Doug Dillon's Blog, page 23
September 11, 2016
Appealing to At-Risk Kids Through Novels
At-risk kids, life skills and reading.
The St. Augustine Trilogy – aiming for at-risk young people, using the paranormal, the historical and science fiction:
Book I Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book III Targeting Orion’s Children
My young adult series attracts a variety of readers, a lot of teens of course, and many adults in their twenties and thirties. And in that overall group, as I had hoped, are often a lot young people who live troubled lives.
You see, I’m a former secondary school educator who spent the last ten years of my educational career working full-time with at-risk kids. I worked for Orange County Public Schools which covers the Orlando area of Central Florida.
In that capacity, if I wasn’t setting up and monitoring programs from the district level, I was actually in schools working directly with students and their families.
Drug/alcohol use, suicide attempts, child abuse and even murder were some of the issues I dealt with over years.
I tell you all this because, as a writer, I decided to make a main thread in my book series relate to personal development, decision-making, responsibility and overcoming overwhelming challenges.
The premise of The St. Augustine Trilogy then becomes this: You Create Your Own Reality.
So many of the kids I worked with felt they were stuck in the quicksands of life and had no capacity for self change to make thing better that I had to make one last attempt at reaching others like them.
Jeff
To do that, I created the character of fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden who is a composite of all those young people I dealt with for so long. Jeff comes from a deeply dysfunctional home.
He is angry at the world and it is always somebody else’s fault for whatever happens to him.Using the first person, I have Jeff speak directly to the reader as if he is speaking with a friend.
And to make life even worse for Jeff, I inundate him with wild paranormal/science fiction-type occurrences.
Young adult readers eat that kind of stuff up and it gives me a chance to really put the pressure on the main character. For Jeff, it becomes change or be destroyed.
But to the rescue comes Lobo, the tough, mysterious, Native American Shaman. Oh, and Carla, Jeff’s girlfriend, who is smart, strong and has her head on straight.
It is through this joint guidance and modeling that Jeff learns to use the natural inner strengths that he never realized he possessed.
And at-risk kids who read my books GET IT! Whether reading my stories truly helps them or not, of course, I don’t know. But after visiting classrooms filled with such young people who read one of my books as a class project, I know the possibility exists.
They see Jeff’s gradual maturation and what he had to do to get to those stages of development. And for that I am extremely happy. If I have helped just one kid in this process it will have been well worth the effort.
As a side light, I put the trilogy’s location in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. This gives me the perfect setting for the spooky aspects of the series and allows the old history teacher in me to come out and play. What great fun to sneak in some lessons about the past and not meet resistance.
The Trilogy Used as Motivation and Skill Building in High School Reading Classes
What has been most interesting and gratifying is seeing high school reading teachers successfully use the trilogy books with those at-risk kids in their classrooms. Here are a couple of links to other post that will tell you all about that.
At-Risk Students and Reading (A full overview of the reading project)
Reading Motivation that Worked (The original high school reading project post)
Rewarding Reading Excellence in Schools (The trilogy used as a reward)
So there you have it. Below are the trailers for the two trilogy books already in print. And below that are some more links in order for you to fill in in any of the blanks:
Sliding Beneath the Surface
Stepping Off a Cliff
Trilogy Locations in St. Augustine, FL
The Main Characters in The St. Augustine Trilogy
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
Appealing to At-Risk Kids to Teach Resilience
At-risk kids, life skills and reading.
The St. Augustine Trilogy – aiming for at-risk young people, using the paranormal, the historical and science fiction:
Book I Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book III Targeting Orion’s Children
My young adult series attracts a variety of readers, a lot of teens of course, and many adults in their twenties and thirties. And in that overall group, as I had hoped, are often a lot young people who live troubled lives.
You see, I’m a former secondary school educator who spent the last ten years of my educational career working full-time with at-risk kids. I worked for Orange County Public Schools which covers the Orlando area of Central Florida.
In that capacity, if I wasn’t setting up and monitoring programs from the district level, I was actually in schools working directly with students and their families.
Drug/alcohol use, suicide attempts, child abuse and even murder were some of the issues I dealt with over years.
I tell you all this because, as a writer, I decided to make a main thread in my book series relate to personal development, decision-making, responsibility and overcoming overwhelming challenges.
The premise of The St. Augustine Trilogy then becomes this: You Create Your Own Reality.
So many of the kids I worked with felt they were stuck in the quicksands of life and had no capacity for self change to make thing better that I had to make one last attempt at reaching others like them.
Jeff
To do that, I created the character of fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden who is a composite of all those young people I dealt with for so long. Jeff comes from a deeply dysfunctional home.
He is angry at the world and it is always somebody else’s fault for whatever happens to him.Using the first person, I have Jeff speak directly to the reader as if he is speaking with a friend.
And to make life even worse for Jeff, I inundate him with wild paranormal/science fiction-type occurrences.
Young adult readers eat that kind of stuff up and it gives me a chance to really put the pressure on the main character. For Jeff, it becomes change or be destroyed.
But to the rescue comes Lobo, the tough, mysterious, Native American Shaman. Oh, and Carla, Jeff’s girlfriend, who is smart, strong and has her head on straight.
It is through this joint guidance and modeling that Jeff learns to use the natural inner strengths that he never realized he possessed.
And at-risk kids who read my books GET IT! Whether reading my stories truly helps them or not, of course, I don’t know. But after visiting classrooms filled with such young people who read one of my books as a class project, I know the possibility exists.
They see Jeff’s gradual maturation and what he had to do to get to those stages of development. And for that I am extremely happy. If I have helped just one kid in this process it will have been well worth the effort.
As a side light, I put the trilogy’s location in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. This gives me the perfect setting for the spooky aspects of the series and allows the old history teacher in me to come out and play. What great fun to sneak in some lessons about the past and not meet resistance.
The Trilogy Used as Motivation and Skill Building in High School Reading Classes
What has been most interesting and gratifying is seeing high school reading teachers successfully use the trilogy books with those at-risk kids in their classrooms. Here are a couple of links to other post that will tell you all about that.
At-Risk Students and Reading (A full overview of the reading project)
Reading Motivation that Worked (The original high school reading project post)
Rewarding Reading Excellence in Schools (The trilogy used as a reward)
So there you have it. Below are the trailers for the two trilogy books already in print. And below that are some more links in order for you to fill in in any of the blanks:
Sliding Beneath the Surface
Stepping Off a Cliff
Trilogy Locations in St. Augustine, FL
The Main Characters in The St. Augustine Trilogy
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
Creating YA Novels ro Teach Resilince
At-risk kids, life skills and reading.
The St. Augustine Trilogy – aiming for at-risk young people, using the paranormal, the historical and science fiction:
Book I Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book III Targeting Orion’s Children
My young adult series attracts a variety of readers, a lot of teens of course, and many adults in their twenties and thirties. And in that overall group, as I had hoped, are often a lot young people who live troubled lives.
You see, I’m a former secondary school educator who spent the last ten years of my educational career working full-time with at-risk kids. I worked for Orange County Public Schools which covers the Orlando area of Central Florida.
In that capacity, if I wasn’t setting up and monitoring programs from the district level, I was actually in schools working directly with students and their families.
Drug/alcohol use, suicide attempts, child abuse and even murder were some of the issues I dealt with over years.
I tell you all this because, as a writer, I decided to make a main thread in my book series relate to personal development, decision-making, responsibility and overcoming overwhelming challenges.
The premise of The St. Augustine Trilogy then becomes this: You Create Your Own Reality.
So many of the kids I worked with felt they were stuck in the quicksands of life and had no capacity for self change to make thing better that I had to make one last attempt at reaching others like them.
Jeff
To do that, I created the character of fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden who is a composite of all those young people I dealt with for so long. Jeff comes from a deeply dysfunctional home.
He is angry at the world and it is always somebody else’s fault for whatever happens to him.Using the first person, I have Jeff speak directly to the reader as if he is speaking with a friend.
And to make life even worse for Jeff, I inundate him with wild paranormal/science fiction-type occurrences.
Young adult readers eat that kind of stuff up and it gives me a chance to really put the pressure on the main character. For Jeff, it becomes change or be destroyed.
But to the rescue comes Lobo, the tough, mysterious, Native American Shaman. Oh, and Carla, Jeff’s girlfriend, who is smart, strong and has her head on straight.
It is through this joint guidance and modeling that Jeff learns to use the natural inner strengths that he never realized he possessed.
And at-risk kids who read my books GET IT! Whether reading my stories truly helps them or not, of course, I don’t know. But after visiting classrooms filled with such young people who read one of my books as a class project, I know the possibility exists.
They see Jeff’s gradual maturation and what he had to do to get to those stages of development. And for that I am extremely happy. If I have helped just one kid in this process it will have been well worth the effort.
As a side light, I put the trilogy’s location in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. This gives me the perfect setting for the spooky aspects of the series and allows the old history teacher in me to come out and play. What great fun to sneak in some lessons about the past and not meet resistance.
The Trilogy Used as Motivation and Skill Building in High School Reading Classes
What has been most interesting and gratifying is seeing high school reading teachers successfully use the trilogy books with those at-risk kids in their classrooms. Here are a couple of links to other post that will tell you all about that.
At-Risk Students and Reading (A full overview of the reading project)
Reading Motivation that Worked (The original high school reading project post)
Rewarding Reading Excellence in Schools (The trilogy used as a reward)
So there you have it. Below are the trailers for the two trilogy books already in print. And below that are some more links in order for you to fill in in any of the blanks:
Sliding Beneath the Surface
Stepping Off a Cliff
Trilogy Locations in St. Augustine, FL
The Main Characters in The St. Augustine Trilogy
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
September 10, 2016
A Harry Potter Halloween @ Barnes & Noble Jacksonville
A Harry Potter Paranormal Halloween event for all ages at Barnes and Noble Claire Lane Center, Jacksonville, Florida – Saturday, October 29, 2016, 5 PM until 8 PM.
Exciting Harry Potter Activities +
Authors of the Paranormal signing their books and chatting with customers (see below for more details).
Actual Ghost Hunters showing off their equipment and sharing their fascinating experiences.
For questions, call the store @ 904-886-9904.
Store address: 11112 San Jose Blvd.
Featured Authors of the Paranormal
Dave Lapham and Doug Dillon
Dave Lapham – Nonfiction
Dave’s books about hauntings in St. Augustine, Florida are the prime sources of information for researchers looking into the paranormal happenings in America’s Oldest City. These books are:
Dave’s book, Ghost Hunting Florida, is an excellent guide for those interested in Sunshine State paranormal investigations.
Dave proudly served his country as a U.S. Marine Corps officer and it is this hard-headed, no nonsense attitude that allows him to write about the paranormal with great balance.
Click here to see Dave’s website.
Doug Dillon – Nonfiction and fiction
Doug has been probing the paranormal for more years than he cares to count. All that effort has resulted in two nonfiction books where he shares the results of his investigations:
Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences
An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic
Doug is a former Central Florida educator who has combined his love of history, appreciation for the city of St. Augustine and his own paranormal experiences, in order to create a novel series for young adults and adults young at heart.
Titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, these books carry readers into the frightening world of teenagers Jeff Golden and Carla Rodriquez.
Books 1 & 2 are in print and Book 3 will be available in 2017. These novels are being used in some Florida high school reading programs for motivational and skill building purposes.
Sliding Beneath the Surface: The St. Augustine Trilogy, Book 1
Stepping Off a Cliff: The St. Augustine Trilogy, Book 2
Portal Links Writer with Alternative Reality
An opening to another world experienced by author.
Guest post by ghost hunter and Florida author, Dave Lapham
A friend the other day read “Gateway to Hell” in my book Ghosts of St. Augustine and asked me about portals, if they really existed. I have witnessed a portal. My wife,Sue, and I visited Ireland a few years ago and went to Clonmacnoise, a religious center established around 545 A.D. at the crossroads of the River Shannon and the glacial ridge running across Ireland.
We were standing in a cold rain amid the ruins of an old chapel, praying for a friend suffering from a brain tumor. As we stood there something opened in front of us and enveloped us. It was hard to describe. It wasn’t so much that we walked through a doorway, but rather that the doorway surrounded us as we stood. We were not frightened but overwhelmed with a peaceful, joyful sensation.
This cocoon-like feeling lasted for several minutes, then dissipated, leaving both of us exhilarated, overjoyed, and energized. The experience was the most astounding thing that’s ever happened to me. I know many others who have also experienced portals, among them my friend, Melba Goodwyn. She devotes an entire chapter to the subject in her book, Ghost Worlds.
“The Spanish Washer Woman” in my Ancient City Hauntings is another dramatic story about a portal.
We know that many dimensions exist other than the one we live in. Some believe there are in infinite number floating around the universe. We also know that not all of these dimensions are parallel, and where they intersect you will find a portal. The Irish call them “thin places.” Melba defines them as …inter-dimensional doorways opening into other realms of existence. As dimensions are not always fixed, so portals aren’t either, although some can last a very long time.
Portals can appear almost anywhere, inside structures or outside. They are often found in cemeteries, I guess, because consciously or subconsciously, we choose burial grounds for their otherworldly characteristics, spiritual vibrations, or auras. Cemeteries often innately exhibit sacredness and peace and where portals are often found. But portals may also appear under more negative circumstances and can be anything but peaceful.
In her book, Melba explains that we can discern energy patterns which might indicate the presence of a portal. These energy patterns, especially noticeable to sensitives, can be either harmonious or discordant. One can experience peace, euphoria, increased energy, elation, calmness. Or the energies cause weakness, nausea, headaches, cold chills, confusion.
There are other common signs. You may hear barely audible humming or buzzing, may feel static electricity, may see orb-like forms streaking around. The light around a portal may also seem either unnaturally bright or shaded, inconsistent with its surroundings. And there may be mist or fog concentrated in the area.
In any case, if you ever experience or think you are experiencing a portal, be careful. It may be a calming, peaceful place, or it may be something evil—as in my “Gateway to Hell” story. Either way, experiencing a portal is going to change your thinking about time and space.
Click on the following to find Dave’s excellent books.
Click here to visit Dave’s website.
Click on the following for further St. Augustine ghost stories, ghost hunts, haunted cemeteries and more:
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Story: Mary Hastings, Part 1
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Story: Mary Hastings, Part 2
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Story: Mary Hastings Part 3
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Story: Ghost Playmates Part 1
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Story: Ghost Playmates Part 2
St. Augustine, FL: Haunted Lighthouse
St. Augustine, FL: Ghost Evidence
St. Augustine, FL: Ghost Animals
Haunted Lighthouse: St. Augustine, FL
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt: Huguenot Cemetery.
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt: Tolomoto Cemetery
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt: Ancient City Inn
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt: Old Lighthouse
Haunted Lighthouse: St. Augustine, FL
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt: Old Jail
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt :Miss Caroline’s Guest House Part 1
St. Augustine, FL Ghost Hunt :Miss Caroline’s Guest House Part 2
Haunted Bookstore Yields its Secrets
Mary Jo Fister
A paranormal investigation in Central Florida.
Recently, it was my pleasure to be a co-presenter with Mary Jo Fister and Greg Bush from Offthetrails Paranormal Investigations (OPI) at the Orlando Public Library. That evening I then joined them for a ghost hunt at Paula Thompsons’ Here Be Dragons Bookshoppe in Winter Garden. What a great adventure with lots of activity.
Greg Bush
Below you will find the OPI posting about that event. And below that you see some of my comments about my own experiences:
———————————————
“When our friend Doug Dillon suggested Here Be Dragons as an investigation site, he told us the owner had been experiencing activity. Nobody was being hurt, but she would find books stacked on the floor when she opened in the morning, and they weren’t there when she closed in the evening! Books would sometimes fly off the shelves! We love books and reading, so the idea of spending time in the store really appealed to us!
“Paula, the owner, told us the activity had quieted some in recent months. Her daughter had refused to stay in the shop alone. The store had been a thrift shop and children’s clothing store before Paula took over the space. Originally, it was Western Union, and the sliding metal door and barred window in the back of the store are the reminders.
“Angel and I did our baseline sweeps. We found nothing unusual. There were spikes near the fuse box, but we expected that! Doug’s books are carried there, and we checked those for residual energy, but found nothing. We set up our static night vision cameras with the monitors. We left the Mel Meters set up to catch any activity: one in the front and one in the back.
“While Greg and Doug snapped photos, Angel and Rob monitored the monitors, and I set up EVP sessions. I employed the camera, ovilus, spirit box, and flashlight! That flashlight is one of our favorite tools! Its magic was with us tonight! I started in the back of the store. The flashlight did nothing. The words “fact, word, and verbs” came through the ovilus. They seemed relevant to the space.
“Next, I started a spirit box session. It was very fruitful! A girl’s voice said ‘Pamela’. In answer to my question about throwing the books, we heard ‘No’ and ‘No one’ in a male voice. ‘I did ‘em’ was the answer to my query about standing the books on the floor. Another voice said “hip hop” for no apparent reason. When I asked, ‘What color is my shirt?’ responses were white, grey, and purple. In reality, my shirt was black. Remember that ghosts may not see in our spectrum! When I was ending the session, I asked if there was anything else anyone wanted to say. ‘Don’t give up!’ and ‘F – – – you!’ were my answers.
“I moved to the tiny alcove. The ovilus relayed the words “Lynn, focus, cloister, and Japanese” which seemed relevant, especially cloister. Japanese, however, had us baffled.
The book stack on the floor that fell lover
“My final spot was near the front of the store. This is where we had our best results! The ovilus relayed a laugh for some reason. Then the spirit box said ‘Can you say f – – – it?’ The ovilus then gave us the word “laugh.” Clearly, there was a joker with us. Suddenly, a pile of books behind me fell over. I had not bumped them! Paul laughed and said the place where I was sitting is the spot she had the paranormal books until just the other day! The flashlight was one, and I asked, ‘If someone is here and wants to turn this off, go ahead.’ The flashlight went off, and the conversation began!
“The ghost told us he is a Cuban boy, between the ages of 10 and 15. His name is Eric. He lived before 1950, and came to the US with friends. He told us he is in the shop alone. However, he may have been mistaken, or misleading us. Other voices came to us on the spirit box! However, he did admit to us, after a little prodding that it was he who stacked and threw the books. He came to Here Be Dragons in a case of books as an attachment haunting! He said he wanted people to know he was there. He confessed that he was lonely, and never left the shop.
“Paula agreed to say ‘hello’ and ‘good bye’ each day. She also told Eric she would tell some of her customers about him, and ask them to talk to him, too. Eric spoke to us for a very long time, much longer than most other ghosts! He told us he liked classical music, and Paula said she’d play that more often. The group of us spoke about books, and when Lemony Snicket came up, the ovilus said ‘twist.’ During the flashlight session, the ovilus said very little.
“When I asked, in a spirit box session, if he could see Doug, a voice through the spirit box replied, ‘I see ‘im.’ In answer to the question about my hair color, (blonde) voices said ‘purple and aqua!’ When I asked, ‘How many of us are here?’ The response was, ‘4 women and 3 men.’ Who weren’t they counting?
“We did several flashlight sessions with Eric. During one of those, there is unexplained music and a little girl said, ‘Mommy!’ Might it be his little sister?
“We still have questions about the store. Who might be the other voices? We wish Eric all the best, and hope he and Paula and the store’s customers continue to peacefully co-exist. We are glad Doug was able to be there! We will stop by the next time we are in the area!
———————————————————————-
At one point in the investigation, I walked over to where the monitors were located for keeping track of any activity captured on the two TV cameras that had been set up. As I watched the monitor on the left, a pinpoint of light spiraled from deep in the store right up to the camera that was just behind me. It then spiraled backward the way it came. That all happened within a couple of seconds or even less.
While Mary Jo talked to the spirit named Eric, I sat on the floor about six feet behind her. All of a sudden, another pinpoint of light popped on and then off in my peripheral vision–to my right. It appeared in a bookcase, below the shelf where OPI has stationed one of their pieces of energy sensing equipment.
Click here to see the Here Be Dragons website.
To see the Offthetrails Paranormal Investigations website, click here.
To see the original posting of the Offthetrails posting and their photos, click here.
Old School Rules from Spanish Florida
Colonial St. Augustine, Florida. Regulations for schools, classrooms, teachers and students. Talk about educational control!
If you have ever thought you had a lot of rules to follow in school, check out the ones below from 1786 in the colonial city of St. Augustine, Florida.
This was during the final decades when the Spanish owned Florida. In those days, schooling was definitely controlled by the Catholic Church but in the name of His Majesty the King of Spain.
Formal education during most of colonial St. Augustine was for only for boys, even those of African ancestry–as long as they were not slaves.
Sorry ladies but that’s how it was back in the day.
Castillo de San Marcos watch tower
These rules were written by Father Thomas Hassett, Parish Priest, Vicar and Ecclesiastical Judge of St. Augustine.
They lasted until the city passed into American hands in 1821. Father Hassett was just one of many Irish priests who served Spanish St. Augustine over the centuries.
The primary source of this information is the East Florida Papers from the Library of Congress. But to make them easier to understand, I cut out the less interesting parts and paraphrased much of the original wording.
Whether you are a student, a teacher, a parent or a history buff, I think you’ll enjoy what follows:
All teachers must be approved by St. Augustine church and city leaders.
The King of Spain’s royal coast of arms at the drawbridges
All teachers must obey and carry out the following rules completely.
The King of Spain pays teachers sufficiently. In that light, no teacher may demand any kind of payment from parents.
Teachers shall prepare a list of all students in the city and request that their parents send their children to school. If parents keep their children away from school for whatever reason, the teachers shall report them to the Parish Priest. The Parish Priest shall decide how to deal with those parents.
School shall open each morning at 7 am. Students shall not be dismissed for lunch before noon.
Oldest House inside
After lunch, school shall open again at 2 pm.
Each day, except in winter, students shall not be dismissed before sunset.
Each day in winter, students shall be dismissed a half hour before sunset.
As each student enters school both in the morning and after lunch: he shall greet with proper courtesy, first his teacher and then his fellow pupils; he shall then hang up his hat after seating himself in all modesty; after crossing himself in the name of the Holy Trinity, he shall take up the book or paper with which his study is to begin.
At 8 am in the morning and at 2:15 in the afternoon, the teacher shall call the roll. If anyone fails to answer, the teacher shall immediately send one or two boys to that student’s home to learn the cause of his absence, and if necessary, to bring him to school. If warranted, the teacher shall then apply appropriate punishment to the student when he arrives at school.
Oldest House – outside
Teachers should treat each student impartially as faithful Christians worthy of love and charity.
Teachers shall take special care to get to know each child.
Old Schoolhouse
Teachers shall try to be moderate in their punishment of students.
Teachers shall not yell or swear at students nor should they throw in their faces the faults of their parents or other relatives. Nor under any circumstances, should teachers allow students to treat each other in this way either. This means in school and anywhere else.
Students shall arrive at school with their hair combed and with their faces, hands and feet clean (if they come barefoot).
Teachers shall not permit a student to attend school if he has a contagious disease. The student’s parents must be notified immediately so they are not offended by having their child kept out of school until the child is cured.
The schoolrooms shall be swept at least once a week by the pupils themselves and the teachers shall appoint enough
students to get the job done properly. This task should be shared equally by all students.No student shall leave the schoolroom, even to go to the bathroom, without getting permission from the teacher.
Not more than one student shall leave the schoolroom at a time. Each time a student leaves the schoolroom, the teacher will give him a special ruler to take with him. The next student needing to leave cannot do so until he obtains that ruler and the permission of the teacher.
When a student leaves the schoolroom, his absence shall be measured by a pendulum hung from the ceiling of that schoolroom. The student shall put that pendulum in motion as he leaves and the teacher shall note whether or not the pendulum is still moving when the student returns with the ruler.
Every month, the Parish Priest and the teachers shall give all students an examination to determine their progress in writing, reading, arithmetic and Christian Doctrine.
Seating in the classroom will be determined by a student’s progress in their examinations.
Teachers shall instruct students how to assist at Mass and in services at the Parish Church on special days of the year. Teachers are to then name two students at a time to assist in these services.
St. Augustine Cathedral
On nights when special religious processions pass through the city streets, the teachers shall attend with their students. No exceptions and no excuses. Teachers are to make sure students behave at these times with modesty and devotion.
Teachers shall attend all services of the Church with their students.
Tolomato Cemetery on Cordova Street
If a boy dies, the teachers shall march with their students in the boy’s funeral procession. If necessary, four boys shall carry the dead boy’s remains to the burial place.
On four specific days, a year, all students seven years of age and above shall make confession in the presence of their teachers. Just before those days arrive, teachers shall instruct their students how to properly prepare themselves for confession.
Teachers shall not permit any other language than Spanish to be spoken in the school.
Whenever students meet any of their elders in the street, they should greet them with proper courtesy.
Upon leaving school, students should go directly home without loitering, or shouting, or committing mischievous pranks in the streets.
If any black students should attend school, they shall sit apart near the door. But teachers are to give them the same quality of instruction as all the rest.
If you would like to read the actual wording of these rules, click on one fo the selections below:
Developing Reading Skills in At-Risk Kids
Retired teacher pens YA trilogy that captivates high school reluctant readers. See additional links at the end of this post for further exploration.
———————————————————————————————-What an amazing journey I’m on. Never in a million years would I have guessed how my young adult series, The St. Augustine Trilogy, would be used to teach students in high school reading classes. But that has happened and continues to happen, allowing me to help kids enjoy the written word, learn some valuable life lessons and develop some critical skills.
The St. Augustine Trilogy
Book 1: Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book 3: Targeting Orion’s Children
This phenomenon with my books has given me the delightful opportunity to once again work with some exceptional teachers who are doing wonderful things for young people. They are an inspiration and deserve all the support I can give them.
The first step on this path came when I decided to write fiction after having published nonfiction for adults as well as young people. To do this, I decided to use my background in working with at-risk youth, a love of history, and an extensive knowledge of the paranormal as the foundation for my efforts.
The result was a young adult paranormal/historical series set in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. The St. Augustine Trilogy features these main character as seen below and offers a premise that says, “You Create Your Own Reality.”
Lyle, the Homeless Guy
Jeff Golden: A rebellious fifteen-year-old while kid from a very dysfunctional family who hates school, reading and most teachers.
Carla Rodriguez: Jeff’s strong, no-nonsense and academically talented Black Hispanic girlfriend.
Lobo: The old, mysterious Native American shaman who guides Jeff and Carla on their perilous travels into the unknown.
Lyle: The Homeless Guy. An aging, alcoholic recluse who is afraid of his own shadow, often for very good reason.
Kathy Snyder
Now, in creating the trilogy, I thought I would just be selling books individually online to young people who enjoyed reading. But no, fate had other ideas that crystalized in the form of a high school intensive reading teacher named Kathy Snyder. After posting a nice review of Book 1 of the trilogy on Amazon.com, she contacted me wanting to use Sliding Beneath the Surface with all of her students for motivational and skill building purposes.
I was both flabbergasted and delighted at the prospect. It didn’t seem to me that my writing would work effectively with struggling readers, even though I had written it at a seventh grade reading level, but if Kathy could make it work, why not? And so, she and I set about collaborating on how to actually make a success of this experiment. We communicated extensively, sharing thoughts, ideas and strategies.
The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine
In order to help her bring the book, the plot, and the city of St. Augustine alive for her students, I created a photo disk. It contained well over 100 pictures, shots I had taken of St. Augustine and at historical reenactments during my research for the books. In there, I also inserted trilogy graphics, book covers and even photos of me. Click here for the Teacher Resources section of this website.
Oh, and I sent Kathy my large listing of online links that I collected so her students could use those in doing their own initial research on St. Augustine and related topics before actually reading the book.
The final result was incredible. As time went on, I kept hearing from Kathy that her kids were loving the book and things were going beautifully. And at the end the project, she invited me to her school where I spent the day speaking to all of her classes. I’m telling you, those kids were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book that I was truly astounded. In fact, that was the best day I had ever had in a classroom.
Well, with the success of those efforts, Kathy and I decided to collect all we had done together, add to it, and create a teacher guide for Sliding Beneath the Surface. In that way, we figured, we could pass on to other teachers the benefit of our experiences. So that guide, and the photo disk I gave to Kathy, I make available free of charge to any teacher who uses one or more of the trilogy books in the classroom.
Kathy has now retired from teaching, but I have created a teacher guide for Book 2 of the trilogy, Stepping Off a Cliff, using the one we created for Book II as a template. Together with a new photo disk created just for Book 2, both these items are also now available to teachers free of charge. And once I publish Book 3, hopefully in late 2017, I will create similar materials.
Today, more and more reading teachers are using books from The St. Augustine Trilogy in their classrooms and that thrills me no end. And to any teachers who are reading this and considering such a move, I offer any assistance that I am able to provide. In the meantime, see the links I have provided below for more detailed information.
Reading Motivation That Worked. The original article I published about my efforts with Kathy Snyder.
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
A book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
Main Characters in the St. Augustine Trilogy
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels
Click the following in order to see the two trilogy novels, and their reviews, currently listed on amazon.com:
Helping Teachers Teach Reading
Retired teacher pens YA trilogy that captivates high school reluctant readers. See additional links at the end of this post for further exploration.
———————————————————————————————-What an amazing journey I’m on. Never in a million years would I have guessed how my young adult series, The St. Augustine Trilogy, would be used to teach students in high school reading classes. But that has happened and continues to happen, allowing me to help kids enjoy the written word, learn some valuable life lessons and develop some critical skills.
The St. Augustine Trilogy
Book 1: Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book 3: Targeting Orion’s Children
This phenomenon with my books has given me the delightful opportunity to once again work with some exceptional teachers who are doing wonderful things for young people. They are an inspiration and deserve all the support I can give them.
The first step on this path came when I decided to write fiction after having published nonfiction for adults as well as young people. To do this, I decided to use my background in working with at-risk youth, a love of history, and an extensive knowledge of the paranormal as the foundation for my efforts.
The result was a young adult paranormal/historical series set in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. The St. Augustine Trilogy features these main character as seen below and offers a premise that says, “You Create Your Own Reality.”
Lyle, the Homeless Guy
Jeff Golden: A rebellious fifteen-year-old while kid from a very dysfunctional family who hates school, reading and most teachers.
Carla Rodriguez: Jeff’s strong, no-nonsense and academically talented Black Hispanic girlfriend.
Lobo: The old, mysterious Native American shaman who guides Jeff and Carla on their perilous travels into the unknown.
Lyle: The Homeless Guy. An aging, alcoholic recluse who is afraid of his own shadow, often for very good reason.
Kathy Snyder
Now, in creating the trilogy, I thought I would just be selling books individually online to young people who enjoyed reading. But no, fate had other ideas that crystalized in the form of a high school intensive reading teacher named Kathy Snyder. After posting a nice review of Book 1 of the trilogy on Amazon.com, she contacted me wanting to use Sliding Beneath the Surface with all of her students for motivational and skill building purposes.
I was both flabbergasted and delighted at the prospect. It didn’t seem to me that my writing would work effectively with struggling readers, even though I had written it at a seventh grade reading level, but if Kathy could make it work, why not? And so, she and I set about collaborating on how to actually make a success of this experiment. We communicated extensively, sharing thoughts, ideas and strategies.
The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine
In order to help her bring the book, the plot, and the city of St. Augustine alive for her students, I created a photo disk. It contained well over 100 pictures, shots I had taken of St. Augustine and at historical reenactments during my research for the books. In there, I also inserted trilogy graphics, book covers and even photos of me. Click here for the Teacher Resources section of this website.
Oh, and I sent Kathy my large listing of online links that I collected so her students could use those in doing their own initial research on St. Augustine and related topics before actually reading the book.
The final result was incredible. As time went on, I kept hearing from Kathy that her kids were loving the book and things were going beautifully. And at the end the project, she invited me to her school where I spent the day speaking to all of her classes. I’m telling you, those kids were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book that I was truly astounded. In fact, that was the best day I had ever had in a classroom.
Well, with the success of those efforts, Kathy and I decided to collect all we had done together, add to it, and create a teacher guide for Sliding Beneath the Surface. In that way, we figured, we could pass on to other teachers the benefit of our experiences. So that guide, and the photo disk I gave to Kathy, I make available free of charge to any teacher who uses one or more of the trilogy books in the classroom.
Kathy has now retired from teaching, but I have created a teacher guide for Book 2 of the trilogy, Stepping Off a Cliff, using the one we created for Book II as a template. Together with a new photo disk created just for Book 2, both these items are also now available to teachers free of charge. And once I publish Book 3, hopefully in late 2017, I will create similar materials.
Today, more and more reading teachers are using books from The St. Augustine Trilogy in their classrooms and that thrills me no end. And to any teachers who are reading this and considering such a move, I offer any assistance that I am able to provide. In the meantime, see the links I have provided below for more detailed information.
Reading Motivation That Worked. The original article I published about my efforts with Kathy Snyder.
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
A book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
Main Characters in the St. Augustine Trilogy
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels
Click the following in order to see the two trilogy novels, and their reviews, currently listed on amazon.com:
A Trilogy for At-Risk Teens
Retired teacher pens YA trilogy that captivates high school reluctant readers. See additional links at the end of this post for further exploration.
———————————————————————————————-What an amazing journey I’m on. Never in a million years would I have guessed how my young adult series, The St. Augustine Trilogy, would be used to teach students in high school reading classes. But that has happened and continues to happen, allowing me to help kids enjoy the written word, learn some valuable life lessons and develop some critical skills.
The St. Augustine Trilogy
Book 1: Sliding Beneath the Surface
Book 3: Targeting Orion’s Children
This phenomenon with my books has given me the delightful opportunity to once again work with some exceptional teachers who are doing wonderful things for young people. They are an inspiration and deserve all the support I can give them.
The first step on this path came when I decided to write fiction after having published nonfiction for adults as well as young people. To do this, I decided to use my background in working with at-risk youth, a love of history, and an extensive knowledge of the paranormal as the foundation for my efforts.
The result was a young adult paranormal/historical series set in America’s oldest and most haunted city, St. Augustine, Florida. The St. Augustine Trilogy features these main character as seen below and offers a premise that says, “You Create Your Own Reality.”
Lyle, the Homeless Guy
Jeff Golden: A rebellious fifteen-year-old while kid from a very dysfunctional family who hates school, reading and most teachers.
Carla Rodriguez: Jeff’s strong, no-nonsense and academically talented Black Hispanic girlfriend.
Lobo: The old, mysterious Native American shaman who guides Jeff and Carla on their perilous travels into the unknown.
Lyle: The Homeless Guy. An aging, alcoholic recluse who is afraid of his own shadow, often for very good reason.
Kathy Snyder
Now, in creating the trilogy, I thought I would just be selling books individually online to young people who enjoyed reading. But no, fate had other ideas that crystalized in the form of a high school intensive reading teacher named Kathy Snyder. After posting a nice review of Book 1 of the trilogy on Amazon.com, she contacted me wanting to use Sliding Beneath the Surface with all of her students for motivational and skill building purposes.
I was both flabbergasted and delighted at the prospect. It didn’t seem to me that my writing would work effectively with struggling readers, even though I had written it at a seventh grade reading level, but if Kathy could make it work, why not? And so, she and I set about collaborating on how to actually make a success of this experiment. We communicated extensively, sharing thoughts, ideas and strategies.
The Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine
In order to help her bring the book, the plot, and the city of St. Augustine alive for her students, I created a photo disk. It contained well over 100 pictures, shots I had taken of St. Augustine and at historical reenactments during my research for the books. In there, I also inserted trilogy graphics, book covers and even photos of me. Click here for the Teacher Resources section of this website.
Oh, and I sent Kathy my large listing of online links that I collected so her students could use those in doing their own initial research on St. Augustine and related topics before actually reading the book.
The final result was incredible. As time went on, I kept hearing from Kathy that her kids were loving the book and things were going beautifully. And at the end the project, she invited me to her school where I spent the day speaking to all of her classes. I’m telling you, those kids were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book that I was truly astounded. In fact, that was the best day I had ever had in a classroom.
Well, with the success of those efforts, Kathy and I decided to collect all we had done together, add to it, and create a teacher guide for Sliding Beneath the Surface. In that way, we figured, we could pass on to other teachers the benefit of our experiences. So that guide, and the photo disk I gave to Kathy, I make available free of charge to any teacher who uses one or more of the trilogy books in the classroom.
Kathy has now retired from teaching, but I have created a teacher guide for Book 2 of the trilogy, Stepping Off a Cliff, using the one we created for Book II as a template. Together with a new photo disk created just for Book 2, both these items are also now available to teachers free of charge. And once I publish Book 3, hopefully in late 2017, I will create similar materials.
Today, more and more reading teachers are using books from The St. Augustine Trilogy in their classrooms and that thrills me no end. And to any teachers who are reading this and considering such a move, I offer any assistance that I am able to provide. In the meantime, see the links I have provided below for more detailed information.
Reading Motivation That Worked. The original article I published about my efforts with Kathy Snyder.
Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.
A book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.
Main Characters in the St. Augustine Trilogy
The St. Augustine Trilogy and America’s Oldest City The setting for the series in St. Augustine, Florida and how that provides a fascinating backdrop for action.
The St. Augustine Trilogy & Historic Events Specifies the actual historic events that happened in America’s oldest city that are woven into the series.
Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels
Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels
Click the following in order to see the two trilogy novels, and their reviews, currently listed on amazon.com:
