At Trinity Lutheran

I liked this school! On Wednesday, April 14th, I visited Trinity Lutheran School in Tinley Park, IL.

Ms. Heins' classroom looks out onto a courtyard. It was an especially fine spring day: birds flying in and out, grass so green, sun lending light. Though lovely, that was not as inpiring a sight as was this: after I gave a writing prompt, 18 seventh and eighth graders immediately went into writing mode. It was kind of like waiting for a my husband to finish cooking the new recipe he found on the Food Network. I couldn't wait to taste their work.

We heard from Matt, who courageously offered to share his poem. Then we made a pretend critique group and gave him feedback. He had some fresh (as in just baked bread) lines in there. I wanted him to develop it more, not because it couldn't stand alone, but because his poem was about music, about it being endless, and I wanted it to go on and on.

Mrs. Septoski--Sydney's mom--took our picture together. It was a brief moment but my heart felt glad to get to be with the students. And who knows, maybe I was standing with some future authors.