Overwhelming

TO OVERWHELM: to overpower, to overcome by superior force, to ignite, to empower, to engage.

We were seated next to each other at a round table in the Assistant Principal’s office. We’d recently aired a promotional video, and the unscripted sound effects of one 7th grade boy amused us so much we used it to punctuate humorous moments in the film.   Word had gotten around that said boy was getting flack from his friends, and we’d been called in to “fix” the problem.  Up until now, our entire experience had been filled with warm fuzzy feelings, weepy hugs, cheering kids, and once-in-a-lifetime teaching moments.  This was our first whiff of negativity and we were wrought with concern. 

“Do you want us to cut it?  Do you want me to re-record you?”

“What did those kids say?  Who was it?  Let’s get them down here!  Seriously, you are the star of that video, man.”

“The teachers are already fighting over who gets you next year!  We are so sorry this happened…” 

 When the dust settled and we took time to listen (silence is not one of our practiced virtues), middle school drama proved to be just that.  Our young literacy leader loved the video exactly as it was; in fact, he suggested we post it to YouTube saying, “It’ll totally go viral!”

After our young man left, we were left staring at our administrator.  And then it happened. 

“Do you two have any idea how overwhelming you are?”

With the intention of putting us in our place, our assistant principal had effectively christened us with our new identity. 

Me? Overwhelming?

 We are overwhelming.  Overwhelmingly excited, overwhelmingly passionate, overwhelmingly talented, overwhelmingly successful. 

We couldn’t have come up with a better moniker if we tried.

Mary and I are literacy soulmates.  Although different paths led us to our present teaching positions - an Elementary classroom for me, the publishing world for her - we both landed at Horace Mann Middle School in the fall of 2010.  We had such similar personalities and professional ideologies that we found ourselves brainstorming without even thinking about it.  We could (and would) spend hours talking about kids and teaching.  Not only did she encourage my crazy ideas, she had most likely thought the very same thing.  We are each other’s biggest fans.  We finish each other’s sentences, love and hate the same books, appreciate a well-placed semi-colon, understand the importance of fashion when teaching a novel, and both thought being called “overwhelming” was a huge compliment.

Cornucopia Relay Race - our take on a "book club."

Our journey of school-wide reading adventures started serendipitously. We were both at an 8th grade ELA department meeting where the conversation was meandering and the agenda loose at best. 

“So, Shawn (our Gandalf, aka Principal) mentioned that he thought it would be cool to have the whole school talking about one book.  What do you guys think about taking on a book club?”

“Half of my kids did their Summer Reading book talks on The Hunger Games.  It’s popular.  And there’s a movie coming out…”

“Hey, you don’t think he’d let us do a field trip to the movie, do you?”

OMG, Peeta so dreamy.

Turns out he would, and the weeks that followed were filled with marathon planning sessions, feather boas, reapings, kids reading in the cafeteria, and “Peeta or Gale?” posters plastering the hallways.  Letting passion and ridiculousness be our guides, we threw together a massive (and, dare I say, overwhelming) school-wide reading initiative that included taking half of our student body - 221 students - to The Hunger Games movie on a perfect Monday in March of 2012.

The movie was followed by full-contact trivia competitions, talent shows, cornucopia relay races and scavenger hunts.  Along the way there were costumes, district theme songs, and a whole lot of kids crossing social boundaries and having fun together.  They let us know that this worked.  It worked well.  And it just felt right.

When the year ended and we had a chance to catch our collective breath, we marveled at what we’d helped unfold.  We thought we’d caught lightning in a bottle – the perfect book at the perfect time.  But what we’d found was so much more.

Middle Earth Runs on Dunkin

We found passion.  We found purpose. We found our calling, and we found each other. We are the crazy reading ladies.

Now with two successful adventures behind us (we followed a certain hobbit on an unexpected journey in 2013), we are more than ready to go all in for 2014.

We are honored you’ve decided to come along for the ride.

And we promise to be as overwhelming as possible.    

Erin & Mary

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