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.