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Author Andrew Clements recently wrapped up an eight-state tour for his new series, Benjamin Pratt and the Keepers of the School, illustrated by Adam Stower, which debuted last month from Atheneum with We the Children. The tour took Clements to bookstores, schools, and libraries in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, California, Washington, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Massachusetts; here, Clements visits with students at Sutro Elementary School in San Francisco. The series centers on a mystery involving Benjamin’s historic seaside elementary school; the second book in the six-book series, Fear Itself, is scheduled to be released in September.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/childrens/childrens-book-news/article/43158-in-brief-may-13.html

In appreciation to our beloved Sutro Staff and all that they do for the Sutro Community each and every day, the Sutro PTA hosted its annual Staff Appreciation Luncheon on May 5th.  The staff was treated to a Mediterranean style lunch in the library.

We especially thank Ms Mariam Sweeny for coordinating this event for us this year!

My name is Ed Low, and I am Samuel Low’s father. Sam is in Mr. Illig’s third-grade class. I and eighteen other brave parents accompanied thirty-three students from the two third-grade classes to their annual three day, two night camping trip at Clem Miller Lodge in Point Reyes, California. This trip would be a first for me, since while I had accompanied both Sam’s and my daughter Sarah’s (Ms. Korp, Kindergarten) classes on field trips on previous occasions, I had never been exposed to so many different kids for such a long period of time. Needless to say, I was a bit nervous! In addition to the other parents and me, the adults included Mr. Illig, Mrs. Lau, Mr. Wong, Gerald Creed, and Gerald’s brother Chris--a sergeant with the San Francisco Police Department.

Mr. Illig, the other parents, and I all loaded up into the chartered bus and set off right on schedule at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, February 22, 2010 for the ride to Point Reyes. As we were pulling away from the school, Mr. Illig handed me a plastic bag for the “just in case” scenario. Great. For some reason, the theme song for “Gilligan’s Island” started running through my head as I contemplated the upcoming seventy-minute drive and two nights sleeping in an unheated cabin with a dozen eight and nine year-old boys….

I needn’t have worried though, as both Mr. Illig and Mrs. Lau had made advance plans to keep the kids occupied during the trip: hikes, math games, nature walks, craft-making, s’more assembly--you name it, they thought of it. Also, Mr. Wong, Gerald, and the other parents all stepped up and pitched in to make the whole experience a lot of fun for everyone.

Highlights of the trip: the expressions on some of the kids’ faces as we rode across the Golden Gate Bridge (some for the first time, it seemed) and took in the beautiful view of San Francisco Bay and the receding cityscape; doing yoga exercises with all of the kids and adults; watching the kids’ faces and listening to their comments as we made smokes in the rain. There’s so much more, but the biggest highlight has to be spending time with my son and his friends, and seeing how positively he reacted to being “unplugged” for three days!

 All too soon, it was time to pack up and go back to the real world. I brought back with me pleasant memories of my time at Clem Miller, and the satisfaction of making new friends with the other parents and getting to know them better. I will always cherish the time I spent with my son, and the trip took me back to my own youth—no video games, TV, or any other distractions; just making fun out of whatever might be found lying about. Oh, and we made it back to Sutro just in time for the 2:40 bell, no sudden storms or uncharted islands came up….