Best Morning at Vanguard School

Let me get this clear from the start: it isn't that I dislike adults. It's that I prefer kids!

I am just home after a wonderful, dazzling morning with one of Ms. Forlini's Grade 11 classes at Vanguard School. Before I can tell you what made my morning wonderful and dazzling (spoiler alert: it was the kids), I need to tell you a little about Vanguard and how I got invited there. Vanguard is a school for students with learning disabilities (if you ask me, we all have abilities and disabilities!). Another cool thing: the school used to be a hotel! Which explains the many chandeliers on the ground floor, and the reception area that looks more than a little like the check-in desk at a fancy hotel! (There's more to tell you about the building's past, but that will come later! See, you need to keep reading this blog!!) As for how I got invited to Vanguard -- get ready for a very cute story. About 20 years ago, Ms. Forlini -- at the time a gifted high school student -- was selected to attend a writing workshop offered at the Blue Metropolis Literary Festival -- and I gave the workshop. So, all these years later, Ms. Forlini, who's been teaching at Vanguard for five years, thought it was time for her students to meet me!!!! (Writers should not overuse the exclamation mark, but I just broke the rule to indicate my pleasure!!!! Oops, there I go again!)

I had the whole morning with the students -- which added to my fun (and hopefully theirs too). It meant that we had time for stories, writing tips, writing exercises, and even for the students to share and discuss their work.

I'll start with some of my initial observations. (These occurred because I was telling the class that writers need to be OBSERVANT.) I noticed that, early on, when I was trying to get the group's attention, a student named Sophia put her finger to her lips and hissed, "Shhh!" And guess what? Everyone settled down! I asked Sophia if she wants to be a teacher (she doesn't), but when I wondered outloud whether she is a natural organizer, Sophia agreed that that was true. When I asked for the name of a student, another student named Felix helped me out: "I call him Mo," Felix called out. So Felix struck me as a helper -- which prompted me to tell the students that a helper is a good character to include in a story. (I think I'll add one to the story I am working on -- and maybe I'll even name him Felix!) I also noticed that there were many curly-haired boys in the class -- in fact I don't think I've ever seen so many people with curly hair in one room. 

When we discussed the importance of doing research, I asked the students to make a short list of subjects they'd be interested in researching. Kayden said teeth (she wants to be a dental hygienist); Sophia said the ocean; Felix said the origin of Santa Claus and Alessio said space. I thought all those topics were interesting, and book-worthy!

We also played that game I like where students come up with a list of words starting with the same letter. We used the letter F today. My favourite was Luca's word: forward. That's because, as we discussed, we're all moving forward in our own ways, at our own pace. And as we agreed, moving forward can be tough. Anyway, thanks Luca, because you gave me a new appreciaton for the word forward! I think it would make a great book title!!

Next I told the students about my treasured object: the monkey man charm I wear around my neck. This led to our first longer writing exercise, in which the class wrote about their own treasured objects. Alessio wrote about "A pocket watch from World War 2 when my great-grandfather was in the 22nd Battalion for his squad in Italy and was a prisoner of war. It was given to him by a British commander." There's definitely a book in there, Alessio! Alessio went on to tell us he is very close with his nonno (Italian for grandfather) who shared the story with him. Make sure you take notes, Alessio! Theo wrote movingly about a red doll that belonged "to my bubby when she was in a displaced persons' camp." Bubby, by the way, is the Yiddish word for grandmother. Theo, I love the image of that red doll and I hope you will turn this story into a book too! Egan wrote something that made us laugh, but that was also touching: "Poutine: when I was little whenever I was sad my dad used to order me a poutine." Poutine isn't the usual treasured object (it's edible!), but I love what this simple sentence says about the bond between father and son.

Before I share a little more of the students' work, I need to tell you what else I learned about the fascinating history of the building that now houses Vanguard School. It used to be an ORPHANAGE THAT BURNT DOWN. And something else fascinating: there is a teacher at Vanguard whose uncle lived in that orphanage. If I weren't already working on two book projects, I'd be working on that story. Students at Vanguard -- get going! And start by interviewing the teacher!

We ended with a memory exercise since I believe that memories are not random, but stories asking to be told. The students produced some excellent writing and I asked Luca whether he would read his aloud. He agreed and he also agreed to let me share it with you here. Get ready for something beautiful: "After being diagnosed with a few learning disabilities, I had to transfer schools and lost all my friends. My brother and I used to share the same friends until I went to a French school without my friends." 

Let me end this blog entry by telling you all the things I love about Luca's paragraph. First and foremost, it's HONEST. Honest writing, especially about emotions, RULES! Then there's TROUBLE (we talked about how trouble brings a story to life -- here, there's trouble with the friends, and also potentially with the brother). And this story has LAYERS -- there's even a linguistic angle since Luca mentions his new school was French. Also, and perhaps best of all, I happen to know that Luca's story has HOPE -- that's because I saw firsthand how well he and his classmates are doing, how they look out for each other, and how they are thriving at Vanguard. 

Lucky me, I'll be back at Vanguard on Wednesday to work with Ms. Forlini's other Grade 11 class. But to be honest, I do not think I am capable of having as much fun as I had today. Thanks to Ms. Forlini for the invite, and to the students for being wonderful and dazzling. Now go write those stories!!