It's always a
challenging, yet rewarding initiative to write a book. And, it's absolutely imperative to have a
wonderful and talented team on board to illustrate the story that you gleam
worthy of a read, and to lay out and pull all of the pieces together. Jared Oriel, Designer/Illustrator, presently
a student at Pratt Institute, Michele C. Barnes, Graphic Design Artist, and
Yaroslav Bogatov, my web designer for my non for profit organization
www.thekindkids.org are all instrumental in helping me to put forth another
book.
For the past year, I
have been reading, studying, and coming to understand even better a topic that
for years has been a part of both my professional and personal life. In 1986, while living in Frankfurt, Germany,
I began to have an appreciation and a clearer understanding of the history of
our U.S. Armed Forces and the roles/missions that were performed throughout
history. My own family traveled
extensively throughout all of Europe while residing in Germany, and what we
learned from our "Family Field Trips" has continued to make an impact
on our lives to this very day. While
teaching in Frankfurt, for the Department of Defense Dependent School System,
my First Grade Students, the parents of my students, and myself adopted a German
retirement home, also called an "altersheim." During the three years of partnering with the
residents and staff of the German altersheim, we all came to realize the
history and culture of the country as we were welcomed each and every visit
with open arms.
As my teaching
assignments continued to take me to different locations, I continued to promote
intergenerational programs that became an integral part of school-wide
curriculum's. While teaching in the
neighborhood of Burke, Virginia for five consecutive years and collaborating a
dedicated and compassionate intergenerational program with a local retirement
center, many of the retirees that my students volunteered with would reflect on
their lives. This of course included
conversations of the World War II Era.
After some thought, I wrote a patriotic play to honor and pay tribute to
the men and women who have served and who are serving their country, The United
States of America. During the five
consecutive years of teaching Third Grade Students in Burke, Virginia and
partnering with our same wonderful retirement center, I was asked to present
this play come each Memorial Day Holiday.
We did and each performance took on new character and meaning.
The play that I wrote
years ago, is the inspiration for my fifth book. The characters in my fifth book exemplify a
nature to give of themselves and to care for others. The book is both an intergenerational and a
historical presentation. I'll be
presenting my fifth book in October and I am looking forward to sharing it with
you.
Most grateful, Glenna.