Fall Workshop Info Here

There's a chill in the morning air, and it's time to announce our fall workshops!    [Some workshop information has been changed due to a facilities conflict.  Please note the updated times and locations as of 10/17.  Pre-registration is required for some workshops.]

  

·        Creative Writing - registration now closed

Thursday, October 11 (No school in Williamson County public schools)

Thursday, November 15

5:00-6:30 pm

December Parent Showcase, TBD

Additional support available by phone appointment and from 6:30-7:00 on November 15.  We want your child to succeed!

$75 (comprehensive, includes snacks on 10/11 and 11/15)

Calling aspiring writers and reporters!  Select and complete a specific writing project that will be featured on our blog!  Choose from short stories, poems, news articles, interviews, and reviews.   Instruction and brainstorming on October 11.  Review and revision on November 15.    Finished product ready by December, and we will schedule a special reading for parents.   Some at-home work required.  Do a knock-out job, and you may be selected to write again for our blog.   Parents, this workshop will boost your child's writing skills and self-esteem, and it will encourage responsibility as kids complete a significant project over a period of months.   Recommended for grades 2-5. 

·        No Girls Allowed!  -  registration now closed

Monday, October 29:  Spooked

Thursday, November 8:   Boys, Beyblades, & Better Writing

6:30-8:00 pm at Firstlight Arts Academy

$35 for one, $60 for both (snacks included)
Just in time for Halloween, our popular all-boys group will meet for brain-building fun, Spook Style.  Costumes encouraged as we'll use our imaginations and Touch-If-You-Dare props to create stories by boys that boys want to read.   No blood and gore, but plenty of action and laughs.   On the second evening, we'll share our stories with one another.  We'll then use our Beyblade toys in a writing exercise.  Skeptical?  Test us!  We'll have some extra Beyblades on hand if you don't have your own.   Recommended for grades 1-5.

·        Sparkle (Girl Power)

Thursday, October 25:  Attitude of Gratitude
at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church [registration now closed]

Thursday, November 29:  Spirit of the Season [registration ongoing]
at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church

5:00-6:30 pm

$35 for one, $60 for both (snacks included)

With the holidays around the corner, our all-girls group will focus on the spirit of the season.  In October, each girl will complete a writing project perfect for  a grandparent or that special aunt or uncle – just in time for holiday gift-giving!   In November, we'll meet for a Sparkle Holiday Book Club Night focusing on Junie B., First Grader, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!  (P.S.  So Does May.) and other girl-friendly holiday stories.  Recommended for grades 1-2.

• More Than A Book Club - [We're full!  Registration now closed]

Sundays, October 28, November 4, and November 11 

4:30-6:00 pm at the Starbucks on Highway 100 in Bellevue
$60

You asked and we listened!   We're meeting at Starbucks like we did in the summer of 2011.  There is a limit of 10 kids in this group.   No exceptions. 

Not ready for your kid to read The Hunger Games?  We offer a compromise.  We'll read the first book of The City of Ember series, a book that--like The Hunger Games--takes place in a post-apocalyptic world with teens as the main characters.  The Ember books are thought-provoking, great reads, and they are edgy enough for older kids but age-appropriate for high level readers in grades 3-5.  We'll read, write, analyze, and debate in this fun workshop that enhances reading comprehension, reasoning, composition, teamwork, and public speaking.  We'll encourage the group to read the second book over the holiday break.

Want to know more about More Than A Book Club?  Click here:
http://sparkreadiness.blogspot.com/2012/05/more-than-book-club.html

Check your calendars and see what works.  FALL into reading and writing with us!

Enter Our Freedom to Read Contest

The Bible.
Harry Potter.
A Wrinkle in Time.
Shel Silverstein's poems.
Captain Underpants.

What do these books have in common?  Chances are, you have at least one of them in your house!  They have something else in common, though:  all have been recent targets of efforts to remove them from school and public libraries.

Banned Books Week is the national book community’s annual celebration of the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment.  The 2012 Banned Books Week will be held from September 30 through October 6.

Here at Spark, we support First Amendment freedoms, and we also support a parent’s right to make choices as to what is appropriate for his or her child.  For example, we recognize there is a big difference between deciding that your own child should wait a year or two before reading The Hunger Games and advocating that certain books should permanently be removed from a public, taxpayer funded library.  

With that in mind, we want to celebrate American children's freedom to read during this year’s Banned Books Week. We're celebrating with a writing contest for that special reader, writer, and thinker in your life!  And, it's free to enter!

CONTEST NEED TO KNOW INFO

WHO?  The Spark Freedom to Read Contest is open to children in kindergarten through fifth grade who live in the Middle Tennessee area.  All children are eligible (public and private school students and home school students) except for immediate family members of Spark employees and contest judges. 

WHAT?  Entries will be grouped into 3 categories by grades:  K-1, 2-3, and 4-5. Children should prepare a written response to the questions based on their grade level.  There is no minimum length for responses, but children should take care to answer all of the questions in their grade category.  Creativity and critical thinking are encouraged.   All work must be the student's original writing. 

Kindergarten - 1st Grade:  What is your favorite book?  Why do you like it? 

Children in this group may dictate their answers to someone who can legibly write or type it.  Handwritten entries, even if messy, are welcome.  Children may include illustrations.

2nd Grade - 3rd Grade:   What is your favorite book?  Why do you like it?  In your opinion, what makes a book a good book? 

4th Grade - 5th Grade:   During Banned Books Week, Americans celebrate the freedom to read.  Frederick Douglass said:  "Once you learn to read you will be forever free."  Who is Frederick Douglass?  What do you think he meant?   How can reading make a person free?

Students in this category should list any sources consulted for information.

For all categories, judges will score based on (1) clarity of the response; (2) overall content of the response; and (3) whether the response answers all questions for the grade category.  The judges' decision is final.

PRIZES?  Yes!  All participants will receive a small prize and $10 off their next Spark workshop.  The top entries will be published on our website with their parents' permission along with a brief biography of the authors.

1st Place K-1st Category:

$25 Parnassus Books Gift Card

2nd Place K-1st Category:

$10 Parnassus Books Gift Card

1st Place 2nd-3rd & 4th-5th Categories:

$50 Parnassus Books Gift Card

2nd Place 2nd-3rd & 4th-5th Categories:

$20 Parnassus Books Gift Card

HOW?  There is no entry fee.  Each child may only submit one entry.  No co-written entries.  Each entry must be accompanied by a completed entry form.  Entries may be submitted by snail mail or email.   Email entries to sparkreadiness@comcast.net and put "Freedom to Read Contest" in the subject line. You may scan and send a handwritten response, add a Word document as an attachment to the email, or simply type the response directly into the email. If you prefer to mail your entry, please email us and say so, and we will provide a mailing address for your convenience.

WHEN?  Entries must be received by midnight on November 7, 2012.  Please note that mailed entries will not be returned. 

QUESTIONS?  Did we forget something? Post any questions here or on our Facebook page and we'll answer right away!  www.facebook.com/SparkREADiness

Download the Entry Form Here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XRthZqNucdGTYqAtmE1Iy-RN_CEcw0S8uyYXoExTMiQ/edit

We hope to announce winners by the end of November.  "LIKE" us on Facebook to receive updates on this contest and other Spark READiness events!

*Parnassus Books is not a sponsor of this contest, and is not affiliated with it in any way.  We just want to support our local bookstore!*

Paying It Forward

I recently returned from my 20 year high school reunion, a weekend that included a tour of my renovated high school.  I noticed that the guide assigned to my group shared the last name of one of my favorite teachers.  Imagine my surprise when I learned he was that teacher's grandson!

Have you ever stopped to think about the people in your life who played a significant role in shaping who you are today?  That teacher --Barbara Cansler--was one of those people for me.

Family members were the first and most important shapers of who I would become.  For their love, encouragement, and sacrifices on my behalf, I will always be grateful.   However, not everyone has such support from family, and I've always been inspired by those people who were not related to me but chose to invest in my future in extraordinary ways, shaping the person I would become.

Amazing, isn't it, that each of us has the opportunity to shape another person's life?  How incredibly powerful!  It is one of the reasons I created Spark.    I want to ignite that special something in each kid, as these people did for me:

Cynthia Lawless
Mrs. Lawless was my 5th grade teacher.   She was one of the first people to push me outside of my comfort zone.  She helped me develop the tenacity I'd like to think I'm known for.  And boy was she fun!   I adored that woman and her flawless, beautiful cursive handwriting.

Barbara Cansler
Ms. Cansler was my 6th and 7th grade English teacher.   A published author herself, she fueled my passion to write and to seek publication.  When I look back at 7th grade, I barely remember anything else but writing, more writing, reading, and 4-H.   I'm not sure I ate.

Eva Victoria Price
Ms. Price was my county 4-H agent for many years.  I learned many things from her, but one of the most important was that sometimes you don't get what you want in the way you wanted it . . . but if you are creative and flexible, you can achieve the same end result through a more challenging and enriching path. 

Dr. Anne Armstrong
I spent two years in creative writing classes with Dr. Armstrong.  At a time when so many were pushing me to focus on "more serious matters," my classes with her nurtured my creative side and helped me maintain my sense of self.  Plus, she is just so darn pleasant.

Dr. Larry Brown
Dr. Brown took me under his wing and mentored me when I needed direction concerning career and college choices.   I would not have learned about Emory & Henry College had he and I not extensively researched and discussed all that we did.  E&H was a fantastic choice for me, and he knew it would be--because he had taken the time to get to know me.

Dr. Samir Saliba
Dr. Saliba was my pre-law advisor.  Dr. Saliba got my foot in the door of a federal judge's chambers as an intern.  Obviously, it stuck, because I have spent my entire legal career with the federal courts. (And thank you to the Honorable Glen M. Williams, Senior U.S. Judge for the Western District of Virginia, for indulging and entrusting a very young Jennifer with legal work.)

Dr. John Lang
Dr. Lang was my major advisor.  What matters most to me about Dr. Lang is that he gave me a break once when I really needed it.  I am proud to say that I mirrored his kindness years later, when a student of mine in a writing course presented with a similar situation.  All college lessons are not academic.

Dr. Robert Reid
He was my Shakespeare professor.   Oh, I had read Shakespeare before 1994, but I did not fall in love with Shakespeare until his course. 

Just reflecting on my many memories of these people makes me explode with gratitude.  Thank you, thank you, thank you to each of them.  And thank you for the opportunity to work with your children, for giving me an opportunity to pay forward all of the kindness shown to me.