Connecting Literature and Real Life...

I have been blessed with several things in my life!  Sometimes I think people get annoyed of seeing my posts on Facebook or hearing about how happy I am, but I am not afraid to shout it out, let the world know just how blessed I am!  I am so incredibly happy in my marriage!  My children drive me nuts and close to insanity, but that is what I love more than anything about them!  They are all so unique in their own individual ways!

I've also been blessed with an incredible family who works so hard in so many ways!

This past month, my students have been reading the novel, Soldier's Heart by Gary Paulsen.  If you have not read this, you must - it's a very quick read, but it's amazing.  It's a Historical Fiction about a young man from Winona, MN!  The novel speaks of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder throughout many wars and battles.

Thankfully I have a wonderfully talented, hard working brother in law, Bruce who is a Lt. Colonel in the United States Army!  He has worked very closely with PTSD soldiers and has done some training.  He was able to Skype with my students this past Friday to share his knowledge with them, and answer questions they had.

I made a post on FB the night before, expressing my excitement.  One district employee saw this post, and the rest is history!  Thanks to Ryan Mayers, Bruce's message and the education taking place was shared throughout our community!

The following are several links to the different types of media that shared Bruce's story!

Austin Daily Herald:

http://www.austindailyherald.com/…/seeing-literature-broug…/

KAAL - ABC 6 News
http://www.kaaltv.com/article/stories/S3742919.shtml

Austin Public Schools
http://youtu.be/V6a841bf68E

My Video of the entire conversation:
https://youtu.be/KqdTjrrtyB4

Thank you Bruce!  For taking the time to share you knowledge with curious 6th grade students, and for making such an incredible connection to the content we are learning :)  I love you so much and am so proud to call you my BROTHER!!!!