Center Middle School (CMS) students had the incredible opportunity to meet the New York Times Best Selling author and illustrator Jerry Craft last Thursday. Craft’s popular New Kid series is the first book students read in sixth grade English Language Arts (ELA) this year and has sparked an interest in reading for many CMS students.
More than 230 students signed up for the visit and every student received a free book from the New Kid series, signed by the author. This series has been captivating for students.
“It's a phenomenal story about an African-American boy who earns a scholarship to a prestigious academy, where he ends up being the "new kid" in a new and unfamiliar world. It's a great introduction to the middle school life, and it creates opportunities for so many wonderful conversations and community-building in class,” said Ms. Katrina Schlicht.
Ms. Schlicht is the sixth grade ELA teacher and is responsible for bringing award-winning authors to visit Center Middle School students. Two authors visited CMS last year, and students absolutely loved the opportunity to meet the authors in person.
The visit was made possible with generous support from Children's Mercy Hospital and RestorEd.
CMS is already looking forward to its next author visit with Lindsay Currie on October 16. Currie is a New York Time Bestselling author of The Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society and has written popular youth fiction including the Delta Games Series and Paranormal Mysteries.