On March 6, the names of Doctors Fauci and Birx had absolutely no meaning to most of us. We had disinfectant wipes, and hand sanitizer, but not a multitude of either. "Flattening the curve" was not a term used in our daily lives. While sheltering in place was something we did as a drill in school, "social distancing" had, thankfully, never yet been heard before.
We went out to dinner frequently, and we would only use a drive-thru if we were in a hurry. Our vehicles didn鈥檛 have an arsenal of items readying to make a quick run into a grocery store, as we now glove up, gear up, shop quickly and 鈥渨ash up鈥 only after we strategically take our gloves off with more care than the best surgeon, before touching our car door handles, steering wheels and stick shifts.
And Lord knows much of that has to start all over again upon entering our homes with the groceries, before methodically wiping every item down with the greatest of care.
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In a very different time, at Weedsport Elementary School on March 6, our sights were set on a much more innocent and exciting event, one that our principal, Tim Cowin, our Association of Parents and Teachers, our teachers and our library media specialist, Aja Hahn, had spent several weeks planning.
That event was the visit of children鈥檚 book author Jeff Mack, who wrote such favorites as "Good News, Bad News," "Who Wants a Hug?" and "Hush Little Polar Bear," just to name a few.
Lynn Cheche Baker
His visit came at the end of Spirit Week, which showcased five days of activities revolving around some of his book titles.
For example, to go along with "Hush Little Polar Bear," we celebrated bedtime stories and the kids wore pajamas for the day.
Another day 鈥 actually, the day he came to school 鈥 that was "The Things I Can Do" day, and on that day, children dressed for success as they donned the outfits that would show what they wanted to be when they "grew up.鈥
Mack is both the author and the illustrator of his books, and is no stranger to this area. He was born in Syracuse, and he went to college at SUNY Oswego and Syracuse University, and in Florence, Italy, as well.
He started drawing pictures when he was 3 years old, and his first art job was painting posters to advertise movies, books and music. As a child he loved to draw, and kept practicing to work on perfecting his craft.
For weeks prior to his visit, the morning announcements highlighted trivia questions about Jeff Mack that Hahn put together, and elementary school art teacher Melissa Beerman, who does the morning announcements each day, read different pieces of Mack trivia off to the children before his arrival.
Before his visit, families had the opportunity to buy any number of Mack books, and if they did so by a certain date, we had them ready for his visit so that he could sign each book personally.
Of Jeff Mack鈥檚 presentations, Principal Cowin said, 鈥淚 was able to watch several presentations, and I was impressed with his ability to make each of them age-appropriate, where the students really understood his message. He also was very engaging, and the students really wanted to hear about his books. I especially enjoyed the presentations to the students in grades four through six. He helped them understand that books can take a year or actually years to write, illustrate, revise and eventually publish. I think the students were surprised of how many revisions the author had gone through for all of his books.鈥
As my children were present at one of his many presentations, I learned that he showed the progression of his drawings from kindergarten, first and second grades. He went on to show how he painted murals in middle school, which included a dinosaur mural. He talked to the kids about how he continued perfecting his craft through high school and college, copying portraits and older paintings to develop skills, and started painting animals eating their favorite foods. He then created a portfolio with these.
He told the kids how he took the portfolio to publishing companies, and one of them asked him to illustrate "The Icky Sticky Chameleon."
He then showed a time-lapse video of how he created a dog painting wherein he started with a sketch, outlined a dog with blue paint, then continued with the rest of the dog, using only primary colors and white.f
He said it takes about three months to complete paintings for an entire book.
Students were able to ask questions toward the end of his presentations, and the children received paper and pencils and worked on a step-by-step drawing of a gorilla.
On that same day, various students met with Mack for a private work session.
I asked Hahn how the students were selected, and this is what she told me:
鈥淪tudents for special small group session were selected by the special area teachers: I started with a list of students who are great in art class being creative, thoughtful and interested in learning/doing more. Then all the other special area teachers shared names of outstanding students in special area classes. The students who were on both lists were selected. Grades three through six: 23 total students. Students sketched and created storylines using the sketches. They did a lot of shared writing where one student started a drawing and another added details or background. Students worked together to create a story framework with who, what, where, when and why connected to a made-up character. They learned basics of authoring and illustrating and created some of their own story starters.鈥
I can tell you from my own experience watching how genuinely excited and passionate Hahn was about Mack鈥檚 visit, and she happily shared with me her thoughts.
She said, 鈥淢eeting Jeff Mack and working with him in such a small group setting gave students the opportunity to learn in authentic way 鈥 from an expert in his field. Jeff is friendly, knowledgeable, and an outstanding step-by-step teacher of the craft. The students were able to look at writing and illustrating in a new way, and to realize that with a little practice and sometimes a new perspective, they can be successful authors and illustrators, too.鈥
Mack鈥檚 visit was definitely a highlight during the winter months. Teaching as powerful as that is beyond beneficial for the kids to be exposed to firsthand knowledge from such an expert in the field.
To end on the same subject with which I began this article, not only did Mack鈥檚 visit teach our children many things, as I said firsthand, but so, too, are our children learning many other things firsthand while you read this article.
Some of the greatest teachings in their lives will be evidenced in the course of this pandemic. They will be shaped in very different ways than they would have been had this never happened.
Obviously no one will argue that it would鈥檝e been easier without it, but we take the good with the bad. What I do know is the children will be an integral part of something far bigger than them. They will learn so much as little people watching bigger people around them go through difficult times, while we all band together including them, although apart, to work on making the world a much better place than it was before this happened.
We all take pause at this time to think about the way things were, and the way things can be when the curve not only flattens, but blends back into the earth and things become far more manageable.
They will be better little people for it in the end.
