School and Community Winter 2024

the star of the story. In creating “Jackson: A Celebration of Our Schools,” the district aimed to increase and encourage literacy, while also inspiring kids and parents to celebrate the traditions and triumphs of Jackson schools. The Process The project started as a poem written during my prep period as a world geography teacher at Jackson Junior High School. Many teachers maintain side-hustles and writing children’s books was mine. While I knew that no traditional publisher would invest in a book about a single school district, I also knew that the growing self publishing industry allows for small, personal projects like this to become a reality. With this goal in mind, I decided to reach out to our superintendent, Dr. Scott Smith. Luckily, he felt equally inspired! When Dr. Smith took the helm in our district, he started the tradition of gifting incoming kindergarten students a book to start off their educational careers. Up until this point, he had simply purchased popular titles from large publishers like Scholastic. The opportunity to inspire those young learners with a custom book was too powerful to pass up — he immediately

said, “Let’s do it!” And so we did! Over the course of the next year, I edited the manuscript, hired a professional illustrator and worked with a designer to put it all together. By the first day of the 2023-2024 school year, we had created a real book, and our students were the main characters! “Working with Mrs. Tornetto on our Jackson R-2 personalized book was such a fun process,” Dr. Smith said. “We appreciate her attention to detail and the unique way she was able to weave the history and tradition of our school district into a story that comes alive when you read it. It is truly one where our students can picture themselves as an important part of the educational process from start to finish.” The Impact The reaction from the community and the impact on students has been just as powerful as we’d hoped. When Dr. Smith traveled to each building to perform in-person readings, the kindergarteners immediately saw themselves and their families within the pages of the book. “Our students were so excited to point out the buildings and details that they recognized throughout this book,” Dr. Smith said.

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