The past two days I have been in Erie, PA. I have been to PA countless times in my life visiting my mother's large Pennsylvania Dutch family, but I had never gone as west as Erie. The city surpassed all of my preconceived expectations! Not only are the people wonderful (a fabulous basket full of Erie souvenirs and homemade banana-nut bread was waiting in my hotel room for me - thanks to the thoughtful women from OLCS), but the Lake is simply gorgeous in this location!
I thought that I was on Cape Cod!
I was greeted at the airport by Our Lady's Christian School's librarian Nancy Andersen. After a quick stop to one of the nicest hotels I've stayed at, the Bel-Aire Clarion, Nancy brought me out to dinner. Here we met up with a number of other OLCS teachers:
Yesterday I gave presentations to all the students, K-8. It was heartwarming to me to have the kindergarten children wholeheartedly applaud every time one of my illustrations came up on the screen! And it was equally rewarding to have the junior high students engrossed in my presentation, asking me well thought out, purposeful questions.
These kids are top notch. One of their fellow classmates, a fifth grader named Brittany, is in Children's Hospital awaiting a heart transplant. In one day's time, these kids raised over $5,000. to help her family!
Another impressive thing the OLCS students are doing is in the Erie community. They have been working with an artist-in-residence to create glass birds which will be displayed for one year in the Tom Ridge Environmental Center at Presque Isle.
The birds will be hung in the tower, flying free beyond the glass windows.
The students have already been preparing the inside walls of the tower. Nancy Andersen brought me to visit the TREC to show me poetry the kids have already written on the walls in chalk.
In addition to our visit to the TREC, Nancy gave me a tour of the Peninsula. I was captivated by the sight of little houses anchored on the lake.
My many thanks go out to Nancy, Jeanne, and the rest of the Author Day Committee for making my visit so memorable!
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