COMICS in the CLASSROOM–Career Day at Holly Hall Elementary
This Tuesday morning I presented at Career Day for the whole 5th grade at Holly Hall Elementary in Elkton, Maryland. We were invited to speak by the school’s guidance counselor, Mr. Whisner. Joe is the resident speaker at CBH, but couldn’t go, so I got the assignment. At first, I was a little nervous, but the kids were so great that I was soon very comfortable.
Folks from different trades took their places two to a classroom to await the eager groups of students. I shared Ms. Sodell’s room with the Cecil County Sheriff’s Department. Let me tell you, that was stiff competition. Sure, I had free comics, but they had gun belts, pepper spray, bullet-proof vests, and they deputized the kids.
I gave a brief rundown of some of the creative jobs in the comics industry like writers, artists, and editors. I told the students about the printing process that I was lucky enough to witness on a business trip to Montreal. Of course I talked about comic stores in general and Captain Blue Hen Comics in particular. I even tried to not bore them while telling them about what I do in my position as communications & marketing manager. Thank goodness for the laptop I had so I could present the website. The star of the show was the free comics, which I smartly gave out at the end of the presentation, but had out on my table the whole time to draw their attention away from the cool policemen behind them.
Throughout the morning, I spoke to every student as new groups filed in every 15 minutes. Not every student reads comics regularly, but they each read at least two that day and most seemed interested in checking out our beloved art-form again in the future. All the kids were well-behaved (unlike one of the teachers–my wife–who heckled me several times), interested, and had lots of intelligent questions.
I had a really fun time and would like to do it again. Thank you to the staff and students at Holly Hall!
I asked the students to say something for the CBH website:
“Kids should always be able to get comics because they have exciting stories with adventure.” -Holly Hall 5th Grader
“The students were excellent for Career Day presenters.” -Holly Hall 5th Grader
“You have a cool job!” -Holly Hall 5th Grader
you DO have a cool job!!!
Yeah, but they won’t let me carry a gun…