No two school visits are ever the same for Lilly Badilly, and that is what makes my job so exciting! We had a fantastic day Friday at Miami Christian School with both our elementary and middle school programs. Librarian, Beth Mata, was so friendly and helpful, and the students love library time.  She takes great pride in her well-stocked library and is always striving to make improvements.

The Miami Christian elementary students are adorable! They were attentive and eager to learn. In addition to learning about the plants and animals of Costa Rica, we talked a lot about organic gardening. The students here have their own well-planned organic garden. I, for one, am impressed! They just recently had a very successful harvest of lettuce, tomatoes and other veggies they sold locally. They sent their profits to an orphanage in India, part of a sister school they have helped out many times. This gardening project provides these students with an excellent opportunity to learn about how much work it takes to grow our food without the use of pesticides and synthetic fertilizers. We shared tips on keeping insects and birds out of the garden  Check out their garden on the website.

The middle school students were excited to learn about publishing and writing. In particular, they enjoyed hearing about getting through writer’s block and how to be more observant of the world around them. People and events fuel our creativity and create characters and plots for stories.

Thank you to all the wonderful students, teachers and librarians Beth and Beatrice. I am looking forward to returning some time soon!

Established in 1954, Miami Christian is the oldest Christain School in Miami-Dade County. Any readers interested in learning more about Miami Christian School for their children, please go to the Miami Christian website.

I was greeted this morning by the friendliest Media Specialist, Leonora Flietas, at Norma Bossard Elementary in SW Miami. This beautiful school is only 3 years old, and the library is fantastic!

I had the chance to share my program with a class of 36 1st graders. The school chose to hold a lottery and picked one class to meet me. We danced, sang, learned about the plants and animals of Costa RIca and all about the rain forest. These were the cutest, happiest, most inquisitive kids. They were polite and so friendly. Every time I share my book with kids, I am reminded how much energy and enthusiasm they have. And more than anything, they like to have FUN! Each of us (adults) can certainly learn from them.

Thank you Leonora and all the kids and teachers for inviting me into your beautiful school and putting a smile on my face for the rest of the day!

I had a lot of fun and heard a lot of giggles today – both with the K-4th graders and also with the 5th-8th graders. My cartoon voices got quite a lot of laughs and were also the basis of many excellent questions today. I love curious children!I also love it when I can present both of my very different programs (Elementary and Middle School) to one school. It is nice to have the opportunity to talk to the older kids about the writing process and share with them the challenges of self publishing and what inspires me to write.

I am happy to report that we had several students with excellent geography knowledge today as well as many that had visited Costa Rica themselves and had seen volcanoes. The students at Good Shepherd obviously have dedicated teachers and a strong curriculum. Speaking of the teachers, I realized that this group really enjoyed themselves today and had some good laughs too.

Best question asked of me today by an 8th grader: “Can you make up a new cartoon voice right now for us?”

Answer, “Not really. Wow. I would need to work on that alone (in front of a mirror) and then get back to you!”

I thank Mrs. Millie Callejas for inviting me, Librarian, Mrs. Bonnie Beregszaszi for her kind words today about the book and all the teachers for listening and loaning me their kids. Pictures 1-2 are with the elementary school and Pictures 3-4 are with the 5th-8th graders.

Okay. We can all agree right now. 1st graders are beyond adorable no matter what they do or say! I shared my program with 110 1st graders at Coral Sunset Elementary School in Boca Raton, FL. These little people were eager to learn and participate. I just adore the way their eyes light up when you speak to them. And they were very attentive too. They asked me a lot of questions and shared many of their own thoughts. There’s nothing more satisfying to me as an author than 6-year-olds asking questions about my book and about the world.

Today we learned that many of them are afraid of wild animals and spiders. And a lot of them told me they can cook! I am very impressed.

As usual, the kids loved it when their teachers came up to answer geography questions. It always gets the kids laughing and cheering. And all the teachers knew the answers too.

Thank you 1st grade teacher, Christina Yarbrough, for inviting me to your school and sharing Lilly Badilly with your students. I so appreciate the fact that you shared the book with your classes before I arrived. It helps them get a lot more out of the experience. “Lilly loves visiting your school. Actually she adores it!”

I attended the Westchester Elementary School during their Book Fair tonight. We had a great time learning about the Costa Rican Rain Forest and what it takes to publish a book. I am proud to say that the 2nd-4th grade students here are fabulous with their knowledge of geography! They know their states and Great Lakes.They were very curious in general and asked me some excellent questions about the plants and animals of Costa Rica and about publishing a book.

At each school I learn from the children as much as they learn from me. There are so many creative, polite and well behaved kids out there. Sadly we hear mostly about the negative stuff. But if you ever have the opportunity to participate in an elementary school program, you’d see all the promise our country’s future holds in these bright, inquisitive children.

I thank Ms. Nixon, the Media Specialist for inviting me and the kind Principal Raymond LeFevre, who helped me drag my books and equipment into the school. Everyone was very kinnd and friendly.

FYI-The first photo here is of this beautiful mosaic wall at the school.

We had a fact-packed, fun day at Grassy Waters Elementary today in West Palm Beach. What a beautiful new school that is! The library looks like a Barnes and Noble Bookstore. Media Specialist Alina Orenstein does a fantastic job with the displays to make sure all the kids are drawn to some excellent books.

I was impressed by the media equipment and morning communications, prepared by students. Also, there is a morning stretch and short exercise segment for the entire school. Way to go! Kids need to exercise, and this sends a most important message.

As usual, the kids were adorable. They thought my costume was really funny and my voices were silly.  We had a lot of audience participation. Everyone was extremely friendly and welcoming. Thank you Ms. Orenstein and to everyone else at Grassy Waters Elementary, and have fun with your Book Fair this week! I know you will all find lots of great books to read.

I had a nice surprise when I arrived at the school only to find that my daughter’s favorite 6th grade teacher, Ms. Woods, was working there. She is an awesome teacher, and Grassy Waters is very lucky to have her!

Photos of the program and shot with Principal Wilkinson.

Phone calls and emails have been pouring in from public and private schools around South, Central and SW FL inquiring about our Visiting Author Programs and booking dates. It is a total pleasure speaking to these dedicated people, who really want to enrich their students with new ideas and encourage them to read more. These school leaders are creative and dedicated and many sure have a great sense of humor.

We are excited about getting out there and speaking to as many elementary and middle school students in Florida as possible. So keep your calls, emails and referrals coming. We can handle it!

Tomorrow I am visiting Grassy Waters Elementary in West Palm Beach and speaking to 500 students. I am really looking forward to this event! I’ll let you know how it goes!

The entire Badilly family performed at the JFK Library in Hialeah, FL today for the 2008 Hialeah Literacy Fair. People in cars on W 49th Street could see this family of millipedes as they drove by. We performed songs from the book and played the US geography game, sold some books and met a lot of interesting people. Check out the photos:

I visited the Village School in Naples, FL today to do 2 presentations – One for the elementary students and the one to the middle school students. We had a great time!

The Village School is such a beautiful place. It is part of the North Naples United Methodist Church. The preschool has been there since 1985, and for the past 9 years, the school has offered classes through 8th grade as well. The principal, Ginger Sauter, was such a pleasure to meet. Mrs. Sauter shared with me part of her vision for her students, and it was refreshing, progressive and impressive. The children are taught with a combination of different teaching styles (in a Christian environment) and are encouraged to think independently and develop their creativity, while learning responsibility and leadership. The atmosphere was extremely positive there, and the teachers were clearly very happy to be there as well as the children. I have to say this was one of the best behaved groups of kids I have ever met. I think I’d like to start my education over and attend the Village School! Please go the school’s website to learn more.

For the Elementary Program we learned about the characters in the book, the plants and animals of Costa Rica, the importance of reading, how to problem solve peacefully, and we played a US geography game. The teachers got called up to the stage to play too, and the students showed roaring enthusiasm for their teachers! The kids were very eager to ask questions, participate and dance.

I spoke to the middle school students candidly about the creative writing and self publishing process – from the first idea to the final book and beyond. I shared with them the importance of reading and what steps they can take to improve their writing. More importantly I told them about my regrets – how I wish I had worked harder in school when I was their age and how they could take action now to make a significant difference in the world. They were so attentive, polite and very curious. I got to answer some interesting questions and also learn about some of their thoughts as well. I was impressed by their interest in writing and publishing, as they asked me very detailed, well thought out questions. The difference in maturity from elementary school to middle school is significant, and it was interesting for me to switch gears in such extremes in one day.

I say thank you to all the students, teachers and principal of The Village School. It was as much a learning experience for me as it was for them. Enjoy these photos!

I am getting ready to take my book and program on the road. My goal? To get kids more interested in reading and show them that without the written word, one cannot accomplish much of anything.  Anything else? You bet. In addition to elementary age kids, I’m going to talk to middle school age students. I am going to tell them in detail about what it takes to become an author/writer, careers for writers and the basics of publishing/self-publishing books.

If you think about it, we all go to school full time until age 18 -21. But do we learn enough about the real world during that time? Why aren’t there more programs with specific information about careers and business during those decades in school? I’m not talking about simply mentioning to a 3rd grade class what a doctor, lawyer, policeman, firefighter and accountant do in a one sentence summary. Kids need more. There are hundreds of careers and businesses they have never heard about before.

I wish I had been taught more in school about career options, being an entrepreneur and what it really takes to be a success (and what about managing money?) If I were an administrator of a school today, I’d insist that the topic of business and careers were an integral part of the curriculum from an early age.

So how can you make a difference? Approach your child’s school and volunteer to talk to the students about what you do for a living. What did you do to prepare for that career? What is your educational background? What exactly do you do every day at work? What do you like about it? What are the challenges? What do you wish you knew when you were their age?

More than anything else, those who share their career/business knowledge with students can change lives. If your words inspire just one student to work harder in school and achieve more, then there will be one less adult in this world regretting that he or she did not apply him/herself to the fullest in school. I wish I were one of those adults without “I did not work hard enough in school” regret. But unfortunately, I’m not. I cannot go back to do it all over, but hopefully I can inspire someone else to get it right the first time.