Tiff4Tat

  I have been a secondary building administrator in the Port Jervis school district for the past 20 years. I love Port Jervis and all the great opPORTunities it has for our kids and staff. We have lots of positive projects happening now in the district, and I have tremendous pride looking back at the past 20 years, and the progress we’ve made as a school and community.                Andrew Marotta One of the things I’ve tried to do over the 20 years was to be transparent and public with the information that I was sharing whether it was written, spoken, or recorded. I’ve sent out thousands of emails, given hundreds of speeches, written countless letters of recommendation, and more.  In all of these, I tried to model Literacy: creativity, interest, humor, and more. We expect those around us to be great writers and speakers. We must model that ourselves. When I gave a speech, I wanted it to have a deep impact, and be like a comet:...

When two prestigious book award selection committees choose the same books as winners, add them to your TBR list!  Activism and seeking justice are themes this week in picture books and middle grade fiction.  In November, the NCTE Charlotte Huck Award for Outstanding Fiction for Children named Mascot written by Charles Waters and Traci Sorrell, (Charlesbridge Press) and That Flag written by Tameka Fryer Brown and illustrated by Nikkolas Smith (HarperCollins) as Honor Books.  Tameka Fryer Brown and me, NCTE 2024 Last week, the 2024 Jane Addams Children’s Book Awards were announced and both books received awards. In the middle grade text Mascot , the author examines school traditions with themes of discrimination and right-and-wrong. In That Flag , Fryer Brown also examines symbols with themes of friendship and historical significance.  Nikkolas Smith’s brilliant and beautiful The Artivist is also an award winner and a 2023 Kirkus Review Best Book. This picture boo...

Do you want to take a literary vacation and don’t know where to start? It might be simpler than you think with these five steps.  Literature has the unique power to transport readers to different times, cultures, and landscapes, and we don’t even have to leave our homes.  What do we do, though, when we want to leave our houses, when we want to travel, when we want the culture and the landscape to overtake us in real time?  A quick Google search elicits grand destinations and stops for the bookish traveler. If you don’t have the time or the financial means to follow John Steinbeck’s route in Travels with Charley, then this blog is for you.  Indie Bookstores & Shop Local A literary escape could be right in your hometown. Last month, an independent bookstore opened in Cheyenne, Wyoming (my hometown), and it has been a delight to visit!  Bonsai Books , Cheyenne, Wyoming. There are choices for all readers in this warm environment. There is a small coffee shop in...

All week I’ve been reading stories about cities hosting Griz watch parties for the national championship football game between Montana and South Dakota. I’ve been on the watch party end plenty of times. A Griz alum, I watched from Missoula in 1995 as Montana won its first national championship behind the leadership of Don Read (R.I.P.!) and the arm of future College Football Hall of Famer Dave Dickenson. The Griz beat Marshall 22-20, and we loved it!   The next year, I watched from Missoula as eventual NFL Hall of Famer Randy Moss nearly single handedly outran the Griz in his Cat and The Hat Socks on December 21, 1996, as Marshall redeemed themselves with a win. Randy Moss and his socks. Photo courtesy of The Heralder Don’t get me wrong. Staying behind had plenty of cheers for the Boys from Montana. I was “Up the Blackfoot,” as they say, drinking at a Bloody Mary bar my friend Sandee had put together in her house. Her husband had gone to the game. My friends had gone to the ga...