LEF Grant Brings Author to Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School

A Lakeland Education Foundation grant has helped bring books alive for eighth graders at Lakeland Copper Beech Middle School.

Neal Shusterman, a popular young adult author, spent the day with the 8th graders recently. "It was a day filled with inspiration, conversation, and collaboration," said Janice Reichert, one of the 8th grade English teachers who wrote the grant. His books include the series Arc of a Scythe which many students started reading at the end of last year. The books include Scythe (2016), Thunderhead (2018) and the latest The Toll (2019). That book was released the day he appeared at the middle school and students were able to get copies of the book at a discounted price and have them autographed.

He won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature for his book Challenger Deep.
Students took part in three different activities. The grade was split into two large group assemblies which gave eighth graders the chance to hear from Shusterman and answer their questions. "It wasn't a lecture, which all kids doze off in, but an interactive presentation," said Eighth Grader Ibrahim Rogers.

Smaller groups were able to work with him in a classroom as he took them through the process of developing a written piece, how to get ideas and to build them into a creative story. He also discussed with all groups what it means to be a writer. Reflecting on the writing workshops, Eighth Grader Kirsten Lillo said, "He did lots of fun and creative activities with us...It helped me get more in touch with writing." Caitlin Leonard added, "I liked being able to hear the writing process not only from my English teachers, but from a professional writer."
Another group of students were able to hear a reading by Shusterman of his yet unreleased novel Game Changer due out September 2020.

ELA Teacher Ellen McNally said the idea for the grant began with a discussion with her brother, also a middle school teacher, of how to get middle schoolers, especially boys, interested in reading literature. Out of that discussion came the idea to begin reading Scythe. After the teachers all read it, and loved it, they decided to promote it to their students during a book talk. They then learned of Shusterman's book tour and his stop at other schools and wrote the LEF grant to bring him to LCBMS.

The teachers introduced all different Shusterman books to incoming 8th graders last year. Students were encouraged to read Scythe or one of his other 52 novels over the summer and it took off better than they could have hoped. The local Mohegan Lake Barnes and Noble, which provided assistance with bringing Neal Shusterman's The Toll to the school, reported that they couldn't keep his books on the shelves as eighth graders became engaged in reading.

"They read all the books and were excited to talk about them, and then their friends began reading them as well," said ELA Teacher Sharon Vicciardo. "It was fantastic to have more than half of the grade read over the summer before they even entered eighth grade." "These books have so many topics we can talk about with the students and get their true reactions, which you don't often get with a lot of popular culture books. These books are substantial," added ELA Teacher Danielle Reyes.

"It is so exciting to see the enthusiasm the students have when I visit schools," offered Shusterman. "When teachers are excited and enthusiastic, the kids pick up on that. It might start with my books and then going on to have this fire to read more," he added.
Speaking about Shusterman's visit Eighth Grader Arjun Parambath reported, "(It was) a once in a lifetime opportunity to meet someone as talented as him." Added Damian Siverio, "My favorite part of the day was when I got to spend two periods listening to the author that made one of the best books I've read."

The grant was submitted by middle school ELA teachers Janice Reichert, Danielle Reyes, Sharon Vicciardo, Therese DiSimone and Ellen McNally. The teachers gave a special thanks to the LEF for helping make the day happen.