Sharing C.S. Lewis and 'The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe' with Some Fifth Graders

One of our local public elementary schools invited several adults in the community to school today. Each of us talked about our favorite children's books and their authors and then, read a some to them.

I read the first chapter of C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe to about seventy fifth-graders, preceded by giving the students a little background on Lewis' life.

The kids seemed really into it and I had a fun time interacting with them.

I'm happy to be in a community where the local school district, the nineteenth largest of Ohio's more than 600, tries to maintain strong ties with folks. Every year, for example, something like 200 local residents join high school teachers in listening to graduating seniors' presentations of their Senior Exit Action Projects (SEAP). These are interdisciplinary projects that the seniors begin working on in the fall of the school year. In addition to a faculty advisor, they also have a person in the community who is their general advisor. Over the past two years of judging, I've heard and seen presentations on automobile design, entrepreneurship, anorexia among high school and college wrestlers, criminal forensics, and a host of other topics.

It's sort of vogue for people to cast stones at public education. But in our district anyway, there's a real desire on the part of educators and administrators to forge partnerships helpful to the young people. I'm sure that all of this works to the benefit of our students.