Tonight's the Night

After several weeks of planning tonight is the night of our family literacy night. We have put many hours into getting this event off the ground, and have high hopes that many of our students and families will show up.

Four area authors will be coming to speak:

Karen Thalacker, author of Knitting with Gigi and Gigi Knits and Purls is one of our authors. Karen is a friend of mine. An attorney, I had a job at her firm during my college years- copying papers, typing dictation, running errands. We have remained friends and even though we don't see each other as often as we once did, can pick up right where we left off. She will be showing the kids her book, but also giving a brief demo on knitting. I am expecting that many kids will be anxious to learn how to knit on their own. All our families will receive a kit from Thalacker that includes her book, knitting needles and yarn.

Ajla Dizdarevic, a student at Central Middle School, is another of our four authors. Although Ajla is only thirteen she has already published her second book of poetry. Her family is from Bosnia, and our student body is composed of many Bosnian families. When I have mentioned her name to my classes, my Bosnian students always perk up, recognizing the name as someone from their country. Stephanie Sorensen is the author of books about Flash the Bassett Hound. She has written several books about Flash, inspired by her own dog,

Our fourth author, Maribeth Boelts, has subbed for me in the past. She has written several books including Dogarella, Sleeping Bootsie and Those Shoes.

In addition to our authors, we are serving a Soul Food dinner to celebrate Black History Month. Fried chicken, macaroni and cheese, black eyed peas, corn bread muffins and desserts are being served to our families free of charge. There will be samples of Bosnian, Latin American, and Burmese food.

Last night I made cupcakes to take for dessert, and even though I wasn't very excited about my little cooking project, I felt even worse for my friend, Becky, who had to make 350 corn bread muffins.

Perhaps tomorrow I'll have pictures to share. I know that by 8:00 tonight I hope to be relaxing at home feeling quite relieved.