Goshen is in prairie country, flat and windswept. Tuesday morning dawned clear and cold — extra cold. The reception at school however was warm and welcoming. The students from Parkside are camping out at a school called (appropriately) Praire Elementary while their own school is undergoing an extreme makeover. But before my visit the kids had been busy doing a makeover of their own — decorating the halls and display cases with their own writing. Very impressive! At the end of the day the school hosted a poetry night for parents — and what a turn-out! The families spilled over from the chairs set up in the middle of the gym and into the bleachers. And the event wasn’t even at the neighborhood school, it was across town at Prairie, but there they were, all these parents supporting literacy by turning out and (no doubt) cruising the hallways to see their students’ writing.
Many thanks to teacher Matt Cooper and the rest of the staff for all their hard work in preparing for my visit. Very cool day — and I ain’t just talkin’ weather.
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