This Assembly Brought by the Word Arrrrrrr!
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Pirate Ben Askew interacts with the children as he tells a story.
"I believe that events like these are important for several reasons," said Oberreuter. "There are students who get to hear the stories of adults who didn't love reading or struggled with reading when they were growing up, and how and why their feelings have changed. There are students who hear the message of what hard work can do for you. There are students who just need to know it is okay to like reading and writing. Different messages will resonate with different students."
Along with many hijinks and many, many rubber chickens, the guests told their guests how they began their careers in children's literature. Ben Askew actually struggled to read when in elementary school. When he became a teenager, he could only read at a much younger grade level, somewhere around second or third grade. He knew that this was going to be a bigger problem than it currently was, and he needed to do something about it. He discovered that he had dyslexia, meaning letters would sometimes be turned the wrong way or out of order in words. He trained his mind to read and write so that he, too, could succeed in school and beyond. Since he wasn't literate in writing, Ben became fluent in drawing and illustrations. This, of course, was very advantageous when he began writing books.
Izzy B's story began in second grade with a book writing contest in his school. He won the contest which got the flame flickering for his authorhood. The next year, he announced that he wanted to win the school's contest again, and his teacher, very supportive of his desire to write, encouraged him to stay later in school to write. He again won. Finally, for the third year, his teacher encouraged him to go to school on the weekends to work on his stories. Instead of staying home and watching cartoons, he went to school. Yes, he got a threepeat win. The fire for writing stayed in his soul. While both authors overcame obstacles, be it writing or drawing, they also worked with each other's strengths to write a book together. Both authors encouraged the audience to stay focused on their dreams and work around obstacles, whatever they may be.
The pair, with the help of the puppet, also taught the students how to become a pirate: How to talk like a pirate, dress like a pirate (which involved multiple rubber chickens flying through the air and Mrs. Mary Jo Hanson trying on different hats including a chicken mask), and finding the treasure (which involved even more chickens flying through the air). The pirates read their story, "The Mighty McKraken" to their fans. The story teaches about good manners. Incidentally, the men are as good storytellers as they are authors.
The assembly only lasted about an hour and a half, but the pirates had their guests on board for lessons in reaching goals, being a pirate, and, most importantly, in manners. They sailed off, leaving the youngsters with smiles on their faces and thoughts of rubber chickens flying in the air.
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The second and third Christmas program of this Christmas season were held in Mapleton on Monday. The elementary program included music by the preschoolers, 5th grade band, and the program "The Best Gifts." The high school concert followed the elementary, taking a break for those who were attending just one progran to leave and arrive..jpg)