We had a great group of teachers at our session. We also had help from Andy Boyles, my editor at Boyds Mills Press (and Highlights). He took many of these pictures, and kept the slideshow(s) going while Beth and I alternated with teaching.

Read about it here.

Here’s a link to the column I wrote to oppose the policy.

Later this week I head to Philadelphia for the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics annual conference. Beth West and I will present a workshop and I’ll sign copies of Growing Patterns: Fibonacci Numbers in Nature.

As all of us struggle to figure out how stories will find their audiences in our digital world, it is surely important to remember that story matters most.

This is my fifth Kaigler festival; each one seems better than the last.

This year Julie Owen came along and co-presented with me. Our newest workshop is “Read a Book, Make a Book!” We had more than 50 librarians (and a few writers and illustrators) in the room. We were so busy with the hands-on bookmaking that we didn’t get a single photograph. Errrrgh!

We had good suggestions from Micha Archer, an honor winner in this year’s Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Contest.

Meg Medina, winner of the 2012 Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award for her book, Tia Isa Wants a Car, with Micha Archer, who illustrated Lola’s Fandango.

Patrick and T, the husband and daughter of Jenny Sue Kostecki-Shaw, who won the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award for her illustrations of Same, Same But Different. She also was an honor winner of the EJK new writer award for Same Same But Different. One of my favorite bits of the signing time at Barnes and Noble was my tea party with T, while her mom signed books.

Margery Cuyler

Rebecca Kai Dotlich

Matt de la Pena signing We Were Here, which he gave (GAVE!) to Julie after his speech, which was very inspiring!
Denise Fleming, leading librarians in a dance.

I spent some time visiting with Floyd Dickman, learning about the curriculum work he’s done with quilts and children’s books in Ohio.

During my signing time, I met some librarians from Meridian.

I spent time with my SCBWI friends at the Southern Breeze table. Claudia Pearson and Jo Kittinger worked hard to spread the word among librarians about homegrown writers and illustrators and to encourage would-be writers and illustrators among the librarians to join us at SCBWI.

Hester Bass, author of The Secret World of Walter Anderson, hosts the Southern Breeze table.

Diane Butler, librarian at Magee Middle School, wins the Kaigler-Lamont Award, which is given to a librarian who has done outstanding work in turning kids on to books.

Valerie Nye and Kathy Barco, who were signing their book, True Stories of Censorship Battles in America’s Libraries.

Thanks, Julie, for coming along, and for taking the pictures that include me.

I will also be signing books at the campus bookstore and hanging out with my librarian and writer friends. See the full schedule here.

A cool part of the electronics display.

Julie and M.E. keep a fan blowing by keeping the electricity flowing by touching.

S., back from her first event, talking with J., who came along with her mom, Sherrye Biglow, the Chastain Science Olympiad Coach.

C. telling her Dad, Raymond, about the terrific job her team did in the Experimental Design event. Congrats to C., M.E., and R., for their third place medal.

Last minute adjustments to the bottle rocket. C. and A. made a good showing, especially with their spare rocket!

More duct tape.

S. having some downtime after two back-to-back events with J. Congrats to S. and J. for their third place medal in Rocks and Minerals.

C. and A. getting ready for launch.

T., S., and J. watching the bottle rocket competition.

The spare rocket outperformed the pretty one.

A bunch of the boys played soccer for a hour in the afternoon. Then, D had a round with J.

The day is done.

Julie took this of me with her phone. I was knitting the time away in the holding room.

Here is G, my eldest, a junior, with two Murrah teammates, both Seniors.

With their teacher/coach, Mr. Jeffrey Stokes.

The Chastain Middle School Challenge Bowl team on stage at Hardy Middle School after defeating Northwest Middle School in a second round match. My youngest, D, is at far left.

Full team, including alternates, with Mrs. Roberta Hagler, teacher and coach.


Kicking himself for a missed answer. Crater Lake, maybe? Mt. Hood?

During the show, I’ll be on Twitter, answering questions about Fibonacci numbers. Follow me on @campsarah or follow @Highlights.

Everyone was very friendly and helped me work through a few technical glitches. Thank you, Maggie Dickson, fourth grade project director; Faye Bruce, librarian; Gena Yarbrough, district art specialist; Belinda McKinion, assistant principal; and Coke Magee, principal.

The students asked great questions, and were wonderful guides through the school as I made my way from classroom to classroom to sign books.

Once again, I brought along a wolfsnail and some prey snails. I also debuted the wolfsnail app in its trial format. The kids loved seeing the snail video.

Several teachers took the pictures I am posting here. Thank you.