Montgomery Middle School, Montgomery, Maryland

As much as we relish our adventures overseas we love our visits to schools right here in the good ol’ USA.

Sara leading the kids through Version 1.

A whole bunch of our work is repeat business and our friend Lisa the librarian has invited us to three different schools where she has graced the library with her enthusiasm. A couple times in Dover, Ohio and now twice in a pair of schools in Maryland.

So – fresh off an overnight flight from Sao Paulo (and a kidney stone flare-up which has Sara testing the hospitality of the hospitals in Leesburg Virginia) we drove an hour north to Montgomery, Maryland to reconnect with Lisa the librarian and to meet some of her teachers and students.

Lisa the librarian offers a bit of advice to a fledgling public speaker.

The recently recuperated Sara and I separated and each did four short but sweet workshops across the middle school grades. Some were writing, some were public speaking. Now I am going to complain just a little here – mostly because I know there is nothing Lisa the librarian can do about this but – who decided that 43 minutes is enough time to do anything in a class!? It’s in middle schools that we run into this most – I know that there is a lot of curriculum to cover – but spreading it thin leaves it – well, thin. Shouldn’t we be taking more time to explore concepts a bit deeper? Nobody has asked me to design the school day – and I doubt I’ll be consulted in the near future – but c’mon.

I’m making a point about something.

Short periods aside – we still managed to get a lot of good work crammed in. Kudos to the students and teachers who gave up the precious time to allow a couple of crackpot poets access to guide them for a bit.

Trying on some emotions so we can describe them with physical details.

Again, we find ourselves with only one wish at the end of a school visit – more time. Maybe next time. Time will tell…