Why I Write For Kids (Reason #8)

You get to meet heroes who slog away for years doing one of the most important jobs on the planet. Take this note I got yesterday from a teacher describing the place of her assignment:
... Our school is in a high-poverty neighborhood (80% of our students receive free school breakfast and lunch). We are also a corrective action school which needs to raise the standardized test scores for our ELL and special education students in order to meet our state annual yearly progress (AYP). I have been a teacher with the NYC Department of Education for 33 years ... We have not had a visiting author come to our school (tight budget) since 1999 ...
Her invitation was so full of enthusiasm and passion that even if I weren't already planning a trip to New York and New Jersey in May, I'd leap into my car and drive to Queens just because she asked. After all, this school isn't far from the school I attended in Flushing when we first came to America; I might just meet another newly-arrived word-lover sitting under this veteran teacher's tutelage. Can't wait.

For new visitors to the Fire Escape, here's a reprise
of an on-going series of reasons to write for young people:


#1: Fascinating Fan Mail
#2: Editors With Good Shoes
#3: My Mom Is A Chick Magnet
#4: The Glam and the Glitz
#5: Happy Endings
#6: A Mutual Admiration Society
#7: Those Stylish Independents