I’m not counting, but I think it will be three years since I left kicking and screaming from a job I loved as an elementary teacher. Retirement. A word I didn’t like and an event I thought would never happen. But it did. Weeks of farewell parties from teachers, my friends, will always be in my memory. And the endless cards and loving notes from the children and parents, are now stashed away in a brown moving box labeled “retirement”. I knew it would be a strange feeling no

From the moment I wrote my first words down on paper creating the character of Peter McDugal, I’ve discovered this to be a journey full of surprises. From the writing of the first book "The Adventures of Peter McDugal", to discovering the secrets of Belden School, I feel as if I opened Pandora’s Box.  I think of this journey as the gift that keeps on giving. My final Master's Class assignment from NIU asked us to go out and ‘create’ something for children. As an elementary te

Second camp was just as incredible as the first camp….fifteen young author’s graced the doors of Belden School. The temps kept rising along with the chance of rain each day. Everyone was hydrated and given an apple, but this time from the teachers.  Children were given incredible lessons on writing and illustrating  a children’s book just like our first camp, and of course, the camp t-shirts were worn like badges of honor. As before, not one pencil was quiet in our cozy one-r

Our first camp was incredible…how could it not?  We began the first day with twelve enthusiastic young authors waiting for the experience of a lifetime and four talented teachers ready to teach and engage our happy campers. Armed with camp t-shirts and a lesson on Belden School’s own history, our lessons began about writing and illustrating a children’s book. Ideas flowed.  Our authors perused samples of beautifully illustrated text. Pencils busily scribed words on paper.  No

“For years, I remember my father talking about the family “Bell” he had on the farm in nearby Iowa.  He told stories about the one-room schoolhouse he attended and the times he trekked in the snow to arrive before anyone else, to start a fire in the schoolhouse stove. He said his school was so old that it was named ‘Columbus’. The brick schoolhouse was eventually abandoned, but the “Bell” was taken to his family farm for safe keeping.  Years went by, the farm was sold, but th