Doug Dillon's Blog, page 39

Poltergeist Real Estate

A scary paranormal event made my aunt and uncle wonder.

I’m willing to bet that if most people talked with members of their families, they would come up with stories of all sorts of paranormal activity. I’m not just talking about immediate families, I’m talking about grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

In my case, my mom’s relatives were the ones who told such tales. For me, I found those stories so interesting because they came from people who never usually expressed an interest or even belief in such things.

Here’s a picture I took of Mom in St. Augustine with Matanzas Bay in the

background. I took her there before her death in 2007 to show her some of the locations I would be using in Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy, Sliding Beneath the Surface. She was always fascinated by the paranormal

Her family all came from the New York City, Connecticut region. One summer when I was a teenager, we had a big family gathering and I got a chance to speak with one of her cousins and her husband. Both were involved with real estate and told a story about visiting a particular house they were trying to sell for some clients. It was nighttime and the owners were away.

The place was dark and they approached using flashlights. But just as they got to the front door, noises exploded from inside the house. Frightened and thinking vandals must be inside, they rushed back towards their car. They told me it sounded like a group of people was destroying everything they could find. As quickly as it started though, all those noises stopped.

After waiting a few minutes, they crept back up to house. No more sounds, and in fact, looking through the windows with their flashlights, they couldn’t see any damage. Thinking that rather odd, they decided to go in and look around. Pretty brave if you ask me, but they did it. Once inside, they found no damage whatsoever and nothing out of place. That frightened them even more than the sounds themselves and they had no explanation for what happened. Now we would probably identify such an experience as poltergeists.

So, the next time you have any kind of family gathering or reunion, ask people about their strange experiences. You might be very surprised with who comes up with some very weird but interesting tales.

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If you are turly interested in paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in read my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Kobo (Canada)

Paranormal Novel Hooks Reluctant Teen Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Protective Ghost Watches over Child

An investigation into paranormal events involving a family with a child as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is the Director and Lead Investigator for California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI). 

Being an almost full time paranormal investigator for the past 5 years, I have been able to understand spirits a little more. Mostly they’re like us…they have feelings and when something upsets or startles them, I can sometimes feel that emotion when I’m near them. I’ve felt their anger, hurt, confusion, and joy.

During an investigation at a rather upscale home a few years  ago, another investigator had an “image” in her head of what the spirit looked like. When we went into the owner’s study, we noticed some pictures and the investigator said, “That’s him! That’s the guy I’ve been seeing!” When we spoke to the homeowner, he indicated that was his father, and that he had passed away nearly 30 years ago.

The activity in this home had started up about two and a half years ago and their nearly three year old daughter was seeing something in her bedroom which frightened her. She now would not sleep in her room.

We were told about the activity that happened in the nearly 5000 square foot home. I emphasize that the home was only four years old because many people believe a property needs to be very old or historic for anything ghostly to happen. This home was near native land, but after some research, we were told it was not an ancient Indian burial ground, as nearly all property is jokingly believed to be in California.

Once the investigator who recognized the man from a photo as the deceased grandfather, he was able to actually speak to  him. The spirit relayed information that there was a dark presence outside of the home, and he, the grandfather, was there to protect his new granddaughter.  We’ve found that spirits can appear when something notable happens in a person’s life—such as a crisis or a birth—and this spirit came calling when his granddaughter was born.

We told the spirit that he was actually scaring his granddaughter, because she didn’t know how to verbalize what she was seeing. The emotion I felt afterwards was so intense. My heart sank and I could almost feel the room become so pressurized I couldn’t breathe. Tears ran down my face. I told the grandfather spirit that he could stay, but he needed to keep his distance from the family since the granddaughter didn’t exactly understand why he was there.

The family was extremely grateful that we were able to find the reason for the haunting and talk a little sense into the spirit. Even though we knew why he was there, being able to make the daughter understand was going to be a different task for the family. They were okay with that, as long as they knew who or what was in their house.

This is the reason I’m a paranormal investigator. When I experienced paranormal happenings in my life while growing up, I didn’t have someone to contact in order to help me understand. To have situations like this, to actually feel what the spirit feels is something unique for me. Yeah, and this what keeps me searching for answers as to why spirits stay here and how we can learn to live in harmony with them.

Thanks so much Peaches. Great work and wonderful story.
Click here to see the CPPI website.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Queen Mary – Haunted Ghost Ship

Photographic evidence of a ghostly being aboard ship by my friend Peaches Veach from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

Of all the locations I’ve visited and/or investigated, The Queen Mary in Long Beach, California is one of the most interesting. Back in the day, it was a luxury liner that was then converted into a troop transport ship during WWII.  Thousands of people are believed to have perished on or around the ship over the years. World renowned psychic Peter James believed there are close to 600 spirits wandering the ship.

The Queen Mary was bought by the City of Long Beach and turned into a floating hotel in 1967. It serves not only as a hotel, but also has restaurants, exhibits, and convention facilities. There are also a number of tours available to visitors. On one of those tours is where I had a paranormal encounter. Multiple parts of the ship are haunted.

We had taken one tour earlier in the day and it took us into the changing rooms of the first class swimming pool.  Several spirits are said to haunt this area. We had told the guide before the tour started that we were paranormal investigators so that he would understand why we’d have some pieces of equipment with us. There were almost enough of us to have our own private tour.

This little excursion was done in the dark and towards the end of it, we turned off our flashlights. That’s when the tour guide started talking about a possible male spirit being in that area, who he might be and why he might be there. When we talked about it later, a few of us agreed we felt the energy change all around us right at that moment. It’s hard to describe if you’ve never felt energy shift in such a way, but it’s much like how it feels when people have an argument in a room and you’re just standing there observing and feeling the tension.

For whatever reason, the tour guide sounded uncomfortable talking about this spirit. When he finished speaking, all was quiet for a while. Finally, someone asked a question but there was no response. Turning our flashlights back on, we realized the guide had left. We never did see him again.

We all decided to leave the room and I was the last one out. As we started moving, I felt a pressure on my back that was similar to having someone pushing me. I told my friends, “Move! Go! Go! Go! We’re being pushed out!” Another friend who has an intuitive “gift” also felt that the male spirit was upset and wanted us out.

Later in the day, we took another tour that’s really a “smoke and mirrors” event where they use all kinds of special effects. We had been told not to take flash photos since that would disorient everyone. As I snapped a photo without flash, I realized that I would have a blurry result due to camera shake. So I just dismissed what I had done and moved along with the group.

Original blurry photo of 3 people in the dark. Bright light at top is a bulb hanging from the ceiling. The white streak of light in the middle of the picture going across the woman is unidentified. Just above that streak, and below the woman’s head, is the small oval of a face that you can barely see.

A few days later, I was looking at my photos and came across a blurry picture. At first, I thought that I should just delete it. Then I noticed something strange. I showed my coworker, and she and I both gasped when we looked at it closer. To us, it looked like a head showing only one side of the face. This was the picture I had taken in the dark.

A closer, cropped view of the face.

We speculated as to what it might really be, but I knew exactly who could check it out for me. I have a friend by the name of Tony who is a retired mortician. He specializes in facial reconstruction. Tony has some forensic software that analyzes photos, including pixel count, color temp, etc. He can tell if a photo has been altered in any way. I’ve gotten to know Tony over the years, with all of the interesting photos I’ve sent him.

Tony’s enhancement of the previous photo to bring out the opposite side of the face. In this version of the picture, a shoulder below the face is clearly visible on the left.

Tony’s answer to this particular photo? “I don’t believe in ghosts, but you have something there. I just don’t know what it is.” He verified the photo had not been altered (I had taken it, so of course, I already knew that), and he took it a step further enhancing and removing certain color tones. He was able to digitally shift things around in order to show the other side of what we all believe is a face in the photo. To me, it looked like someone wearing an Elizabethan collar from the 16th Century, which would be extremely weird to find here in the States.

Tony’ second enhancement, no color, cropped and enlarged. Look carefully.

Tony’s official opinion in the end was that what we were seeing was a  woman he believed to be between 40 and 60 years of age with her hair in an updo. This, he thinks, meant that in a different era, she was probably financially well off. The last thing he added was that she was staring right at me!

Tony and I have both studied this picture over the years and continue trying to figure out exactly whose face it is. After comparing it to many other photos, we have yet to find the answer. We’ve gone back to the Queen Mary several times since that original experience to try and find an answer but with no luck. One of my more intuitive friends said that whoever the person is in that picture, she will not appear again.  She got my attention the first time and is glad that I know she’s there. Even so, my quest to discover the identity of our mystery woman continues.

Fascinating, Peaches. Thanks so much.

Click here for the CPPI website.

Click here for the Queen Mary Website.

Click here for a video on the Queen Mary.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

Haunted History – Nevada Ghost Town – Goldfield

An investigation into extremely strange happenings in a historic gold mining town as told by my friend, Peaches Veach. Peaches is from California Paranormal Private Investigations (CPPI).

I have literally been to hundreds of places conducting paranormal investigations over the past six years. Only a handful of these locations, in my opinion, have been extremely active. Two of them that have grabbed my attention are Virginia City, and Goldfield—both in Nevada.

These two locations had a lot going on in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with regard to the gold and silver rushes. Both towns/camps swelled to tens of thousands of people in a short period of time and then shrank tremendously in just a few years. Goldfield is where Virgil Earp died and it is in this town that something happened to me.

Goldfield currently has a population of about 268 people.  It has the original jailhouse, courthouse, high school, and the Goldfield Hotel. Sort of a partial “ghost town”, this place definitely retains its Old West Charm. The people there are down to earth and like any small town, it has its own brand of political strangeness.

During a weekend in Goldfield, nine friends of mine and I conducted a investigation of two particular locations: the Nixon Building and Goldfield High School. This is probably one of those weekends that will stick with me for a very long time. Not only was it a lot of fun to take a paranormal road trip with my friends, but something very interesting occurred during our search for the paranormal at the Nixon Building

Back during the days of the old west, the Nixon Building was the communications center for the Goldfield Consolidated Mining Company. Judging by the setup inside the place, the ground floor was where miners cashed in their gold and used as a post office as well. There is a basement, which contains the building’s furnace, and it appears there were living quarters and workrooms on the upper floors.

We were able to check this building out during the day on Friday afternoon and then do the actual investigation later on in the evening. I need to tell you ahead of time, however, that in my review of all the photos and recordings from our time there, I didn’t find any actual hard evidence—things I could show you or play back for you. I’ll be checking it all again but that’s the result so far.

I’m saying this because I’m a pretty skeptical person and I take experiences people tell me about with a grain of salt. Most folks tend to exaggerate their claims a bit, so evidence is crucial. That being said, what actually happened to me at the Nixon Buildin in May of 2012 remains quite a mystery.

Our hostess for the night, a local female gunslinger, said she had experienced spirits in the building and I noticed in my night vision camera that her eyes seemed to be more “buggy” at night. The only paranormal reason I could think of was that someone was going to be possessed by the end of the evening. I really shouldn’t have even thought that to myself!

As we started checking things out on the second floor, another investigator said she felt something “zap” her, like in “zapped” by static electricity. It made her jump and stand away from me. She felt it was coming between the two of us. Just like with everything else, we so far have no photo or video evidence of anything touching this person.

Then later on when we were in one of the rooms on the third floor, I “heard” a woman sobbing. To be specific, that sound wasn’t actually audible. No, it was more like I sensed it inside my head.

That sobbing continued for several more minutes and I mentioned it to two other investigators. They said they also sensed/heard the crying. The word “mistress” also came through to me.

On that same floor, there is also a room with a workbench containing a great many tools. I was standing near the bench during a “spirit box session”. A spirit box is a radio modified to scan various frequencies. The idea is that spirits/entities try to communicate with our world through the static produced—white noise. This was clearly demonstrated in the movie by that same name, White Noise. Maybe you saw it.

I honestly can’t remember what happened in that room very well because a few minutes into the session, I started to feel extremely dizzy. I was seeing 3 and 4 of everything, and even when I closed my eyes, the room felt like it was spinning. I literally felt drunk or drugged, similar to the sensation of coming down from anesthesia. It got so bad, I couldn’t stand up straight. I mean, I actually had to grab onto a table so that I wouldn’t fall down.

After about 20 minutes, but what seemed like an eternity, I had to excuse myself and go downstairs. When I got there, I walked outside for a bit to calm down and ground myself.

After I finally settled down, I went back upstairs where everyone had gathered to play period music in order to attract the spirits. I sat on the floor up against a wall and closed my eyes, just listening. After about two minutes, I fell asleep with my recorder sitting on my leg. When I awoke, about 27 minutes had gone by. That told me how completely my experience of feeling drunk or drugged had wiped me out.

As of now, we still don’t know who the sobbing woman might have been, or if I was experiencing an event in her life.

I have never felt anything like that before! I know that we were at a higher elevation than what I’m used to, and I had more coffee than I normally drink, but seeing double and quadruple of everything around me was highly unusual.

A former team member mentioned to me on other occasions about how she felt like something was trying to get into her head. I wonder if this is what happened to me. I’d rather not experience that sensation again but if I do I’d better make sure there’s a couch nearby!

Have you ever experienced something like this? Please send a comment via the Share Your Comment box below this post. We’d love to hear from you!

To find Peaches and CPPI website on the Internet, click here.

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If you would like to read more great stories about paranormal phenomena, you might be interested in checking out my book, Carl Jung, Hauntings, and Paranormal Coincidences.  You can find it in most online bookstores. Listed below, however, are direct book links to some of the larger retail outlets in the English-speaking world:

Amazon.com, Amazon Canada, Amazon UK, Amazon India, Amazon Australia, Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million.

How To Motivate Struggling Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Florida Teacher Inspires Struggling Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Florida Teacher Inspires Reluctant Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Teaching Success in Working With Struggling Readers

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)

Intensive Reading Success in Florida

Intensive Reading grades 8-12 – a YA novel that brought classes to life. A reading strategy that truly motivated and built skills.

The book – Sliding Beneath the Surface, Book I of The St. Augustine Trilogy – paranormal & historical.

Motivating some teens to read is a tough job, to say the least.

The kids I’m talking about here are often the ones who fail statewide assessment tests and end up in reading classes. Exasperated parents and teachers everywhere live with this situation on a continuous basis.

Having taught for many years in grades 7 – 12, I experienced the frustration of trying to get certain students to read anything.

These days though, I come at the problem from a writer’s viewpoint—a writer of teen fiction. And I’m sending out this post because I recently participated in a very rewarding experiment that showed how it is definitely possible to interest even the most reluctant teens to read.

In fact, I’m still basking in the warm glow of what happened.

Teacher Kathy Snyder early in her well earned retirement

It all started near the end of the 2012-2013 school year with one very smart and extremely dedicated teacher by the name of Kathy Snyder. At the time, Kathy taught intensive reading to 11th and 12th graders at a high school near where I live in Central Florida.

After reading and reviewing the first book in my young adult series titled, The St. Augustine Trilogy, she contacted me. Kathy felt very confident that the book, Sliding Beneath the Surface, would interest her students and she hoped to use it in all of her classes.

This was her final year in teaching and she wanted to make one more big push to motivate her kids before retiring.Well, she did that and a lot more.

Once we got a class set of books ordered, Kathy and I decided to make her classroom use of my work a full-blown teacher/author project.

I would donate my time and book resources to help her and she would write-up a study guide as well a detailed report about the project’s results.

We were both excited about the possibilities and couldn’t wait to get started.

The Castillo de San Marcos

At this point in my post, I think I need to give you a little background information on my book series. In that way, you can get a better feel for what attracted Kathy to it:

1. It’s called The St. Augustine Trilogy because St. Augustine, Florida is the physical location for the plot.

2. I created the trilogy with at-risk youth in mind because I spent the last 10 years of my career as an educator working full time helping such kids and their families.

So many of those young people had huge “victim” mentalities and blamed others for their problems that I wanted to do what I could as a writer to counteract those thought processes. That’s why the trilogy premise is this: You Create Your Own Reality.

Jeff

Fifteen-year-old Jeff Golden, the main character, is a composite of the   many at-risk kids I worked with over the years. And it is his growth over time in taking responsibility for himself and others that is a primary thread throughout the trilogy.

3. Each character, Jeff, his girlfriend Carla and old Lobo represent the three main cultures that built the city of St. Augustine: Jeff is white, Carla is African American and Hispanic, and Lobo is Native American.

4. I use the paranormal as a hook to pull kids into the plot. My real life experiences with such things as described in my nonfiction book, An Explosion of Being: An American Family’s Journey into the Psychic, are the prime material for developing the more exciting, unusual and spooky events in the book.

Now back to the project itself.

The Bridge of Lions in St. Augustine. Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon, Greg;s Gallery.net

Photo courtesy of Greg Dillon – Photography by Greg

Kathy did a fantastic job of introducing her students to St. Augustine and its history way ahead of time. In doing so, she really paved the way for those kids to feel comfortable as they encountered things that might be unfamiliar.

As part of this process, I sent her a CD packed full of photos—St. Augustine locations, historical reenactments, the cover for each book of the trilogy, my picture, etc. Then using the book trailer (see below) to introduce the project, Kathy launched into a full schedule of students rotating the reading of Sliding Beneath the Surface aloud in class.

The details of what she did will be forthcoming. If you wish to be on a mailing list to receive that information when it is ready in September, just email me by using the contact button on this website.

Here’s the book trailer created by Cheri Crump, a fan.

Day-by-day, Kathy explained to me via email how increasingly interested her students were becoming in the book and how many of them even wanted to read ahead. Students who rarely paid attention, or rarely spoke at all, did the opposite as their readings continued. Other teachers reported how those same kids were talking about their literary adventure outside of the reading classroom.

Needless to say, Kathy was thrilled. Her hard work was really paying off. Then in an email about halfway into the project, she asked if I could come visit her students once they finished the book.

And since her school isn’t very far from where I live, and it would be fascinating to participate in the project firsthand, I agreed to spend the day at her school.

Annual reenactment of the Dade Battle that began the Second Seminole War in Florida-1835

What a great time I had! And Kathy did too.

Those kids—those non readers—were so attentive and knowledgeable about the book I found it hard to believe I was in an intensive reading classroom. When I asked them questions about the plot and characters, they had the answers—things even Kathy didn’t  know they had absorbed.

Lots of kids greeted me as they came into the room at change of class, some even giving me a hug—including a few of the guys! In high school? I was stunned.

And around the room, Kathy had attached 100 pictures to the walls, one from each of  the students. Their assignment was to pick a chapter in the book they liked and a line or two from that chapter.

They were then instructed to write that information on a piece of paper and illustrate the meaning of the chapter/sentences by drawing some kind of picture. And they did beautiful work. I’ve included some of those drawings here because I think they are so important.

When I got home that evening, I had an email from Kathy, thanking me for working with her students. But it was her final comment that really got to me.

This is what she said, “This day was the best one of my entire teaching career.” Those words really hit me because  as an educator and a writer, I too felt that day with Kathy’s kids was the best one of both my careers. How tremendously rewarding.

At the end of the school year, Kathy packaged all of those pictures and sent them to me. What a treasure.

Along with the pictures, Kathy sent me thank you notes from some of the kids. Here are some excerpts from those priceless, and often telling, messages:

I really enjoyed your book and can’t wait for the others.
I love your book. Write more.
I hope you continue to write your stories. I love how many details you include. They made me picture my old house.
I hope we meet again someday.
Thank you for being the first author I’ve ever met and the most interesting too.
Yesterday that you were here the period went by fast.
I was really pleased how your book turned out.
Your book was full of suspense that made me want to keep reading.
I wanna get back in touch. Email me at . . .
I have to say that the book was very entertaining. It felt like I was really in the story . . . it sent chills down my spine.
You have a very interesting book and I think that St. Augustine would be a very nice place to live . . . or the Keys. (Don’t you love it?)

And finally, I close out this unusually long posting with a message to the teacher who made all this possible:

Kathy, I want to thank you publicly for giving your students and me so much in so very many ways. Yes, your students seemed to like my book, but it was you who made it all fit together in a truly viable package.

Your obvious love for those kids, your unrelenting drive to get them resources and your professional skills were so apparent during all the time we worked together. It was a pleasure being your colleague even if it was for a short time.

I know you will enjoy your retirement greatly but I sure wish you were still out there doing such great things with young people.

UPDATE! After writing this post, Kathy and I got together and created a teacher guide for using Sliding Beneath the Surface in the classroom. Click here for the new Teacher Resources section of my website that allows you to download a free copy and gives other useful information.

Further Links for Reading and Language Arts Teachers About Using This Book in the Classroom

Reading Teacher Sparks Student Interest  An article from teacher Kathy Snyder about her experience.

Quotes From Sliding Beneath the Surface Book Reviews 

Book reviews for Sliding Beneath the Surface on Amazon.com Includes  reviews from reading and language arts teachers.

A Book Series for the Reading Classroom The multiple themes and threads that make the series of value.

St. Augustine’s Constitution Plaza at Christmas

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.

Description for The St. Augustine Trilogy

Teaching History Through Young Adult Novels

Teaching Resilience Through Young Adult Novels

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Sample Photo Galleries – Historic St. Augustine, Florida

The Castillo de San Marcos (The old Spanish fort)

Historic Cemeteries

The St. Augustine Cathedral Basilica

Spanish Soldiers of the 18th Century

Cannon Firing

St. Augustine Lighthouse & Museum

The Dade Battle Reenactment, Part II (The trigger event that started the Second Seminole War)