Splendid Japan: The Truly Splendid Yokota West Elementary
As promised, I’ve saved some of the very best from my author visits in Japan for last.
When I arrived at Yokota West Elementary School, I knew something was up. The kids who saw me in the parking lot started squealing and shouting, “It’s Nikki Loftin! Look, it’s Nikki Loftin!!!” Think if Harry Potter walked into the house elves’ annual convention. Yeah, like that. I could not stop giggling.
It kept going, and then I met the incredible librarian at YWES, Elaine Stephens, and I was the star struck one! She’s a bundle of pure energy and joy, wrapped up in an elegant librarian suit. 🙂
She had prepped the students so well for my visit, they came ready to learn, eager to listen, and extremely knowledgeable about me and my books. The day was jam-packed with fun, presentations, an amazing Japanese bento box lunch, and then – the piece de resistance – a visit to the fifth grade wing.
I was gobsmacked. The fifth grade teachers had transformed their wing of the school into a mini- Splendid Academy. I walked through the purple curtain and was greeted with the sight of table upon table of sweets and baked yummies. And than I was tackle hugged by a group of kids, one of whom whispered, “Thank you for writing this book, Ms. Nikki Loftin. This is the best day of my life.”
I could see why. They had all read the book, figured out the “rules” of Splendid Academy and applied them. For instance, all the kids were allowed to use their technology (I have never had so many iPad pictures taken of me in my life!), they were free to leave the classrooms whenever they wanted, lessons were voluntary, and eating sweets was the rule of the day.
Okay, I guess I would have had the same reaction if an author had been even slightly responsible for bringing that amount of awesomeness into my classroom.
Here are the rest of the pictures. It was even more amazing than you’ll see here – I’m not allowed to show faces of kids on this blog, and the faces – the smiles! – made the whole event worth every hour of jet lag. I will never forget this day, or this trip. What an experience! An author’s dream come true.
I’ll do a final wrap-up post for other writers about school visits next time – and show off my amazing “sayonara doll” that was given to me as a parting gift. But first, copy edits are due! And Bridget Zinn’s book launch party at Bookpeople is tonight! And my kids want lunch AGAIN. (Honestly, they want to be fed every single day! Sheesh.)
More in a few days…