A Visit Back To Class



STURBRIDGE- On June 1st, my sister Sarah and I visited our third grade teacher, Mrs Kackley, at Burgess Elementary School. It had been a long 14 years since either of us had stepped foot in the school, but it all looked the same (only much smaller!). It was also strange to show up in a vehicle other than that bright yellow bus. 



             We were looking for "Saturn 4", the class Mrs Kackley has been teaching since her first year at the Sturbridge school (also my third grade class). We made our way down the hall, created from Rolling blackboards and other temporary wall partitions. It wasn't where I remembered it, but I knew my teacher had told me they had been shifted around, especially with the new building being built.

              We recruited the help of a passing teacher to find the new S4 location. Right in the corner by the windows. My sister and I walked into the room of twenty children, interrupting a competitive game of Bingo. Mrs Kackley gave me and Sarah seats at the front of the class. 



     Mrs. Kackley's third grade class of 2011, with author

       Matthew DeBettencourt and his sister Sarah.



              I had been a guest reader at the West Street School in Southbridge for their Reach out and Read program the Wednesday before. So, it was my second time in a week to sit in front of a class of children about their age, and I wasn't as nervous about keeping their attention as I would've otherwise been.



              It was a lot of fun. I started out by telling them how I took The Island of Time from a bunch of spiral notebooks to a paperback and my experience working with the publisher. They followed up with lots of questions, ones I'd never been asked before, like "Did you write your whole book in cursive?" Which I didn't, but it was a convenient segue into handing out some autographed bookmarks that I had designed and written to each of them personally.(Because I wrote the messages in a very carefully written and out-of-practice cursive!
              All-in-all, I think it was one of my favorite "author" moments. It was fun to meet all of them and get to know some of them in our conversations (which my have tangented into Lego talks at a couple times--good thing the teacher was there to guide us and keep us on point!)
It was a great experience, and I look forward to my next visit! Hopefully next year!