Story Time

Two cement squares before the door, I get nervous. Actually, a deep strange nervous I haven’t felt since the first day of school. Alice, the volunteer coordinator thanked me for coming and like telling an airline clerk to "have a nice flight”, I responded “thank you for coming.” Gads.

As a newbie, today was supposed to be an observation day. However, two people called in sick, and they had a donor coming to observe, so I had to take on an official role during story development. I was the bathroom escort for 19 third graders. And this was by far the easiest job.

I initially typed up an extensive account of this experience, but then decided part of the amazement for me and for the kids, was the surprise. What’s going on? Why are they taking our pictures? What are we going to get? Who is this Mr. GeoDuck? Is he a duck?

So, I will take a few choice quotes from the story development:

“A fly, a fly, ummm, wearing a tie!”
“A rainforest in Florida”
“She can build supercomputers with her stinger”
“A spider named caterpillar”

I will be working with the same volunteer group each Wednesday and I was so incredibly impressed with their creative flexibility. Plus, a very welcoming group. I didn’t feel even a spec of nervous by the end.

And Ashley…I worked with her on the dramatic arc of the insect basketball showdown while we spelled words for her classmates. She could spell without thinking or staring up into her head. She hugged me when she left.