What you will discover in the new publication Read and Enjoy: The Book of Mount Vernon is a present-day observation of our town.
Perhaps it’s our community’s first ever book of its kind.
Herein, insightful words and vibrant images are generated by the entire fourth grade of Washington Elementary.
These students offer a contemporary story, reflecting what each has either already observed or simply wanted to explore. Add spontaneous discovery too!
Mount Vernon is much larger than what these students had time to discern in the narrow window of April.
As much as the students contributed to this book, its 52 stories are just a snapshot fraction of their ever-evolving world, a captured window in time.
Students took most of the photographs (some were supplied). They chose their topics, places to visit and people to interview. They helped with the design of their pages. (One story even features 3 ghosts on its layout.)
Over 100 students walked in small groups to reach portions of town by foot. Energetically setting forth, iPads in hand, they took thousands of photographs. They scattered like ants on a frying pan. Some purposeful. Others random. All taken in fun.
Business owners were gracious and generous, welcoming the students with such things as popcorn, soda pop, ice cream, and other treats. One group even helped a man wash his car.
When interviewing and photographing people, these spunky kids were challenged to have that certain confidence necessary to overcome typical youthful shyness.
With instruction from their teachers, the parents who accompanied, and my guidance as a photographer, many good things evolved.
This book is a twofold consideration:
1) these students have noticed a lot in their first ten years of life, and
2) there is so much more to discover within our community’s physical structure and vast array of diverse and dynamic people.
A realization: Mount Vernon, being larger than the students could access, has far too many good people and places which are not included herein. But celebrate this book for what the students accomplished.
In 2017 I traveled from my then-home in Colorado to work in Jessica Thede’s 4th grade classroom. My grandson, AJ McDermott, was her student. I helped her class produce the book What’s Important to Me.
That experience begat a 2019 book project when I worked with a Loveland, CO school in which fourth graders wrote about the neighborhood surrounding their building, an area similar in size to Mount Vernon.
Fast forward to summer, 2022. I took my grandchildren Autumn and Kayu to story time at the Cole library where I encountered Emily Ryan Stamp. Emily once was my photo student in her fifth-grade class. Reconnecting, we exchanged ideas. I shared the Colorado book with her.
Emily’s teaching team decided to try it in Mount Vernon. Making this book was a gamble of time, energy, and philosophy. It inserted excursionary learning into the regular classroom goals of the fourth grade curriculum.
As a book designer, the teachers had me sit in their classrooms to show students how to construct a book, page by page.
I extend my full appreciation to the students who contributed to this book. I thank the personable, talented, energetic, and visionary fourth grade teachers who took this chance to publish their students’ works.
Mount Vernon has a true educational gem with this teaching team of Sadie Andersen, Heather Bauer, Tierney Rowe, Emily Stamp, and Jessica Thede.
Through publishing this book, these five educators helped make their students’ voices heard!
The book will be given to each student in the final week of school. Copies are available by contacting the fourth grade team or me.
Enjoy!
Bob Campagna is a local photographer and writer. His email is [email protected].