- Sedalia School District 200
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Students get to read books, meet author
Smith-Cotton students have a chance to meet an author by reading her books and joining a new book club.
English teacher and librarian Lorin Blackburn Thierfelder, is starting a new book club, reading author Tiffany Jackson’s three books, “Let Me Hear A Rhyme,” “Monday’s Not Coming,” and “Allegedly.”
Jackson will hold three assemblies next April: one for freshmen, one for sophomores and a combined session for juniors and seniors. During the assembly, Jackson will talk about a variety of topics, including diversity, missing youth, homelessness, and rappers, according to Blackburn.
There are three different book clubs, one for each book. Students who come to all three book clubs will get to meet with Jackson, and will be able to eat lunch with her.
English Instructional Coach Alicia Maggert says that having a book club with a chance to meet the author will help boost student participation.
“Getting to have an author visit S-C lets students see that becoming an author or journalist is possible. Getting to meet someone in real life that is successful in the literary world can open many doors for our students,” she said.
“I had a chance to hear (Jackson) speak last year, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to bring her to Smith-Cotton,” Blackburn said.
Blackburn won a grant from Missouri Libraries to buy six copies of each book to put in the library, plus 24 E-books of “Let Me Hear A Rhyme,” which is Jackson’s most popular book.
Blackburn encourages students to join her new book club; even if students don’t join, she still wants them to read Jackson’s books.
“My favorite is ‘Allegedly,’ it is such a gripping story,” Blackburn said.
Maggert said Blackburn Thierfelder “is making this an experience that allows students to read the books, participate in discussions, and prepare to meet the author. I think this is an opportunity that does not come along very often and I hope that many students take advantage of this very cool opportunity.”
The first club meeting will be held during ROAR on Dec. 5 in the library.