Friday, July 15, 2016

Nerd is Synonymous with Love

As I reflect back on my Nerd Camp Michigan 2016 experience, I can attribute all that I witnessed to love

Love for words.
Love for story. 
Love for a passion shared among many.
Love for learning.
Love for community bound by a common thread.
Love for the craft of creating books.
Love for connecting readers of all ages to literature. 
Love for advocacy. 
Love for for healing the world through many voices. 




nErDcamp MI 2015

Kindred spirits are a treasure. I discovered this treasure this summer in Parma, Michigan at nErDcampMI. My kids and I made the trek from Wisconsin to engage in a two date literacy event.
The journey began in January when I was eagerly looking for the registration to open. I knew that I needed to be at nErDcamp. I was being pulled to it through twitter, through books, through my need to connect with people who were as passionate about books and enjoying them with kids as I was.
As soon as I saw the nerd rock, I knew that I had found my people. The anticipation was killing me. You see, authors and illustrators are my rockstars! I walked into nErDcamp MI with Cassie Beasley, author of Circus Mirandus. nErDcamp MI awarded me the opportunity to be inspired by the best including Donalyn Miller, Pernille Ripp,
Day 1 consisted of Ignite talks, short talks full of passion and fire! Motivation to advocate for kids! Support to continue to fight for what we know kids need when it comes to reading!
Attendants then were to choose sessions with expert speakers, otherwise know as our peers. I must confess that I am a twitter groupie and I rushed to attend a session with Hiesereads to learn more about "Book-a-Day." I then went to a Genius Hour session so that I could learn  from Sherry Gick! My day was complete after visiting the library with Mr. Schu! There truly CANNOT be another person who loves books more than Mr. Schu. These three people have been a Godsend for me this year. As a new librarian, I have followed them on twitter. They have guided me and challenged me to be better each day. They have helped me break the glass ceiling in our schools and pushed me to take risks, make mistakes, and believe in the power a librarian has in connecting kids with books, technology, and knowledge.
This would have been all I needed to feel complete in my nErDcamp MI experience, but there was oh so much more! I was able to share this experience with Tina Stimpson,  our district reading specialist, and  my passionate elementary principal, Leah Whitford , and her fabulous family.