomorrow's programs. I'll like arrive 2 hours before they begin so I can make sure everything is in place for the teachers and students. 

I drove home in a river, but by the time I made it to my driveway, there was another lull....just enough time to grill mushrooms and a hamburger before the 2nd round of storms came through.

Phew. That was a laborious day. I'm just counting my blessings that I the foresight to get everything ready to go before I left for Syracuse. I need to sneak the lil' breaks in where I can get them (trust me, I did much of the computer work while visiting) but knew the physical stuff needed a logical plan. And that's what I did.

But now to teach. Hello, Monday. I know most are on holiday this weekend, but we're taking off!

It's July!